Next-day thoughts and observations on Avalanche victory and other team matters

Two of the four Colorado Avalanche victories so far have been nail-biters, and two have been wild blowouts. No doubt, Jared Bednar would like to see a bit more consistency in the middle as we move on to Game No. 8 tomorrow night at Ball Arena against San Jose.

Bednar has seemed slightly exasperated with his team at times so far, and I’m sure it’s about the consistency thing. What you don’t want as a coach is a team that wins big one night, then lets up the next game, then has to have the whip cracked on it some, then responds with a big game, then lets up again. It’s sort of been that way so far, so for me tomorrow’s game will say something about what this Avs team is really like – at least with the proviso of “hey, it’s still early, let’s not overreact either way.”

Bednar has worked hard at preaching a “Let’s play the same way every game” kind of mindset on his troops, to have a short memory after victories, to work even harder the next game. So far, we haven’t seen that from one game to the next so much.

Some other stuff:

• The big question right now: how long will Pavel Francouz be out, and if it’s quite a while, do the Avs really go with Hunter Miska as the backup or do they look for a more proven netminder on the market? It’s going to be an interesting question. I think Miska will at least get a chance to win the job, so to speak. I mean, he already has the job of backup right now, but can he convince Joe Sakic and Co. that they don’t need another guy?
• Whatever happens with the backup, it’s becoming clear that the Avs will probably have to play Philipp Grubauer more than they had originally planned, in the regular season. So far, he’s started six of the seven games – a much higher percentage than the 65% or so that Bednar originally said he wanted for Grubauer.
• I thought Kiefer Sherwood looked pretty good in his first game with the Avs. That leads into another big question around the team right now: how long is Matt Calvert going to be out this time? Can Sherwood be an adequate long-term fourth-line replacement, or should there be an open audition between him and Martin Kaut, maybe Shane Bowers, maybe Logan O’Connor?
• We don’t know what Calvert’s injury is. If it’s another concussion, you really worry about his future.
• I don’t quite get why Bednar ripped on Ryan Graves’ play last night. I thought it was pretty good while he was out there, with a 14-7 Corsi events for-against.
• Avs still haven’t gotten a goal from a fourth-liner this season, and still haven’t gotten a goal from center J.T. Compher.
• I asked around and…zero news about the ongoing Comcast-Altitude mess. I truly can’t believe how long this has gone on, and I can’t believe that, as a Comcast subscriber, I’m still being charged $6.75 a month for “regional sports fee” and yet I can’t watch a damn Avs game on my TV.
• My appearance on 104.3 The Fan yesterday, talking Avs with DMac. Click here to listen.
• Avs will practice at Ball Arena today. Stay tuned for health updates soon after.