Canucks Avs GDT

[rustybadcock]

Canucks-Avalanche Preview
Mar 4, 2008, 6:30 PM PT
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Behind a three-game winning streak, the Colorado Avalanche have moved into a three-way tie for the Western Conference's final two playoff spots. After losing two top scoring threats to injury their last time out, however, the Avalanche hope to get a familiar face back in their lineup to keep the winning streak intact.

Colorado once again hopes to have Peter Forsberg back for the first time in four years on Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks, who are also tied for one of the West's final playoff spots.

In Saturday's 5-2 win over Los Angeles, the Avalanche (34-26-6) lost forwards Ryan Smyth and Marek Svatos for an indefinite amount of time.

Smyth, who had scored two goals in a two-minute span early in the second period, was injured when Kings defenseman Jack Johnson checked him into the glass late in the second period. The Colorado forward lay motionless on the ice for several minutes, but was walking before he was sent to a hospital for a CT scan. He was released from the hospital Saturday night.

Svatos, who has a goal and five assists during a season-high six-game point streak, hurt his right knee when he collided awkwardly with the boards.

Smyth and Svatos have scored a combined 40 goals this season, and both players will undergo further examination with medical staff over the next few days.

"It would be tough if the guys were out for any amount of time," said Joe Sakic, who scored his ninth goal of the season Saturday. "But we've dealt with injuries all year. You have to play through it and persevere."

Sakic has two goals and an assist in four games after missing 38 with a sports hernia, and the Avs could have Forsberg back for this game after he practiced Monday.

"It's a game-time decision. We'll see tomorrow morning," he said.

The 34-year-old Forsberg, who played for the Colorado franchise for 10 years before the league's lockout in 2004-05, agreed to a $5 million, one-year deal on Feb. 25 after sitting out the first five months of the season with a right foot injury. Forsberg was named the 2003 NHL MVP, and led the Avs to Stanley Cup championships in 1996 and 2001.

"To be honest, the foot felt like it was pulling and this was the first day of practice today," Forsberg said. "It's going to be tough to sit out, but I have to realize I haven't played a game in eight months and I just had the one practice."

Colorado is tied with Vancouver (32-23-10) and Nashville for the final two playoff spots in the West, but the Avs and Canucks are also just five points behind first-place Minnesota in the Northwest Division.

Since being four points back of the final playoff spot on Feb. 25, Colorado has won its last three following a 1-5-1 stretch. The Avs have not won four consecutive games since Oct. 23-Nov. 1.

Colorado has won three straight over the Canucks, including last Wednesday's 3-2 shootout victory, after losing its first two games of the season against them.

Avs goaltender Jose Theodore is 2-0-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average versus the Canucks this season, with all of those starts coming on the road. Theodore, who is just 2-5-0 with a 3.18 GAA at home since Jan. 22, made 23 saves on Saturday to win his third straight start.

Vancouver, meanwhile, has lost three straight following a season-high four-game winning streak.

The Canucks lost to Chicago 4-1 on Sunday, and have just five goals during their skid. Vancouver was held to a season-low 10 shots against the Blackhawks, its fewest shots since managing a franchise-low eight in a 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Dec. 18, 1996.

"Maybe it's best that we just forget about his one," goaltender Roberto Luongo said.

Luongo blocked 22 shots in his 14th straight start before being replaced by Curtis Sanford at 9:49 of the third period. Luongo had 24 saves in last week's lost to the Avs, and is 2-2-1 with a 2.94 GAA against them this season.

Daniel Sedin leads Vancouver with 26 goals, but has not scored in his last five games. He has two goals and four assists against Colorado this season.

I expect a better all around performance, after that.....I have no clue. :slant:

RB

[Nelson19777]

4-0 Canucks. After being embarrassed last game, they go pedal down from the first face-off.

[AtLossForWords]

2-1 Luongo plays lights out and gives up a goal to Brunette in the third period to allow overtime.

Watching this one live as usual. My buddy or I will have a good time.

[AtLossForWords]

It appeared to be a hard fought tilt, but the Avs took the puck to the net all night and never turtled.

Roberto Luongo played an exceptional game, the Avs really buzzed his crease all throughout the night. Call the goals he gave up a bit soft, but he was the reason this team was in the game.

No one took the puck to the net, there were a couple nice passing plays or forced turnovers that went our way, but those turnovers never got the puck to the net. After watching tonight's game it looks like this team needs a power forward to get pucks to the net rather than a center to set up plays.

Oh and Daniel and Henrik where the **** are you guys?

[rustybadcock]

Well I saw Pyatt, Isbister and Pettinger going to the net hard all night. In a game of inches the Aves were one shot better. They were not that much better then we were.

Things l liked.

Pettinger. This guys got more than meets the eye. I like him.

Pyatt, back with the Twins where he is best. I don't like the Twins and Naslund together, we're just too easy a team to deal with then. We must keep our attack balanced and Naslund needs to be making others better, not the other way. This is this rosters biggest issue IMO, that is, that Naslund "needs" someone. If Naslund is the Captain and the 6 mil man....he needs to Sundin this line up and if he can't....well, do the math.

Shannon. I said it the day he became a Canuck and hopefully people can see it now. We won the Jason King trade. This kid is very talented and I don't mind that Raymond sat last night. Two little ones in one line up...?

Isbister. When he gets that dark stare in his eyes he's at his best. I like his physical play and a touch one way or the other he would have converted on the Henrik pass.

Rypien. Nice fight. Thought he handled it very well.

Burrows. I think I like this guy every night.

Mitchell. Liked his intermission interview. So calm and collected, exactly the kind of thing a Captain would say....uhm, did I day that out loud?

What I didn't like

The Twins. Bitching and moaning it seems. I sure as hell didn't like Forsberg running Daniel all night with hits from behind however, Daniel didn't do a gawddamn thing about it but go down softer and softer each and every time trying to goat the refs into a call. He sure spent a lot of last night on his ass. IT's crunch time and this guys playing a pretty soft game. I could tell in the Hawks game by Henrik's interview he wasn't happy Naslund was off their line. LOOK PAL, the inmates don't run the jail...and if they do....well we're phucked. These guys are the future core leadership of this team, they'd better start acting the part.

Edler. And to no fault of his own. Now that people are returning to the line up (which I believe is part and parcel the problem right now-it always takes people a few games to get going and when theres a few returning it sets a line up off kilter) he's been relegated to the bottom of the D rotation. At this point in his development he's better off playing heavy minutes, it maintains his focus. Whereas when he's playing less minutes he's mistake prone. Much like Ohlund, a far better D man with 20 + mins under his belt. For my money, if this team isn't going to play the hell out of Edler, they should have him sit, or maybe too, they should have moved him if he was part of the asking price for Richards. One day he's going to be part of this teams one two punch but today we need a solid 6 or 7 man out of him and I am concerned he can't deliver that just yet. Sort of like a goalie. Cujo was always a guy who was stellar with 35 shots on him, however, if he should see 12 to 15....not such a hot goalie.

Anyway, 16 games left. I asked myself this morning if I had it in me. I think I do however I must admit the negativity and the reality are taking their tolls. I like a lot of players on this team and more for them I want to see them come through. The best teams win it all and right now these guys look like they hate playing for themselves let alone one another.

RB

[gordphish]

Well I saw Pyatt, Isbister and Pettinger going to the net hard all night. In a game of inches the Aves were one shot better. They were not that much better then we were.

Things l liked.

Pettinger. This guys got more than meets the eye. I like him.

Pyatt, back with the Twins where he is best. I don't like the Twins and Naslund together, we're just too easy a team to deal with then. We must keep our attack balanced and Naslund needs to be making others better, not the other way. This is this rosters biggest issue IMO, that is, that Naslund "needs" someone. If Naslund is the Captain and the 6 mil man....he needs to Sundin this line up and if he can't....well, do the math.

Shannon. I said it the day he became a Canuck and hopefully people can see it now. We won the Jason King trade. This kid is very talented and I don't mind that Raymond sat last night. Two little ones in one line up...?

Isbister. When he gets that dark stare in his eyes he's at his best. I like his physical play and a touch one way or the other he would have converted on the Henrik pass.

Rypien. Nice fight. Thought he handled it very well.

Burrows. I think I like this guy every night.

Mitchell. Liked his intermission interview. So calm and collected, exactly the kind of thing a Captain would say....uhm, did I day that out loud?

What I didn't like

The Twins. Bitching and moaning it seems. I sure as hell didn't like Forsberg running Daniel all night with hits from behind however, Daniel didn't do a gawddamn thing about it but go down softer and softer each and every time trying to goat the refs into a call. He sure spent a lot of last night on his ass. IT's crunch time and this guys playing a pretty soft game. I could tell in the Hawks game by Henrik's interview he wasn't happy Naslund was off their line. LOOK PAL, the inmates don't run the jail...and if they do....well we're phucked. These guys are the future core leadership of this team, they'd better start acting the part.

Edler. And to no fault of his own. Now that people are returning to the line up (which I believe is part and parcel the problem right now-it always takes people a few games to get going and when theres a few returning it sets a line up off kilter) he's been relegated to the bottom of the D rotation. At this point in his development he's better off playing heavy minutes, it maintains his focus. Whereas when he's playing less minutes he's mistake prone. Much like Ohlund, a far better D man with 20 + mins under his belt. For my money, if this team isn't going to play the hell out of Edler, they should have him sit, or maybe too, they should have moved him if he was part of the asking price for Richards. One day he's going to be part of this teams one two punch but today we need a solid 6 or 7 man out of him and I am concerned he can't deliver that just yet. Sort of like a goalie. Cujo was always a guy who was stellar with 35 shots on him, however, if he should see 12 to 15....not such a hot goalie.

Anyway, 16 games left. I asked myself this morning if I had it in me. I think I do however I must admit the negativity and the reality are taking their tolls. I like a lot of players on this team and more for them I want to see them come through. The best teams win it all and right now these guys look like they hate playing for themselves let alone one another.

RB

I have to disagree with that approach. Remember back in the mid 90s when the Red Wings just couldn't seem to get over the hump...lots of regular season success, nothing in the playoffs. Then they get swept by the Devils in the Finals and it seemed like they were going to trade Yzerman because he 'just wasn't the type of guy that could lead a team in the playoffs'. And then the Wings traded for Shanahan and won back to back Stanley Cups.

How do you think Naslund feels right now? Every year this decade he's shown up and done his best. He was the league's highest scoring player in the first part of the decade, won the Pearson, almost won the Hart and the Art Ross. He's lead the team to two division titles, almost three, and twice they were the best team in the league from Christmas on. When the team did a 360 in its philosophy and asked him to commit to playing defense, he did it. No bitching or whining about it, either. And managment has NEVER gone out and found him help. The biggest deadline move they've made this decade was getting Sanderson and Rucinksy AFTER Bertuzzi was suspended. Talk about taking pop guns to the OK Corral.

And now he's played the entire year as a lame duck captain. It wouldn't surprise me if he's both mentally and physically drained right now, and I wouldn't blame him one bit for retiring after this season and going back to Sweden.

Managment has not supported him at all here. In fact, all they've done for their captain is hang him out to dry year after year.

As for the game, benching Raymond in favour of Linden and Isbister was just stupid. And they wonder why they can't score?

All I see in Pettinger is the same I see in half their forwards. Yeah guy, you work hard. What else you got?

The Sedins, see the above about Naslund. These two are not top line players, but what they are are two of the best second line players in the league. I've made this point before. Nonis has set this team up to fail by putting players in positions that they can't be successful in. The Sedins are not top line players, Kesler is not a top 2 centre, Burrows is not a top 9 forward, and the closest thing they have to a number one defenseman has been relegated to the third pairing.

And Isbister? Come on. The guy has 4 goals and 9 points in 43 games. Half the guys in Manitoba could better those numbers in half the time.

And I STILL say Shannon is too small. This isn't the shinny they play in the east.

[rustybadcock]

I have to disagree with that approach. Remember back in the mid 90s when the Red Wings just couldn't seem to get over the hump...lots of regular season success, nothing in the playoffs. Then they get swept by the Devils in the Finals and it seemed like they were going to trade Yzerman because he 'just wasn't the type of guy that could lead a team in the playoffs'. And then the Wings traded for Shanahan and won back to back Stanley Cups.

How do you think Naslund feels right now? Every year this decade he's shown up and done his best. He was the league's highest scoring player in the first part of the decade, won the Pearson, almost won the Hart and the Art Ross. He's lead the team to two division titles, almost three, and twice they were the best team in the league from Christmas on. When the team did a 360 in its philosophy and asked him to commit to playing defense, he did it. No bitching or whining about it, either. And managment has NEVER gone out and found him help. The biggest deadline move they've made this decade was getting Sanderson and Rucinksy AFTER Bertuzzi was suspended. Talk about taking pop guns to the OK Corral.

And now he's played the entire year as a lame duck captain. It wouldn't surprise me if he's both mentally and physically drained right now, and I wouldn't blame him one bit for retiring after this season and going back to Sweden.

Managment has not supported him at all here. In fact, all they've done for their captain is hang him out to dry year after year.

As for the game, benching Raymond in favour of Linden and Isbister was just stupid. And they wonder why they can't score?

All I see in Pettinger is the same I see in half their forwards. Yeah guy, you work hard. What else you got?

The Sedins, see the above about Naslund. These two are not top line players, but what they are are two of the best second line players in the league. I've made this point before. Nonis has set this team up to fail by putting players in positions that they can't be successful in. The Sedins are not top line players, Kesler is not a top 2 centre, Burrows is not a top 9 forward, and the closest thing they have to a number one defenseman has been relegated to the third pairing.

And Isbister? Come on. The guy has 4 goals and 9 points in 43 games. Half the guys in Manitoba could better those numbers in half the time.

And I STILL say Shannon is too small. This isn't the shinny they play in the east.

I coulda swore there was a time when you yourself were calling for Naslunds captaincy...funny how we change. :wicked: I also recall us agreeing that willie was a true leader....hmmm.

People have been calling the Twins top line guys for over a year now....in the beginning I felt they were an excellent second line to a top line we never had....slowly I moved away from that. Bottom line is, they have to raise their game. This team goes as they do, the numbers don't lie.

How is shannon too small and Raymond isn't? Further, Shannon scored last night....no one else did. Benching a young gun is sometimes the best medicine. You hate Isbister, you hate Linden, I get it however their value is apparent to this line up whether or not you want to see it. Blaming Isbister and Linden for this teams failure is nonsense. They're asked to play roles, the play them. The Twins and Naslund are asked to play roles, they play them every five games or so. So please don't tell me I have to cut Naslund slack cause someone finally showed up and said, "hey man, think you could back check some?"....

Another funny thing, I compared Naslund to Yzerman back while you were gone from HF in a convo with Jack, he had a tantrum and no one's seen him since. :eek: Oh well, truth hurts. I've been saying many things in support of Naslund for a long time, however sooner or later the excuses as you would say, need to dry up and people need to perform. and another thing I don't buy is this "effort" business that I confess, I've swallowed whole now for about a month. Fact is, when they're skating it's great but it's been a long while since 60 solid minutes of hockey have been played by this bunch. And I mean 60 mins man. Their forecheck is inconsistent, they play with almost no heart. The Edmonton game a few weekends ago was about it. Last night I thought we were going to see that again. I wish they spent half the night picking each others mitts off the ice however, they chose to play the duck duck goose sorta game they've played for many nights this year.

for my money, you want out of this have the Twins step aside, for a minute and ice a line up of people who will skate through everything in their paths until the Adam Foote's have seen enough and lose their cool. Further, they pretty much skated around admiring Forsberg. Made me sick. He would have been rocked followed closely by Sakic. I just can't stand that about our boys, they seem to let the other teams stars off the hook while ours spend the night wondering what team they play for and why their asses are so cold.

This, as you and I both know is time for a very simple game plan. Whether or not they get around to understanding that will be told in the next 16 games. The plus is, it wont be long before we know.

RB

[gordphish]

I coulda swore there was a time when you yourself were calling for Naslunds captaincy...funny how we change. :wicked: I also recall us agreeing that willie was a true leader....hmmm.

People have been calling the Twins top line guys for over a year now....in the beginning I felt they were an excellent second line to a top line we never had....slowly I moved away from that. Bottom line is, they have to raise their game. This team goes as they do, the numbers don't lie.

How is shannon too small and Raymond isn't? Further, Shannon scored last night....no one else did. Benching a young gun is sometimes the best medicine. You hate Isbister, you hate Linden, I get it however their value is apparent to this line up whether or not you want to see it. Blaming Isbister and Linden for this teams failure is nonsense. They're asked to play roles, the play them. The Twins and Naslund are asked to play roles, they play them every five games or so. So please don't tell me I have to cut Naslund slack cause someone finally showed up and said, "hey man, think you could back check some?"....

Another funny thing, I compared Naslund to Yzerman back while you were gone from HF in a convo with Jack, he had a tantrum and no one's seen him since. :eek: Oh well, truth hurts. I've been saying many things in support of Naslund for a long time, however sooner or later the excuses as you would say, need to dry up and people need to perform. and another thing I don't buy is this "effort" business that I confess, I've swallowed whole now for about a month. Fact is, when they're skating it's great but it's been a long while since 60 solid minutes of hockey have been played by this bunch. And I mean 60 mins man. Their forecheck is inconsistent, they play with almost no heart. The Edmonton game a few weekends ago was about it. Last night I thought we were going to see that again. I wish they spent half the night picking each others mitts off the ice however, they chose to play the duck duck goose sorta game they've played for many nights this year.

for my money, you want out of this have the Twins step aside, for a minute and ice a line up of people who will skate through everything in their paths until the Adam Foote's have seen enough and lose their cool. Further, they pretty much skated around admiring Forsberg. Made me sick. He would have been rocked followed closely by Sakic. I just can't stand that about our boys, they seem to let the other teams stars off the hook while ours spend the night wondering what team they play for and why their asses are so cold.

This, as you and I both know is time for a very simple game plan. Whether or not they get around to understanding that will be told in the next 16 games. The plus is, it wont be long before we know.

RB

Yeas, and if you'll remember, I backed off and changed my opinion of Naslund about halfway through last season because he lead and the rest of the team followed.

I think Mitchell is a good leader, and one of the best shutdown defenders in the game, but he's not a number one defenseman. And for the people jumping all over this guy now, try to remember he's playing with a broken back. I'd like to see half these people that complain about him get out of bed and go to work with fractures in their vertebrae, let alone play hockey.

Raymond is 6 feet tall and about 170 lbs. Shannon is gasciously listed as 5'9, although I'd eat my socks if he was an inch over 5'6.

So Isbister and Linden play a role...just what role is that? Half the time people scream about how this team can't score, then the other half of the time they are screaming because Linden is in the press box. This team needs scoring, and Raymond scores. Either Linden ir Isbister sits and Raymond plays. If Raymond isn't good enough, then for the love of Krist, get a motherphucking scorer in here already. Either way, stop wasting my time with dead weight like Linden and Isbister, Cowan and Pettinger.

We knew the type of players the twins were going in to the season. I don't know why people expect them to suddenly morph into Gordie Howe and Mark Messier. We saw the challenges they would be faced with as the top line in last year's playoffs, and yet nothing has been done to change things for the better or to help them.

I told you guys over a month ago that you could forget about the division and that this team was in danger of missing the playoffs. If a fan watching on TV and listening on the radio can figure that out, then what the hell is wrong with this team's managment?

The only thing wrong with this team right now is that it doesn't have the offensive talent. Yes, they had enough to win the division last year, but if you chose to stand still once you're out in front of the pack, a funny thing happens; everyone else gets better and passes you by.

[AtLossForWords]

Wow good gameday thread.

I want to say that I really like Ryan Shannon and Mason Raymond. Shannon has a creative approach to the game that this team needs. He's a shifty guy who can help make plays. I think part of the reason why this team didn't score for most of this season is because they neglected his ability to be an offensive weapon when this team was having a hard start to the season.

Raymond is a guy who shows an instinct of how to score a goal all by himself. He's not going to play the best offensive hockey, but there is always room for a guy who's going to try to find a way to get a goal whenever he's got the puck. That is especially valueable when you get a goal without having to play around the boards for two minutes first.

Isbister and Cowan have a very small role on this team, but there is one guy who does it better than both of them with more effort in this organization. Mike Brown is that guy. I really miss what Brown brought to this team, he was fast, he played hard, he fought, and he made sure everyone new he was on the ice by doing good things to spark a team. How many times do you want to wring Cowans neck when he sticks that stick into a defenseman's skates when he's chasing the blueliner behind his own net? When Mike Brown takes a penalty he takes someone with him for five minutes. Cowan will fight, but he'll also take lots of lazy penalties as Isbister will.

It was really a good effort last night, but our top offensive players took to many penalties. Naslund was in the box, Henrik was in the box. You don't see Sakic and Stastny taking penalties for Colorado do you? Daniel, Henrik, and Naslund need to be the same way. They need to put pressure on the other team to draw penalties, not take some of their own and kill our momentum.

Raymond was not the guy to sit, I honestly think Daniel or Henrik needs to take a game in the press box, because they haven't contributed **** lately. Daniel does not have a goal in like six games! He's this team's top goal scorer. I think Daniel, Henrik, and Naslund between the three of them have four assists in their last five and not a single goal.

[rustybadcock]

Wow good gameday thread.

I want to say that I really like Ryan Shannon and Mason Raymond. Shannon has a creative approach to the game that this team needs. He's a shifty guy who can help make plays. I think part of the reason why this team didn't score for most of this season is because they neglected his ability to be an offensive weapon when this team was having a hard start to the season.

Agreed

Raymond is a guy who shows an instinct of how to score a goal all by himself. He's not going to play the best offensive hockey, but there is always room for a guy who's going to try to find a way to get a goal whenever he's got the puck. That is especially valueable when you get a goal without having to play around the boards for two minutes first.

Agreed even more.

Isbister and Cowan have a very small role on this team, but there is one guy who does it better than both of them with more effort in this organization. Mike Brown is that guy. I really miss what Brown brought to this team, he was fast, he played hard, he fought, and he made sure everyone new he was on the ice by doing good things to spark a team. How many times do you want to wring Cowans neck when he sticks that stick into a defenseman's skates when he's chasing the blueliner behind his own net? When Mike Brown takes a penalty he takes someone with him for five minutes. Cowan will fight, but he'll also take lots of lazy penalties as Isbister will.

Agreed big time. Brown smokes guys, skates hard in all cases and when he fights, I particularly enjoy it. Agreed here too.

It was really a good effort last night, but our top offensive players took to many penalties. Naslund was in the box, Henrik was in the box. You don't see Sakic and Stastny taking penalties for Colorado do you? Daniel, Henrik, and Naslund need to be the same way. They need to put pressure on the other team to draw penalties, not take some of their own and kill our momentum.

Bammo! And Gordo, not a shot, just saying, that's the opposite of asking them to become Mess and Howe.

Raymond was not the guy to sit, I honestly think Daniel or Henrik needs to take a game in the press box, because they haven't contributed **** lately. Daniel does not have a goal in like six games! He's this team's top goal scorer. I think Daniel, Henrik, and Naslund between the three of them have four assists in their last five and not a single goal.

If V sat the Twins I'd eat gordo's socks. eewww, gawd it was even hard to write....

RB

[rustybadcock]

Yeas, and if you'll remember, I backed off and changed my opinion of Naslund about halfway through last season because he lead and the rest of the team followed.

Yes I recall that now. Last year in the playoffs, Naslund stepped up, no question.

I think Mitchell is a good leader, and one of the best shutdown defenders in the game, but he's not a number one defenseman. And for the people jumping all over this guy now, try to remember he's playing with a broken back. I'd like to see half these people that complain about him get out of bed and go to work with fractures in their vertebrae, let alone play hockey.

Hey, I do remember this all the time. I am pointing out his fantastic leadership...:confused:

Raymond is 6 feet tall and about 170 lbs. Shannon is gasciously listed as 5'9, although I'd eat my socks if he was an inch over 5'6.

I mentioned something about you socks to lossy....:eek: :no: :no: :eyebug:

So Isbister and Linden play a role...just what role is that? Half the time people scream about how this team can't score, then the other half of the time they are screaming because Linden is in the press box. This team needs scoring, and Raymond scores. Either Linden ir Isbister sits and Raymond plays. If Raymond isn't good enough, then for the love of Krist, get a motherphucking scorer in here already. Either way, stop wasting my time with dead weight like Linden and Isbister, Cowan and Pettinger.

We shall never really agree here......tis okay. We all knew going into this season Linden wasn't playing every game, it was laid out for everyone. Anyone screaming about it has forgotten that.

We knew the type of players the twins were going in to the season. I don't know why people expect them to suddenly morph into Gordie Howe and Mark Messier. We saw the challenges they would be faced with as the top line in last year's playoffs, and yet nothing has been done to change things for the better or to help them.

See reply to lossy

I told you guys over a month ago that you could forget about the division and that this team was in danger of missing the playoffs. If a fan watching on TV and listening on the radio can figure that out, then what the hell is wrong with this team's managment?

And you were right about that too.

The only thing wrong with this team right now is that it doesn't have the offensive talent. Yes, they had enough to win the division last year, but if you chose to stand still once you're out in front of the pack, a funny thing happens; everyone else gets better and passes you by.

See and of course I have to agree but I also see a piss tired team. To me the parade of guys in and out of the line up, the line dancing and the overall demands of the season have run their toll. Like everything, peaks and valleys and I see them climbing out of this one.

RB