Author Archive for J Scott Moore
I'm an irascible rec-hockey player, your typical ‘lunch pail’ player. A Colorado native, I was raised on Broncos football, with occasional minor league and Colorado (hockey) Rockies games thrown in. With the arrival of the Colorado Avalanche and my crazy idea to learn to ice skate (and eventually play hockey) at the age of 33, I fell in love with hockey, finally. You can find me here: Real Denver Sports and here: Twitter
What’s the Answer to the Avs Problems?
The Colorado Avalanche can’t win at home. And it may be worse than that but we will have to wait till the current home stand is over to be sure. But it’s looking more and more like a fluke that the Avs started the season off with the best road record in team history. Since [...]
A Look at the Colorado Avalanche and the Semyon Varlamov Trade
It is now well established “fact” that the Colorado Avalanche severely overpaid in the trade with the Washington Capitals for netminder Semyon Varlamov. As the experts and the panic-stricken continue to babble I’ve detected a quiet feeling of satisfaction within the Avalanche nation. Let’s put a little perspective on the situation. After the sticker shock [...]
Avalanche Goalie-Go-Round
Ever since the Avs went with Budaj/ Raycroft it’s been a joke. What you say? But Craig Anderson! Yes, yes. BUT. But, if you can be honest with yourself, that was a shot in the dark, a gamble, a roll of the dice. Ok, over doing the metaphors? It wasn’t a complete shot in the [...]
Book Review – Blood on the Ice by Ian T. Healy
Ian Healy has written a novel that might make you wrinkle your brow a bit when I tell you about it. I know I did! Blood on the Ice seems like an appropriate title for a hockey book, and so it is, but this one refers more to the vampires that also happen to be [...]
Clearing the Way for Captain Matt Duchene
Shortly after the Avs made the Chris Stewart for Erik Johnson trade, Avs GM Greg Sherman was on NHL radio to talk about it. One of the things he said that stood out the most to Avs fans was that the Avs were on track with the plan. Plan? Plan to lose as many games [...]
Mission Impossible
Remember the way Mission Impossible always starts? With the secret message self-destructing? Well in this case Peter Forsberg is watching the Colorado Avalanche self-destruct and apparently, just like in Hollywood, he is going to take the impossible mission. Injuries The latest blow to the injury-wracked Avs is the season long loss of Tomas Fleischmann, diagnosed [...]
The Return of Peter Forsberg??
Just in case you live in a cave, Peter Forsberg will be practicing with the Colorado Avalanche Saturday morning in what appears to be an attempt to return to the NHL. Forsberg has been adamant in the past that he doesn’t want to disappoint…himself. And he has very high standards. Surely this must only be [...]
Joe Sacco – Tough SOB
A. Dater said the other day in his Twitter feed that Sacco is a tough SOB. I’ve suspected as much for a long time now. Here and there I’ve seen interviews and such that made me think that he projects this persona, or perhaps it is not a persona, that you don’t want to mess [...]
Team Sophomore Slump?
The Colorado Avalanche are having a bit of a tough go at it this season. This time last year they were in and out of first place in the division. And while the Western Conference is ridiculously tight and teams shift in and out of playoff spots daily, one has to wonder if the Avs [...]
Avs & Caps Trade Invisible Men
If two teams trade players and nobody notices. Did it really happen? When the Avs traded Scott Hannan, a guy that was a big free agency signing, a guy that was a top four defenseman, the fan base barely noticed. They only noticed enough to wonder who the Avs might get in return. It’s not [...]
Avalanche Retool the Blueline
I wrote earlier this year that I didn’t expect the defensive prowess of the Avs to improve this year because it was basically unchanged from last year except for the departure of Brett Clark. Yes, Ruslan Salei left for Red Wing territory but he was not a factor last season, logging most of his ice [...]
On the Defensive
Well I think I got one thing right recently. And Coach Sacco agrees. With the Colorado Avalanche no longer experiencing a dearth of defensemen it was time to decide who plays and who sits. Sacco sat Jonas Holøs and he has now been returned to the farm. And really the choice was only between Holøs [...]
Avalanche Wildly Inconsistent
The Colorado Avalanche are starting to get healthy again. Perhaps a few players recently back from injuries are a bit rusty still. That might explain the inconsistency of play as of late. But in truth, this team has displayed this tendency going back to last season. It’s still presumable that it is a product of [...]
Avalanche Battling Injuries
The Colorado Avalanche are suddenly up against an unusual number of defensive injuries. Solid newcomer Ryan Wilson is out with a leg injury and captain Adam Foote, Kyle Cumiskey and Kyle Quincey are all out with concussions. Quincey’s injury was reported Tuesday, before the game against the Flames. The Avs, forced to call up a [...]
Book Review: Tough Guy – Bob Probert
Bob Probert was cuffed with his hands behind his back. He was facedown on the ground with a cop’s knee on his neck. Probert told him he was probably the fat kid in school that was always picked on, and that’s why he became a cop. Probert’s face was a mess after that comment. The [...]
Do You Believe in Budaj?
It’s no wonder there is a bit of angst in Colorado over the Anderson injury. The angst has as much to do with backup goalie Peter Budaj as it does with starter Craig Anderson’s injury. There’s a lot of disagreement in Avalanche circles when Budaj is discussed. People love him or hate him. When the [...]
Ken Holland’s 3-on-3 OT Idea
Pierre LeBrun recently reported that Ken Holland is planning on presenting his idea for a new overtime format at next month’s GM meeting in Toronto. Holland’s idea is to expand the five minute OT to eight minutes. And then modify it with four minutes of 4-on-4 play followed by four minutes of 3-on-3 play. The [...]
Avs Wild Days are Over
It was a quiet summer in the Colorado Avalanche camp but the perfect storm just might be brewing for a trade. But don’t get too excited, the days of the Avs making huge trades are over. But it does seem that the stubbornly conservative GM, Greg Sherman is going to be compelled to do something [...]
Avalanche No. 9: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Opening night is fast approaching for the Colorado Avalanche and the organization is hosting a reunion for the 1995-’96 Stanley Cup winning Avalanche team members. One of my favorite players in those early years wore number nine. The Avs future looks bright with a certain sophomore that now wears the number nine. But there’s one [...]
Matt Duchene – Tough Guy
In an interview at this morning’s skate, Colorado Avalanche center, Matt Duchene responded to the question of his recent feistiness in training camp. Duchene admits that he is acting a little tougher out there on the ice. And a lot of the fans in attendance at the Avalanche Burgundy and White charity game got an [...]
