Mailbag
Avalanche Mailbag: Let Your Frustrations Out — Ask Us Anything!
The season is over. Mikko Rantanen is on his way to Round 2, and the Avalanche are out in the first round.
What did you think of the Game 7 loss? Was the Rantanen trade a disaster? Who should be held accountable for the embarrassing collapse? Need to vent? Let’s hear it.
Drop your questions in the comments section below. We will pick the best questions and answer them in the coming days. Every subscriber will get at least one question answered.
Get your questions in by 5 pm on Tuesday!
All questions must be submitted in the comments section below.
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My issue isn’t with mikko as that had to happen with the cap space. My question is at what point after the 2nd game do they not make adjustments on the powerplay and stop being so pretty and just shoot, the failure on the powerplay cost us this series and that falls on Bednar, So who do you think will be the coach next yr as Bednar has to go and his staff as well.
he eliminated the team and probably ended the best shot at getting another one with this core. I think a tight cap is worth not having that happen.
I’m making over $13k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is where I started
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HERE—————⊃⫸ https://tinyurl.com/4e9eczre
It didn’t have to happen. More dumb simping for Avs management. I determine this question null & void.
How could Joey ever let that trade go down in the first place. What a stupid move that was and now we’ve paid for it
It will be the gift that keeps on giving . . .
You would think that Sakic knows the value of superstars as much as anyone. Dumb-de-dumb-dumb.
Can we help the goalie more? Blackwood was amazing during the series except he needs to be inside the goal when the opponents are so close so that we dont have goals in the gap beside him. Makar needs to be there more or someone who is better to help the goalie. Something has changed this year with Makar although he has gotten more recognition this year but it’s about his achievements in the past not now. He Is not the same. I love the Avs. My daughter and I go to at 5 or 6 home games. I really… Read more »
Yes, the Avs really need to lock down when they have a 2 goal lead. Too many times the Stars had chances when it was 1v1 or they were all alone in the zone when the Avs had a 2 goal lead.
Do you think the avalanche will actually do anything? With this team it almost seems like they wait to the last possible moment to let someone go or do something. MacFarland and Bednar should be gone, that’s a given. But will the avalanche give them more time?
McFarland doesn’t need let go, he traded him to the East, Bedsy needed to make adjustments and he didn’t
The coach that won a Cup is the issue. Not the GM that traded away a hall of famer for a playoff dropper.
That same GM put together a team that had multiple third period leads in this series. If the team can’t close, that’s on the players and the coach. They were fully capable of winning this series and they didn’t. Playing like s@$& is on the players. Mikko came to play and Cale didn’t match.. Their star was much better than ours. It happens.
They offer him a contract and he keeps turning it down, so they should keep him and maybe lose him for nothing, then everybody would be yelling he should’ve traded him
He shouldn’t have traded a future hall of famer. Top 10 player in the world. In his prime. You figure out the money. You don’t get rid of players like him.
I would like this franchise to go back to where it came from in Quebec City. Would it be possible to ask the NHL for an exemption to ask for a transfer next season? Quebec already has their arena and would already be ready to welcome the team. That would be a good riddance for the city of Denver. We have to face the facts. Hockey is not our sport.
What are you talking about? We’ve won three Cups, and the last one three years ago.
Too many steroids, Rambo.
Mackinnon left speechless and says he doesn’t know where to go from here. What changes, either players or coaches, if any, need to happen to be able to get over these early playoff exits over the last few seasons?
Bednar is not a big game coach.They constantly fold in big games and cannot adjust in game if something is not working.They need a fresh face behind the bench.
After this pitiful failure, would you have enough confidence in Bednar to coach the Eagles next season?
A new page has been turned in Pittsburgh with the departure of Mike Sullivan. It sends a clear message in which direction the team wants to go. Do you think Crosby would be the only possible solution to get the Avalanche back on track and if not, what other solutions do you see?
It makes too much sense. A smart GM should be on the phone with Dubas right now. Then there’s Chris MacFarland . . .
Uh…the Rangers hired Sullivan like 3 days ago. A little late, aren’t ya Chief?
Why has the media always tried to protect Bednar despite the fact that he had been demonstrating for a few years that he was no longer the solution?
Define a few? The Avs won the Cup three years ago?
Here’s two, lost in the first round in the playoffs in 2023 & 2025.
…let me rephrase that, they have only won 1 playoff series in three years.
Aarif, great job this season. Thank you for your stellar coverage! Having Landy back starting in G3 was a huge bonus to the end of the year. He had a tangible impact in nearly every game save a poor G7. But I can’t help but feel that G2 could have been a win if Landy played in place of Wood (i.e., recall Wood bungled his assignment badly in OT and was the root cause of DAL’s game winning OT goal, a game in which COL was better 5v5). I know the organization said Landy wasn’t “ready” until G3, but it… Read more »
They didn’t sell Avalanche merchandise in Dallas. Skog should have been active in every game. Period.
If Makar’s stick doesn’t break, what would have been the result of the game?
An overtime loss, that’s what.
I’m immensely disappointed in the outcome, like many. The team was rebuilt for the stretch run and yet few delivered. My question: why did Colorado sit back time and time again on PP kills, allowing Dallas opportunities to set up and dictate the play— being quite successful on their PP chances? Conversely, Dallas was constantly in motion and pressuring Colorado when they had a PP, forcing mistakes, taking away passing lanes and not giving them time and space. Definitely difference maker in the series.
Could MacFarland really have put a stipulation in the Rantanen trade that Carolina couldn’t trade Rantanen to a Western Conference team? I see that mentioned a lot but was that truly an option?
Yes, I was the one who wrote it first. That MacFarland didn’t demand trade protection was a brain fart of the highest order.
Carolina doesn’t agree to that at all, then we keep Moose, he doesn’t sign and leaves then people complain because he walked for nothing
Carolina would have agreed to a no-trade list. They had zero plans to trade him at the time of the trade . . . until they did.
Carolina wouldn’t have agreed, they knew Mikko wasn’t going to resign with them, but they thought after he got there he would like it and resign
What’s the fix for the anemic PP?
Also, when players are lemons in post season like Kiviranta, why don’t they call up prospects like Ivan Ivan to get some playoff experience and bring new energy?
It’s a simple fix, actually: Nichuskin on the first unit, where his physicality and net-front presence are sorely needed.
Bednar had a couple healthy scratches in Veessy and Wood that he could have swapped out with Kivi. He chose not to.
Yeah, Kivi was a big dud in this series as well. Definitely could have used some more energy and the loss of Colton was bigger than people think. Bednar doesn’t make game day adjustments well. In fact, I do not see any adjustments that he makes. Playing the same way and expecting different results is a recipe for disaster. And that’s what happened.
The fix is simple, No more than three passes before a shot on goal as everyone but one guy on the blue line crashes the net and creates chaos.
Are you across the red line? Put it on net and let someone chase it, Don’t just dump and chase to the corners.Don’t stop and curl on zone entry. Drive the net.
Shoot.
Shoot.
Shoot again.
If you don’t finish with forty-plus shots and eighty-plus attempts EVERY GAME you weren’t trying to win.
If the Avs did replace Bednar, who do you see as a good fit to replace him? There are a lot of teams needing coaches and I would think if the Avs wanted to be at the top of the list, they would need to act fast.
Two words: Rick and Tocchet.
Carle
Does Bednar get the boot for this loss, or is MacFarland the only one to blame? And does he get the boot? Will Sakic participate in a presser about this?
Ever heard of the Double Denver Boot?
I’d like to move on from the debacle known as G7. Let’s talk free agency, players who are a RFA, UFA, and our needs for next year. Who is in each category above and who are the most likely to be brought back?
Why hasn’t Bednar been fired yet? There’s nothing to think about.
Do the avs resign Nelson or spread his $$ over more players? With Landy coming back looks like we have $8MMish in space.
Nelson wants to end his career w MN, his home State. He kinda played like he already had one foot out the door.
Yes – Nelson was much weaker and didn’t have the drive I thought he should have in a Stanley Cup Run. He’ll be happy in Minnesota, cruising with a team that makes the playoffs but never advances. He’s checked out, effort wise, so Minny is a nice way to make some big bucks and ride into the sunset without a Cup. Winning and sacrificing is not the driving force for him.
I get the logic behind the Mikko trade and I don’t hate it. I think it’s crazy revisionist history plus terrible luck to connect games 6 and 7 to the trade. The fire Bednar talk seems lazy and short sighted. Low hanging fruit. The power play profoundly let them down. It’s the probably why they lose the series. How do they fix it? Also, they played well for almost the entire series, but small defensive lapses seemed to lead to key goals from Dallas. For my money, those two things seemed like the difference. Despite seemingly dominating play for long… Read more »
Once again AVS fans are proving to be some of the most fair weather fans in the league. The same people who wouldn’t shut up about Mikko being lazy and a guy who didn’t show up for the playoffs(which is asinine, to say the least, given his more than a point a game average over the last decade), are now complaining about the trade that made obvious sense and will more than pay for itself in the near future. I can’t tell if it’s ignorance or hypocrisy, but it’s absolutely tiresome.
Please do tell how this trade will quote “pay for itself in the near future” lol. Let me break it down for you… Necas makes 6.5 for next season. Drury makes 1.7. That’s just over 8 million combined. This past season they gained a meaningless 1 mill in cap space to utilize essentially on Erik frigging Johnson at the deadline. Who is washed. When they traded Rantanen. Starting next year Rantanen makes 12. Necas has 1 year left at that previously mentioned cap hit. Logically one has to assume he will be looking for a bump in the range of… Read more »
If Rantanen isn’t allowed to be traded to the Stars, he doesn’t score in the series. What part don’t you get, brah?
If Jason Robertson & Miro Heiskanen would of played there would of never been a game 7 bruh!
There were plenty of people such as myself that hated the trade from the moment it broke.
If you watch enough hockey you would realize you don’t trade future hall of famers in their prime. Who fit perfectly within your room & system. Over a 1 – 2 million dollar a year gulf in contract demands. It’s sports malfiecence.
You don’t have a taste for lazy “reactive” thinking. I don’t have the patience or taste for simpy people who I’ve forgotten more about hockey than they’ll ever know.
The Stars are 11-0-3 with Wes McAuley on the ice in the last three seasons. Connect the dots, girls and boys . . .
How much can the Avs actually do to improve the roster, given how many assets they gave up to make all the trades this season? Will the cap go up enough to even be able to afford a second line center? Will they try to retain Brock Nelson?
Listed at 5’10” 170lbs, is Girard just too small to play such an important position against teams like Dallas and Vegas?
Yuppers – EJ should have been in last night
Totes
How about we part with Ray Bennett, hire David Carle to take over PP, asst coach, and be mentored by Bednar. Bednar stumbles…Carle goes in as interim?
or Quenneville and Carle?
Carle isn’t leaving DU to become an assistant no matter what future promises are made to him. He’s already turned down head coaching opportunities because they weren’t good enough.
How much of this can be traced back to not re-signing Nazem Kadri? Feels like we’ve gutted the organization trying to fill that 2C spot.
Definitely miss Kadri’s toughness and guts. That’s sorely lacking on this team.
Thank your buddy CMac for that. Could’ve been brought back. But they didn’t want to pay a 2C, 2C money.
People talk about the Mikko trade, but that wasn’t the issue, Dallas made adjustments and the Avs didn’t make the adjustments to them, is it time for Bednar to be removed and bring in a new voice?
Yup..nothing to see there lol. 11 pts in the last 3 games. Natural hat trick in game 7. Right…minimal impact for sure!
Lehky-Mac-Necas
Landy-(Bennett or Marchand)-Nichuskin
Colton-Coyle-Drouin
Kelly-Drury-Mayor
Kivi
trade-Girard picks -cap space
trade-Wood for picks – cap space
Drouin is not welcome here.
Necas has never showed up for posts season, that’s why Canes dumped him.
Yeah..if they re – sign Drouin especially at a lucrative number. I’m out lol.
Hooray! You mean you’ll move to Dallas and follow your heartthrob Rants and never post on CHN again?
Salty are we that I was 1000% right. And you & the other bozos that simp for CMac look Iike the goofs you are?
If I heart Rantanen. What to make of your obsession with Girard? At least my point is grounded in reality. Nothing Girard did or didn’t do swung this series one way or another.
Unless you want to fault him for a puck going off his skate. When if not for another stellar CMac addition that you lauded (Lindgren) looking lost on said sequence, Girard wouldn’t have even been in that position.
A championship-caliber team with championship-caliber management never loses a player that they absolutely don’t want to lose. Ever. Somehow, they will find a way to keep him. If it comes down a losing a superstar or being forced to play with three mininum-wage players on the fourth line, I’ll take the piss-poor fourth line 101 times out of 100. The Rantanen travesty ripped the heart out of this franchise and fan base, and I fear it will take years to get it back.
Championship Caliber Management doesn’t trade away a Hall of Famer for a choke artist.
Ding-ding-ding-ding!
Do you think Macfarland regrets the trades made over the last two years? Bo for Casey Mittelstadt, who you flipped at this deadline and had to attach a high draft pick to. Ritchie, who was our number one prospect, and multiple picks for Nelson, who might leave in free agency. And the Rantanen trade, which in hindsight obviously didn’t go our way.
The team needs another Superstar, right? All this talk of being “too top heavy” wound up with a team with overwhelmed superstars and choke artist mid players.
They gotta bring back Brock Nelson, right? Charlie Coyle as the 2C feels like a disaster waiting to happen. He’s a good player but not a front line player.
Islanders won the Nelson deal. I thought he and Nuke were going to gel, but he looked best after he first arrived and now seems like a 3C.
Coyle helped us out a lot on face offs.
How Can the Avs trade a superstar? Why did they blindside MIKO and not tell him first they would trade him?
Byram for Mittelstadt Moose for Necas Mittelstadt for Coyle (I know there’s extra pieces in the last two but they sorta washout between the two moves so I didn’t include them) Johanssen and a first for Sean Walker Cal and a First for Nelson outside of Blackwood it feels like MacFarland lost most of the trades he made. Outside of Kovalenko who was used to acquire Blackwood it feels like they haven’t found a contributor in the farm since Makar. Feels like these issues compound each other. I don’t think there’s an easy solution but I feel confident in saying… Read more »
Agreed. C-Mac made a big swing and a miss! What next will he do? Seems to overpay on each deal. I understand his logic about Rantanen trade. Disagree. You just don’t trade a superstar like that… He makes your team better. Guys like Necas are more common. There are other ways to create depth. The way it was handled is a joke and Mikko made us pay! Credit to Mikko for being a class act! This collapse needs huge accountability. It starts with C-Mac. 2022 buys Bednar a year for me. However he needs to make changes in staff or… Read more »
Does anyone else think they need to overhaul the bottom 4 D? Can’t have 5 of 6 D six ft or shorter. We get manhandled all day long in the playoffs when physicality increases. I’d also sat a team structured around speed and skill rarely wins in the playoffs and is something they should tho k about changing.
Everyone knows Wood is gone. Who’s Cap casualty surprise? Sneaky value on Sam Girard.
Sure, Sammy G is a great regular season “D” man that eats up a lot of minutes but is a huge liability in the playoffs. If you can remember, Sammy G was out after the Blues series and the Avs won the Cup without him. Stouter defense with JJ and E.J.
Love how you accuse me of having some obsession with Rantanen. Yet every comment you mention Girard & his lack of size.
In your mind Girard, a #3/4 defenseman is more responsible or liable for the Avs loss. Than them trading away a future hall of famer?
Everyone has grown tired of early round exits, and with Landy back and playing well, no Val drama as an excuse and a (mostly) healthy roster against a Dallas team missing Robo and Miro, something has to give and it only makes sense it’s Bednar and/or MacFarland on the hot seat. Which do you think is more likely and what odds to you give to seeing a coaching change? Replacement guesses?
NHL coaches have been fired for far less than we’re witnessing. Bednar has only been past the 2nd round once. Assuming he is let go, what do you think of some of the replacement options?
Rick Tocchet, Dave Hakstol, Peter Laviolette, Gerard Gallant to name a few.
Quenville and Torts if you want controversial options. (Both have won it all behind the bench)
Or -David Carle if you feel you can trust him. (Kris Knoblauch went on a run [beat Dallas] last year despite inexperince at the pro level)
Peter Laviolette, oh hell no…
To quote Mack: “I don’t know what we’re going to do”. I’ll simply ask you, what in the world are the Avs going to do?
Which available coaches would be able to break Deboer’s 9-0 streak in Game 7s?
What was MacFarland’s worst decision and Bednar’s worst decision since they were in office.
Why would you decide to give MacFarland and Bednar another chance? Would you trust that things might be different next time?
Do you think it was Kiviranta’s hat trick against the Avalanche that prompted the Avalanche to bring this player back? Do you think Rantanen’s hat trick in Game 7 against the Avalanche could bring the same results?
Since taking office, do you think MacFarland has done a good job and why?
Do you think people had too high expectations given their disappointment with the result of Game 7 given that Deboer was 8-0 in Game 7, that Bednar had never won a series against Deboer in 3 attempts and that the game was in Dallas?
Do you believe Brock Nelson will stick around? Like, would he even want to stick around, and would the team even want him back? If the answer is no to any of those questions, is there any likelihood that we could do what Carolina did last year with Guenzel and trade his signing rights to another team (likely Minnesota) to recoup at least some of what we gave up to get him? I simply can’t accept that we would give up the best forward prospect we’ve had since Rantanen, and not have anything to show for it just a few… Read more »
Following this embarrassing elimination, have you thought about or taken steps with other sports venues to cover a team other than the Avalanche? Are you still as motivated by your work?
What would be the biggest move the Avalanche could make this summer?
If you had been MacFarland, how much money would you have given to Rantanen?
If we only look at the Avalanche team and not the opponent, who are the culprits of the elimination (forwards, defensemen, goaltender, coach, GM) and why?