hockey
We talk pucks and objects of that kind. We yell, complain, and analyze in the language of hockey fandom. Gretzky can do no wrong.
Avalanche Game 51 Recap: Jersey Boys
The second half of the Colorado Avalanche's season started with a six-game Eastern road swing; holy moley! Game One of that road trip saw the Avs in Madison Square Garden, and it was an overtime loss to the New York Rangers. The team had to get right back to work on the following day, but the Avs didn't have to go too far, as this game was in New Jersey against the Devils. The first meeting was a wild one that saw a lot of chaos and penalties, but the Avalanche prevailed.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 50 Recap: Back to Work
It's been a minute since the Colorado Avalanche last took the ice. A lot has happened since the Colorado Avalanche's last game. Of course, there was this big thing in Toronto known as the NHL All-Star Game, with the Avalanche being represented by Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Alexandar Georgiev. The trio played on a team captained by MacKinnon, but the group lost to a team captained by Connor McDavid in the opening minigame of the four-team tournament, which was won by the team captained by Toronto's home superstar, Auston Matthews.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedA Look at the Canadian Teams' Standings Entering the NHL All-Star Break
Canada's Stanley Cup drought reached 30 years even after last season saw none of their seven franchises made it past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Since 2011, these have been the seven Canadian teams in the NHL: the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, the Montréal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Winnipeg Jets. Only the Jets (both versions) have never been to the Final, and out of the six who have been there, only the Canucks and Senators haven't won the Stanley Cup.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedThe Monumental Career of Grant Fuhr
If you're familiar with my writing, then you know a lot of my career pieces on NHL players, both current and former. I've written quite a few stories, but I have yet to do one on a goaltender...until now. Two of my stories have centered on two very important and notable players in NHL history: Willie O'Ree and Jarome Iginla. As we all know, Willie O'Ree broke the NHL's color barrier, and set the stage and the bar for players such as Donald Brashear, P.K. Subban, Dustin Byfuglien, and Quinton Byfield, among others. The aforementioned Jarome Iginla raised that bar with his stellar numbers in his spectacular career, but there's another important name that needs to be mentioned: Grant Fuhr.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedThe History of the Smythe Division
Each of the four classic divisions had a special attribute. The Adams Division had an even mix of Original Six and WHA flavor, plus there was the fact that none of the teams involved liked the Bruins. The Patrick Division struck a huge blow for pro sports in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Norris Division was quite the classic division, mainly because three of the teams were in the Original Six. All three divisions had their special features and their stories to tell.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedThe Avalanche Opens on the Upswing at Brewster Ice Arena
On Sunday December 10, the Avalanche opened their hockey season at the Brewster Ice Arena versus the Rockland Rockies. With girls from John Jay, Mahopac, North Salem and Fox Lane, a downsizing of sorts has taken place since last year, which doesn’t sound like a good sign for the sport in our area. But in fact, the opposite is true.
Rich MonettiPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 49 Recap: Preparing for the Break
The Colorado Avalanche were coming off a very big win against the Washington Capitals, where Nathan MacKinnon, well, did it again. Another four-goal game for the man leading the way in the Hart Trophy race, and five points over all in the Avs' 6-2 win. MacKinnon left that night as the points leader, but entering this night, he was behind Nikita Kucherov by one point. Seriously, this will be one hell of a race.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 48 Recap: The Natural
It's been 11 seasons, and I still can't believe we have such a superstar in Nathan MacKinnon. I remember the tail end of that shortened 2012-2013 season, and Avs fans were talking about the draft. Who would we get? Seth Jones was talked about a lot, but then this Nathan MacKinnon kid became the hot topic. So that was the name we decided to go with. We drafted MacKinnon, and he had quite the rookie year. Got his first taste of the playoffs, had 10 points. Eight of them were assists, three of them were in Game One. Back then, I thought, "We have ourselves a good one here."
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 47 Recap: Top Nate Dogg
Saturday saw the Colorado Avalanche's five game road trip come to an end. What a trip, though. Game 1 was the comeback win in Toronto. Game 2 was the heartbreaking loss in Montreal. Game 3 featured another comeback in in Ottawa, and Game 4 was a tough loss in Boston. The fifth and final game of this road trip sees the Avs in Philadelphia against a Flyers team who appears to be playoff bound.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in UnbalancedAvalanche Game 46 Recap: Carb Overload
It's Game Four of the Colorado Avalanche's five game road trip, and after playing three games in Eastern Canada, the boys are back stateside. This time, the Avs are in Boston facing off against the Bruins, with the game taking place on the anniversary of Willie O'Ree breaking the NHL's color barrier. This finishes off the season series, as the first meeting was a 4-3 shootout win for the Avalanche.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in Unbalanced- Top Story - January 2024
A Spirit That Fears Nothing
There are many sound reasons to repudiate professional sport in general and NHL hockey in particular. After all, the game has been as utterly defiled by cynical, avaricious late-stage capitalism as every other aspect of contemporary existence. The ordinary fan is incessantly encouraged by marketers and advertisers to gamble, guzzle alcoholic beverages and devour kilograms of fast food, which is a bald oxymoron if you contemplate it for a moment. Salaries are stratospherically inflated, as are ticket prices, and what passes for discourse generated by the participants in, and commentators upon, the game is so full of cliches and verbal false limbs that Orwell’s ghost will never stop screaming.
D. J. ReddallPublished 2 months ago in Unbalanced Avalanche Game 45 Recap: Still Finding a Way
Fresh off a devastating loss in Montréal, the Colorado Avalanche were off to Canada's capital, Ottawa, for the second and last meeting with the Ottawa Senators. The first meeting was a memorable one, as it saw Nathan MacKinnon score four goals in that outing. Regarding Part 2, the Avs were still looking to keep pace with the red hot Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division standings, as the loss in Montréal kept the Avs from moving past the Jets.
Clyde E. DawkinsPublished 2 months ago in Unbalanced