Colorado Avalanche: Random Observations from Flames Game

The Colorado Avalanche started their 2019-20 season with a bang — a win over the Calgary Flames they extinguished in the playoffs just a few months ago.

The Colorado Avalanche have gotten off to a good start. They won their first game of the 2019-20 season 5-3. It was a lot closer than the score and shot totals let on for most of the game.

But the Avs won. They got their two points on a night when only one other Central Division team won, and it was the Nashville Predators beating the (hated) Minnesota Wild.

I was at the game tonight, so I didn’t suffer from the blackout of Colorado Avalanche coverage. I think it’s total, to put it cleanly, poop what the Big 3 are doing to regional sports networks. Because make no mistake, it’s not only Altitude. It’s also the entire north Mid-West and now Nashville that’s getting strong-armed.

Anyway, back to hockey, here are some random observations I had from tonight’s game.

Ryan Graves Looks Good

Defenseman Ryan Graves made the roster tonight, and some people were perplexed that he made the team over Calle Rosen.

Tonight , Graves showed why. First off, he played well on the penalty kill. I really liked his positioning and his ability to disrupt the opponents’ play.

He catches a lot of flak for his foot speed. Well, I saw several instances of his transition game when he had to fly back to defend. He’s deceptively fast. It’s the stride — he’s got the long legs of a tall man. He doesn’t move dynamically,  but he gets around fast.

Philipp Grubauer… Needs to Tighten Up

At one point in the first period, Philipp Grubauer had allowed two goals on six shots. Yeah. That’s rough

He got better as the night wore on. However,  he’s the starter now, so he can’t have such slow starts. Colorado is going to need him to tighten up like we see him play at the end of last season.

There was also a heart-attack sequence in which Grubauer was without his paddle for an extended time. The Flames had pulled the goalie for a 6-on-5, so they were swarming around the net. The paddle was right in front of Grubauer, but he just didn’t pick it up even when the play was far from him. I guess he was dialed in, but I so expected the puck to go sailing past where he would normally raise the paddle to stop the puck.

Nazem Kadri is Tight

Tyson Barrie is a high price to pay. I had said we should get an NHL-ready forward, a prospect, and a draft pick for just Barrie. Instead, we traded one year of Barrie for three years of Kadri, with Alexander Kerfoot, Calle Rosen, and some draft picks also in the mix.

Barrie is a high price to pay, but so far we’re improved by his absence. All I mean by that is that the guy we replaced him for is tight. Kadri is not a third-line center — he’s a solid second-liner, and he showed that tonight.

I can’t even explain what I saw with him except that he’s aggressive and dynamic and I, at least, was aware when he was on the ice.

Calgary are Goons

I’m not going to spend too much time on this subject because Colorado won’t even face the Flames again until November 19. However, Calgary sure does like to goon it up.

The main offenders — picture them on Wanted posters — are Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and his wily beard, and, naturally, Milan Lucic.

Here’s Milan in fine goon form:

Nikita Zadorov actually got five minutes for fighting and I could go on a rant of what’s the point of a player refusing to fight if he’s just going to be penalized for fighting and next time Z should just shoot a haymaker at the fiend, but whatever.

Side note: I forgot Lucic got traded to the Flames, and it was a nasty surprise when I saw his boxer’s profile right in front of me at the game.

Well, that’s one in the books, Avs Nation. There were a lot of positives from tonight’s game, and some areas that needed work. However, I’ll never be dissatisfied with a Colorado Avalanche win.