If you hoooooold on for one more day
Things will go your waaaaaaaay
(Hold on for one more day)

No trolling intended, but I, as an Av fan, can’t wait to see what you have to write about Kurt Sauer Jeff Finger.

In my opinion he is the better of the 2 D the Avs lost this off-season. But 3,5M for 4 years is quite dear.

I said better – even if his numbers are the same, he’ll have done it all by his lonesome.

Mats isn’t skating yet, and he’s coming off a groin injury. At 37-38, he’s a walking groin bomb if he tries to play. I think he’s done.

Ok, I apparently managed to miss two of his assists somewhere down the line but here’s what I have:

Goals Scored (Assist by Mats): 12
Goals Scored (no assist by Mats): 14
Assists on Mats’ goals: 6
Assists on others’ goals: 22
Points while Mats is on the ice: 37
Points while Mats is not on the ice: 17

Like I said, two assists are missing. The last two lines make things tough to gauge because they played so much together that it’s hard to see how much each one affected the other because they complement each other so well.

The big question is how many games will Antropov miss due to injury?

Points while Mats is on the ice: 37
Points while Mats is not on the ice: 17

This stat here might have the most weight in an argument whether or not Antropov will be a better player with or without Mats. Lets face it, if Mats and Ano where on the ice together, opposing players will have one eye on the puck and another on Sundin. Even if Sundin doesn’t touch the puck, his play opens the ice for lesser players like Ano…
I’m not saying Antropov is not good but he’s no Sundin. As for his point total this coming year, I would have to say it will be less then the past but that really depends on who will be his line mates and plus contract years always bring out the most in players.

mats will be back. the big swede and the big kazakh will be reunited.

If Antropov plays the way he did for chunks of last year the big question for me is whether his line mates can take advantage of the opportunities he creates by using his size. If he’s healthy and his line clicks I think he might be able to improve his numbers, and he might benefit from moving to center as well if someone else emerges as a bona fide 1st line winger. Having said that, he and Poni will miss Mats when they’re cycling the puck. Those three were hard to take the puck away from when they were all using their size.

No one’s really considered this, but maybe Nikki’s just a very slow learner. The big guy finally started using his body this past year, both in front of the net and down low along the boards, and WHADDYAKNOW? It worked!

Sure, there’s no denying the impact of playing on Mats’ wing, but I’d argue that the departure of number 13 just leaves room for slightly different strategy with that cycle that worked so marvelously. Ponikarovsky and Antropov can still cycle the puck very effectively with two people along the wall, and if you put someone with a nice shot around the slot or hatch marks and they’ll generate a lot of scoring chances.

So we’ll see. I guess it’s best to assume a stance of cautious optimism for the Kazakh, hoping the Borat praise will keep him healthy. Hopefully he’ll surprise us again this year.

(Long time lurker, finally decided to sign up.)

Holy crap! New posters comming out of the woodword!

The Watergate Woodward?