The Offseason Thread

A walk in the park. Oh wait, isn't Canadian medicional care first come first served?


Guy Lafleur is scheduled to undergo quadruple bypass surgery tomorrow, per Tony Marinaro.

He's doing ok, thanks. He'd be doing better if I had spent more time working with him. This month has been pretty much a step backwards because I was unable to do much the first couple weeks of the month. I can't deal with him lunging on leash. Abs aren't ready for that yet.

I like the side mirror where it's at, thank you very much.

We'll get back to work after I get back from Germany.

Try a “prong collar”...worked great for our dog. No more pulling/lunging. The doggie libs say that its mean because it hurts the dog. I say BS...it only hurts the dog if they pull to hard/lunge...my dog figured it out in about 5 minutes. No problems since then. 

I'm very close to having the leash issues resolved so it's low on my list of concerns. For the upcoming two weeks, he'll be in a board & train working on behavior modifications. I spent a solid hour yesterday discussing the plan with the trainers. If they're as good as they think they are, they will make plenty of progress. We'll see...

Joakim suited for 20 playoff games last spring; he wasn't a game breaker but Peety seemed to trust him.  playoff ATOI was about 8 minutes..  more when injuries mounted.  Decent in a Dylan DeMelo kind of way.  Iduno, let's see how he does with LA - crappy I hope.   Everyone is high on Simek instantly returning with his Burns mojo, but thats easier said than done.    I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the shark blueline. 

Is Ryan Merkley still in Camp?   He shoots right, but his young history says his brain shoots blanks.

MONTREAL - At the request of Guy Lafleur's family, the Montreal Canadiens have released the following update on his health status.

"Guy Lafleur underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery earlier this morning at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM). This procedure was necessary after a routine examination detected a cardiac issue. The operation was successful, and doctors predict a full recovery after several months of convalescence. The family wishes to thank the entire medical team, as well as the personnel at the CHUM, and will not issue any further comment."

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 26, 2019 – NBC Sports takes hockey fans to the world’s oldest in-use indoor ice arena tonight at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, when the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues face the Detroit Red Wings in the 2019 Kraft Hockeyville USA from Calumet Colosseum in Calumet, Mich.

Me either.....

Is this a work trip? Because if so I have it on good authority that 1 free Friday night in Germany is all the time you need to get into the best type of trouble..

A sunday afternoon or monday AM on top of that (it was unification day) helps too.

Fourth line help?

www.yahoo.com/sports/sharks-rookie-lean-bergmann-could-221918018.html

You can picture Nellie doing that? Did you drop some acid today?😝

So is this a good thing?

#NHL TRADE:
@sjsharks
acquire
D Nicolas Meloche

@avalanche
acquire
G Antoine Bibeau

This guy does not seem like a hard driver:

The former second-round pick now finds himself becoming increasingly buried on the Avs’ defensive depth chart



By Scott_MacDonald@0ffScottFree Sep 26, 2019, 1:30pm MDT

Taken in the second round (40th overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in 2015, as a high draft pick, the table had been set for Meloche to enjoy a bountiful career. Now four years removed, the Avs have selected 10 more defensemen in the drafts following Meloche’s. Fresh, young NHL-ready talent like Cale Makar, Conor Timmins and, most recently, Bowen Byram have joined the mix through subsequent drafts. And since Meloche came aboard, the Avs have also acquired such young talent like Sam Girard, who is locked up for the next eight years on the Avalanche’s backend, and Calle Rosen, another young and offensively-gifted blueliner who is knocking on the doorstep of an NHL roster spot.

It’s safe to assume that each of the aforementioned players have all but springboarded over Meloche on the depth chart.



See, the Avs are now very deep on the defensive end of things, something that couldn’t really be said when Meloche was drafted in ‘15. Colorado’s depth chart is now bursting at the seams with bright, prospective superstars that will man Colorado’s blueline for many years to come. There’s only room for a select few on the defense’s side of the bench, and it’s safe to assume half of them are guaranteed a spot through the next half-dozen seasons or so. For Meloche, the question now becomes: where does he fit in?



“It’s a little bit of pressure, for sure, when they draft other defensemen,” Meloche said. “But it’s not the same style of hockey that I play. Every guy plays a little bit different [of] a role.”


Meloche’s role would be viewed as what the hockey world calls a “two-way defenseman.” Meaning, he plays sound defense while also having a penchant for puck-handling, skating and providing some added offense on the ice. Recently, however, since taking Meloche in the ‘15 draft, general manager Joe Sakic and his staff have shown an inclination towards drafting more and more of these two-way defenseman who all play a similar role as Meloche, i.e., Makar, Timmins and Byram.



“My development may be a little bit slower than those guys,” added Meloche of his recently-drafted defensive depth partners. “I’m going to take it year after year. This year I feel way better physically and skating-wise too. I’ll get more experience and maybe crack the lineup in a couple more years. I’m not in a rush, I’m just trying to get better every day.”


While he may not be in a rush, time is never on anyone’s side, and with the Avs front office adding more and more talent akin to Meloche’s, it speeds up his ever-ticking clock just a bit more.



Second-year Colorado Eagles head coach Greg Cronin has now gotten to see first hand what Meloche is capable of after spending plenty of time with him over the last two seasons in Loveland. Cronin concurs with Meloche’s sentiments that he is developing at his own pace.



“You know, it’s funny, some guys develop later than others,” Cronin added. “Everybody wants a kid to come in his first year and create visibility and show an identity and then his second year he builds on that...Melo [Meloche], during his second year, in his own words probably underachieved his goals.”



With so much pressure to improve, especially with the abundance of talent being added to the pool, underachieving and underperforming is really not an option. The time is now for Meloche to carve out his niche and find his place in this organization.
Meloche’s goal, to get better, it always is. That’s what development is all about. And entering the final year of his entry-level contract, Melo will be due for an extension after this season concludes. Whether or not the Avalanche gives him one remains to be seen. With so much stockpiled talent, the 22-year-old D-man will need to have a break-out year in order to prove he deserves a spot in the organization. For Meloche, he says if he keeps doing his thing, he’s certain he’ll get that extension.



“Just play my style: two-way defenseman,” he said of what it’ll take for him to earn a contract extension. “I mean, last year I had a good year here and trying to do the same and [going] on another deep run in the playoffs will help everyone for next year’s contract, not just me.”



A peak performance from Meloche this season will be a necessity. He has been steadily improving in his first two years of AHL experience. In 2017-18, playing with the San Antonio Rampage, the Avalanche’s former affiliate before the Colorado Eagles turned AHL, he tallied five goals and 17 points in 58 games. Last season, Meloche tied for the most goals (6) among Eagles defensemen and was second on the team among D-men in points (21) in 55 total games.



This season will be a very big, “prove-it” year for a player who is now one of the more “veteran” defensive prospects in the Avs organization. His head coach thinks it’ll be a big year for Meloche to figure out what his identity is as a player.

“Ultimately, he needs to find out what he is as a player,” said Cronin. “He’s not an offensively-gifted guy like a Girard or a Makar; Timmins is a dynamic, offensive player...So where does he fall on the bracket and his use on the team?



“This is a year for him — I wouldn’t say it’s a do-or-die, desperation year — it’s a year where he’s got to take what he learned the first two years and construct an identity for that. At least whatever happens — even if he doesn’t come back [to Colorado] — he can take that with him wherever he goes. That, to me, is what it’s all going to boil down to for him.”



This will be a very big year for Meloche, perhaps the biggest of his young career. To keep his dream alive, Melo needs to decide who he is as a player and where he fits on a depth chart replete with Meloche-like two-way defensive talent. After all, the Avalanche will also be facing a difficult decision come next offseason — keep Meloche or let him go?