Avalanche Country Today (2/16/07) ~ Climb Every Mountain

[RMH]

Avalanche Country Today
~ Friday, February 16th, 2007: Climb Every Mountain ~
volume 2, number 83 (#204)
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News and Perspectives about Colorado Hockey Welcome to this edition of ACT. Here is today's menu: Daily Snap! Joe Sakic Game Recap: Avs v. Flames, by Americanario Sidebar: February Schedule/Results In the Papers: Articles from the hockey press. We would all like to wish one of our own, Missy, a speedy recovery today. Calgary buried at home by a surging Avalanche by Americanario The Avs have not beaten Calgary in their last 5 meetings. The Avs have not won in Calgary in 5 chances as well. The Flames are 23-5-1 at home this season while the Avs are 11-12-1 on the road. Not to mention that in the only two meeting this season the Avs have been outscored 12-5. So coming into tonight's game things were not looking good for the Avalanche even after posting a 2-0 win at home against Anaheim. From the start the Avs played well. Calgary got some chances but the Avs were jumping on pucks, and finishing checks. During the second 5 minutes of the game the Avs seemed to be controlling the play as they maintained pressure in the Calgary zone. But the Avs made one mistake as they left Iginla alone in the high post and he made them pay as he nailed a shot past Budaj for a 1-0 lead. 2 minutes later the first line for Calgary made Colorado pay for mistakes again as Conroy scored after receiving a pass for former Av Alex Tanguay and the Flames had an early 2-0 lead. But the Avs kept digging away. Late in the game the Avs drew a penalty. But Calgary killed the penalty to Regehr only to have Regehr get whistled 14 second later for his second hooking penalty. The Avs controlled the face off, got the puck behind the net and Andrew Brunette hit a net crashing Joe Sakic who beat Kiprusoff for goal #599 taking the Avs into the locker room down 1-2. The Flames have out scored the Avs handily in the second period in previous games and it looked like they were going to have a chance to get more as they started the second period with left on the PP after Brad Richardson took a slashing penalty at the end of the first. But the Avs continued to play strong and aggressive on the penalty kill. They pk unit kept the Flames to the outside for most of the 2:00. And when Calgary did get shots, the Av blocked them, knocked them down, and cleared the puck from the zone. The Avs picked up a little momentum after killing the penalty and Brunette was able to deposit a rare rebound to tie the game 2-2 at 5:47. But then two more costly mistakes hurt the Avs as the Flames scored at 7:35 (Lombardi) and at 15:09 (Iginla's 2nd). After Iginla's goal Joel Quenneville pulled Peter Budaj (who had stop 16-20 shots) for the second time in three games. The Avs responded taking regaining control of the period and then at 17:33 with Phaneuf in the box for interference, the Avs were able to pick up a power play goal from Milan Hejduk; who has suddenly become hot, having scored goals in his last three games. With the clock winding down to the end of the 2nd period it looked like the Avs were going to go into the locker room still down one goal even after out shooting the Flames 16-9. But on what seemed to be a harmless shoot by Karlis Skrastins, Hedjuk again beat Kiprusoff. Skrastins took a wide shoot that Kiprusoff apparently expected to go around the net, but it bounce toward the front of the net where Hejduk was able to tuck the puck in behind the cheating goaltender. So with 43 seconds left in the second the games was tied to set up what was to be a very exciting 3rd period. The Avs again came out strong in the third period, which, though being their best period of the season, has not been good to the Avs. The Avs had a couple of good chances early, but Kiprusoff was strong in net until a hard shot by Brett Clark got through him and slow squeaked toward the goal mouth. Richardson immediately began to celebrate as he thought Clark had scored, but the official behind the net waved it off as no goal as a Flame player clear the puck from the crease. Seconds later the call came from upstairs that they were going to review the no-goal. Video replay clearly showed the puck crossing the line and the Avs had their first lead of the game at 5-4. Unfortunately it didn't last long as Lombardi scored his second to tie the game just 2:00 later. But the man possessed, Milan Hedjuk would not be denied and he beat Kiprusoff 1:25 later for the his 21st goal of the season and the hat trick. Hedjuk's goal would prove to be the winner, but it wasn't easy. The Avs still had to play a strong game against the Division leader for 9:30, and as any hockey fan can tell you. 9 minutes is a lot of hockey, especially against a team that has become as strong offensively as the flames have this season. But the Avs played even stronger as they got strong fore checking, they stood the flames up at the blue line, chased down pucks, block shots, and just frustrated the Flames through another 8 minutes of play. With just over a minute left in the contest the flames finally got the puck far enough down the ice to pull Kiprusoff, but the Avs never let the get control of the puck in the zone. After a few attempts at the open net, Paul Statsny was able to find Joe Sakic in front of the net. Mr. Clutch, Super Joe put in the 'easy' goal to seal the game as well as put him in an elite class of Hockey players as he became only the 17th player in history to score 600 goals. He is one of 3 active players to achieve this mark, the other two Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shannahan (both currently with the NY Rangers) also achieved the 600 goal mark this season. Though in considerably different fashion, the Avs have now won back-to-back wins against teams ahead of them in the play off race. Considering that the Avs next four games come against division opponents, with two of the next three also coming against Calgary. This was a big and necessary win if the Avs hope to make a claim on one of the few remaining playoff spots. But their excellent play as of late must continue as this has been a team who as struggled to put together good efforts every night. If the Avs are going to continue this run the must continue to get good play from Joe Sakic, Milan Hedjuk (who is currently burning hot having scored 5 goals and picking up 4 assists in his last five games), the youngsters Wolski and Stastny, as well as continuing to dominate on the special teams, and getting good physical pressure from the defense. Karlis Skrastins played in his 490th straight game to extend his record and Joe Sakic has a 6 game point streak (5 goals, 8 Assists); Paul Stastny also has a 6 game point streak (4 goals, 4 assists). Congratulations to Joe Sakic for yet another milestone in his exceptional career and Milan Hejduk for his 3rd hat-trick!	Daily Snap! Carry That Weight... #19 Joe Sakic Photo by Bling February Schedule/Results 2/1 - Thu - Minnesota - L, 5-3 2/3 - Sat - Edmonton - L, 2-3 2/6 - Tue - Florida - W, 5-4 OT 2/8 - Thu - Atlanta - L, 6-3 2/11 - Sun - Dallas - L, 7-5 2/13 - Tue - Anaheim - W, 2-0 2/15 - Thu - Calgary - W, 7-5 2/17 - Sat - 8:00 PM at Calgary 2/18 - Sun - 8:00 PM at Vancouver 2/20 - Tue - 7:00 PM Calgary 2/22 - Thu - 7:00 PM Minnesota 2/24 - Sat - 8:30 PM at Los Angeles 1510 AM Altitude 2 2/25 - Sun - 6:00 PM at Anaheim 2/27 - Tue - 7:00 PM Columbus It's All About Lappy.. for Charity Be a part of the Ian-Crowd! Visit the Website to order your "It's All About Lappy" t-shirt! "I love the game, I love to play. I am like a kid everyday. The day I am going to take it as work is the day I am going to have to retire." -Ian Paul Stastny assisted on Sakic's 600th goal. Joe scored his first goal as a teammate of his dad, Peter. With another four points this season, Paul will break the rookie scoring record for the Avalanche, held currently by Alex Tanguay with 51 points.
In The Papers
From the Rocky Mountain News: Joe Sakic scores 600th goal in 7-5 win over Calgary It's not often a player draws an ovation from his teammates upon entering the dressing room. Avalanche-Flames faceoff WELCOME BACK NHL numbers, notes & quotes NUMBERS GAME Flyers trade Forsberg to Nashville The Philadelphia Flyers finally traded Peter Forsberg, sending the star center to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent and two draft picks. Fanning the Flames When the Avalanche plays Calgary tonight at the Pengrowth Saddledome (7, Altitude), it will be the first of three games against the Flames in a six-day period, and the third of eight regular-season meetings between the Northwest Division teams this season. From TSN: Crosby, Penguins visit Devils on TSN The top two teams in the Atlantic Division do battle tonight as the New Jersey Devils welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to Continental Airlines Arena. The game can be seen live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Canucks look for win in Chicago The surging Vancouver Canucks look to knock off the only team that has beaten them convincingly over the past month when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks. Report: Coyotes, Tellqvist reach deal After reaching agreements with Shane Doan and Mike Zigomanis earlier in the week, the Phoenix Coyotes have locked up goaltender Mikael Tellqvist. Sakic scores 600th as Avs top Flames Joe Sakic scored twice, including his 600th career goal, and added three assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 7-5 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Sakic reached the 600-goal plateau by scoring into an empty net, becoming the 17th player in NHL history to record the achievement. Milan Hejduk had three goals for the Avalanche (28-25-4), which has won two straight.
A presentation of Avalanche-Country.com
Many thanks to the Mayor for the signature, and to today's contributors!	Avalanche Country Today is brought to you by: RMH ..................... Editor Today's Contributors Americanario ........ ACT Contributor Bling ..................... Stellar Photographer MGISJ ................... ACT Golf Pro If you would like to contribute to ACT please email avalanchecountry@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!

[Kels]

Last night was fun.
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[bling]

Yes, I think it was one of the funnest games the Avs have played this season. With Joe's 600th and Milan's hatty and the exciting back and forth action, it was a good game to watch for sure. But the best part was the Avs won!

[Americanario]

RMH: You might want to do just a little editting before posting game-recaps. I write mine after the game and I am often tired and mentally worn out (especially after last nights game) so I am prone to mistakes. But thank you for giving us closet sports writers a chance to be part of the site!


Last night was fun, but hard on the heart.
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Now and then we had the hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be PIRATES.
-Mark Twain-

[avs4me]

Oh...it was such a great game tonight. Oh Captain, my captain I love you to death! Yet again when the team needs somebody to carry them Captain Joe takes them on his shoulders and does it again.

I must say that I really do think Jose did a good job last night but everybody on here already knows how I feel about the goalie situation.

Looking forward to tomorrow night.
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Great Moments Are Born from Great Opportunities - Herb Brooks

[avs4me]

Welcome back everybody! Have you all had a good summer, mine was far too long, and I'm sure the Avs players will agree. Enough about the past...it's a new season now, and I'm ready to go. Sorry for this being under an old post but I'm no longer a mod here so I can't post topics

I am really going to try and give accurate reports this year as much as possible. I got so irritated at the end of last season, I lost interest. BTW, does anybody know how Theo got injured? I was listening to Coach Q show on the Fan yesterday morning and he said he hoped he would be recovered in time to play a few preseason games.

Now to important details (mostly stolen from the Avs website ;-) ). All players will report for physicals etc. tomorrow (September 13th)

[Kipruss3]

Physicals suck.

I watched a special on the team, oh first or second season, where they showed the pre season physicals. Do you remember "presidents fitness challange" where they made you see how many pullups you can do, and sit ups, and pushups?

imagine that - only on hockey terms.
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I laugh at everyone's pain but my own... I'm French! (LeFrog - Flushed Away)