Guerilla Sports | Guerilla Hockey with JJ and Jesse | Road woes continue for Colorado Avalanche

JJ Jerez is joined in-studio by Jesse Montano, who came straight from Detroit to breakdown the latest Avs’ loss away from Ball Arena, and the boys get into what a potential remedy could be.

What’s up everybody welcome back to another edition of gorilla hockey with JJ and Jesse Jesse is back in the house it’s been what like a month Jesse uh I think it’s been a month since you and I have been on this show together yes yeah and uh of course Jesse came straight

From the airport you could tell he’s still wearing his airport fit um so don’t throw any stones at him he’s just trying to be comfortable and courteous shouldn’t say that my Crocs my airport fit I wear these as often as I possibly can oh no if I could wear these up into

The Press Box I would U I don’t know if I’d sit by you if that was the case you should say that until you try them on I probably won’t try him on well I mean I wouldn’t let you try these ones on are too special to me anyway Jesse’s

Back from the airport from his flight to Detroit Avalanche lose in Detroit last night and overtime um Jesse I think I want to start this podcast because it’s been so long since you and I have sat here together mainly because you’ve been on the road yeah and what’s been going

On on the road a ton of avalanche losses this year the Avalanche 13 13 and five on the on the road this year I want to get your thought me and Evan have been spitting it back and forth the last couple weeks what do you think is

Troubling this team on the road what can you pinpoint if anything that is making this team just not a good road team this year um at at this point like like right now I think it’s in their head MH I I think I think the fact that they are struggling

On the road and and they’re like giving some games away the disaster of a six-game road trip they all say to a man still today that the Rangers game was their best game of that trip they found a way to lose it late uh last night in Detroit

And and granted you’re talking about a one- nothing lead you know you’re waiting for that to break at some point um but it was just a few minutes left the Red Wings tie it up uh the ABS take a penalty with just seconds left on the

Clock and it looked like it was maybe going to cost them the point um they had opportunities and overtime but there was a different vibe in the locker room last night last night wasn’t a uh we disappointed about the loss there was it felt a little

Like son of a [ __ ] like come on getting frustrated with themselves over a bigger stretch here I don’t know if you watched uh my chat with kale Mar after kale Mar always stands up you know speaks loudly Yep this is what’s going on I you know I

Struggled here and I was sitting there and I asked him you know hey can I grab me and he said yeah go ahead or he said yeah sure so I stood back and waited for him because again I I I always apologize probably too much to guys in the locker

Room but like I do feel bad when we walk up from like ah hold on I’m getting this done I’m so I took a step back let him get his skates off or whatever and he looks at me go I’m just going to sit go

Ahead and that was the first thing to me where I was like o this feels different in here I walked into that room after the four nothing loss in Florida and kale marar stood in there and and you know said hey you know

We got to be better we got to do this we got to do that that wasn’t acceptable there there was a sense last night that I got of just really frustrated really frustrated with the results they’re getting on the road they’re just not looking like themselves plain and simple

And you know you can even look at I think it was 10 games in a row the Avalanche had beaten the Detroit Red Wings yeah and now all of a sudden I mean and again one little thing here or there the Avalanche win that game right

It wasn’t a a disaster it wasn’t a debacle 4 nothing like Florida game was this was a close game they almost had it lost had a couple chances in overtime too even look at Bow baram’s uh breakway Breakaway there he could have won it right there so not awful by any means

You still get a point so I think there’s there’s positives to take away but I think there’s there’s bigger things at at hand like you’re mention mention in like kale Mar’s even mentioning that they’re having a hard time solving and some of these things have been apparent

All season long and haven’t been able to make any progress on them some of them are are maybe some things that are popping up just now that they need to iron out and and over time will probably iron out but it’s just kind of one of those parts of the Season well

And I do also feel it’s a little bit of what you just said where it’s just like you’re in this weird part of the season but again last night this team is very good at and it’s led by Jared bedar at focusing on the process and not necessarily the results win or

Lose uh who was it was just telling me a couple days ago you’re going to have games that you play really well and you don’t win you’re also going to have games that you don’t play that well and you do win um and that’s why again that’s part of the

Thing part of what I think makes this team as good as they are is that they are very good at stepping back and saying wof yeah we won four to three but or four to two but yikes that was you know that was ugly that was this that

And the other um last night I felt like they did a lot of things right to me when I look at where this team is at you know the results are getting on the road what you just said of it’s that time of year or it’s just it’s an odd time of year

Like I I I just think that they are kind of going through it a little bit right now where they’re almost expecting things to go wrong on the road you know they get a lead and then look at the game in Washington that they

The the one game they did win on the six game trip they jump out to that two nothing lead they’re playing great they’re playing fantastic kind of a fluky play goes against them it’s in the back of their net and it felt like the ABS couldn’t recover and Washington gets

Another one and suddenly you’re right back in a tie game and you’re having to scramble a bit and and again they come out on the right side of that one um but again just a little bit like that last night it felt like where Detroit tied it and then suddenly the ABS were

Having to like just hold on as where I think when this team is at its best and what we see from them at home is they don’t sit on leads they don’t sit back and and play not to lose they play to win they they’re pushing Pace they’re they’re pushing you know

They’re skating north south um it just feels like when things start to get away from them on road right now they’re panicking a little bit and kind of to use the phrase that they used earlier in the season start freelancing and it’s leading to the bad results yeah it

Almost felt like last night they were hoping to win one nothing right I agree with that and you talk about we both talked about the the weird point of the season I mean the avalanch aren’t the only ones we see Dallas sliding right now we know what’s going on in

Vancouver uh Edmonton is going through it again it’s just that time of year and you know me Jesse I’ve been a better for since I was 18 I’m 35 now I’ve been betting a long time and in in doing so I’ve learned that there’s a kind of a

Pattern in the NHL season the early parts of the season are tough to bet on because you’re not sure what new teams are are coming out what new guys new additions on individual teams how they’re going to make the rest of the team look so it’s really tough to

Predict uh results then about Christmas time December there’s a bit of a Slowdown and the teams you expect to win are winning mhm then right around this time it becomes unpredictable again because some teams are are pushing for a playoff Spa some teams have checked out some teams are still trying to figure

Themselves out and then at the end of the season it becomes predictable again so I just feel like we’re kind of in that stage of there it’s chaos and it’s meant to be it’s it’s like this every year so I don’t want to get too too

Caught up on on tough results right now because like I’ve said a lot of times March presents a magnificent opportunity for the Avalanche to to rebound and really pile on some wins you’re 100% right and and I I’m with you like I don’t get caught up in what’s the most recent result because

Like at the end of the day when you take a step back here’s what’s so funny and and I learned myself and Megan Angley last year learned firsthand how much Twitter isn’t a real place if you go get on Twitter right now everybody’s losing their mind and if you remember

Early in the season last year uh the ABS lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago and on Twitter I mean it was literally like I mean every reply every tweet about the Avalanche was like they’re going to miss the playoffs there you know they should probably sell off a

Couple assets at the deadline try to recoup some picks you know we’ll see blah blah blah blah blah and we went and stood out front of ball Arena and asked people 1 to 10 how were you about the Avalanche and 95% of people said like three or less so like I know people

Aren’t actually freaking out right now just the Twitter people right just the Twitter Twitter users but but like what is so funny about the Twitter users freaking out had they won last night had they gotten the one extra point they would be back tied for first

Place in the central with the team and here’s the other part that bu kills man the amount of replies I get that are like this team can’t hang with d or Winnipeg it’s like oh the team they’re tied with and the team they’re ahead of in the standings yeah they they probably

Can’t hang Winnipeg has games in hands but it’s just I step back and look at all that and say they’re they’re comfortably in a playoff spot they’re going to get in they may have to start on the road if you know if they don’t get things cleaned up but you deal with

That and and you trust that the group you’ve put together whatever they do here in a couple weeks you say we trust that this is a group that can flip to Switch and Go go mhm uh as they’ve shown they have the ability to every year of

This core making into the playoffs with the exceptional last year yeah it’s like uh people who listen to our show a lot have heard us bring up Mark right Mark helps us around here a lot at gorill of sports uh really brilliant when it comes to videography and production not so

Much a hockey fan right but the last I would say four or five weeks that I’ve seen Mark he asks us the same question he even asked us today yeah are the Avalanche still in second place yeah and we’re like yeah they are everything’s okay they are still in

Second place they are still right right there in the mix but I wanted to get to the part about the one goal game that we were talking about a second ago right it feels like the Avalanche many times this year and maybe even last year the Avalanche go up early and then somehow

Find a way to to piss it away a little bit right so it feels like that one goal lead just isn’t enough for these guys it was interesting to me I forget one of the recent home games and Jared Ben are started going off on how they don’t have

To fill the net it was the Vancouver win we don’t have to fill the net to win we proved today that it’s it’s good defense just playing the right way and so I think there’s something interesting there because you’re not seeing them score goals right now this last month

They have scored an average of 2.222 two22 goals per game not not typical of the Avalanche right they like to fill that net so there’s a little bit more to look into the goal scoring I think that’s a big issue not just with the road I mean they’ve had a road heavy

Schedule this month so it looks like Road losses let’s also add this little bit of context and and I’m not even talking about being away from home because obviously you had the break there in the middle but if my really quick math is correct I believe is it 12 of the last

16 have been on the road I think so yeah that that’s again I’m not I’m not talking about being away from home I know they got a lot of time at home on the break on vac I’m not talking about that that’s just a lot of games to play

Away from your building MH and in other people’s home rink to your point everyone’s trying to ramp up there’s a little bit of extra energy the Red Wings are in a playoff Chase it’s not an excuse it’s not anything just it is interesting they had the five game Road

Trip the All-Star break the five game Road Trip couple games at home the All-Star break six game road trips couple games at home then last night and that’s just gez Louise that’s a lot of games uh on the road yeah and I guess more my point was

Kind of that I don’t feel like it has much to do with the home vers Road they just happen to be playing a stretch of road games yes but what’s going on is they’re just not finding the back of the net they’re not they’re not finding ways

To fill the net remember early on in the season Jesse when we had our own little phrase when the Avalanche win the Avalanche cover the puck line and I still think that’s very true yeah we’ve seen a couple one goal wins recently but if the Avalanche aren’t absolutely dominating from an offensive standpoint

It feels like they’re finding a way to struggle in this well see and and to me that’s that’s Pro like what you just said right there is problematic like that is an issue uh people who have followed me who have watched you know shows and stuff that I’ve been on knows

I I I’m officially out on the Edmonton Oilers until further notice because they have the issue you’re talking about they have to outscore their problems every night I was laughing I was uh watching an Oiler game uh it was Oilers Bruins two nights ago um and it was a national game on TNT

And whoever it was was doing play-by-play was gushing going on and on and on about Evan buard and uh Matias eckholm and their expected goals four they lead the league nobody’s even close but blah these two guys they’re expected goals for oh my gosh and it’s quiet for a second and

Then Eddie EK goes now the one thing to keep in mind is when you play as many minutes with Conor McDavid and Leon dry Sidle yeah your expected goals four should be pretty high having a high expected goals for should not be the defining quality of

The defense of your team what made the ab so Elite two years ago when they won the Stanley Cup and last year when they were dealing with the roster uncertainty and and then the Val nusan stuff in the Seattle series what got the ABS even as

Far as they did last year and all the way over the you know to the top of the mountain two years before that was their defensive details their team defense they won that the the game six of the S final two to one did that game

Ever maybe with the exception of the one Nikita COV one-time that Kemper had to make a big save on there was never really a moment where you’re like holy [ __ ] they’re just holding on like it was just sound structured you know the right plays make the right pinches you get the

Puck make a smart play if you don’t have a play Get It Off The Glass get it out get a change that to me is what seems like the ABS are struggling with right now they keep getting stuck in these long shifts they’re running around their Zone they’re scrambling guys aren’t

Where they’re supposed to be and even the overtime goal last night Patrick Kane had 20 feet to walk right between the dots and take a shot that that’s not a winning formula and and so for me it’s not even about filling the net which to your point

They’ve done in the past it makes him successful but like it’s never bad to score goals but for this team I truly do believe that this group has what it takes to win a Stanley Cup if they can get that part of the game figured

Out and cleaned up and and dialed in I think you need gor to be one save better than the other guy I think he’s got the ability to do that you have three of the League’s biggest game Breakers very few teams can say they have that and and you have a strong deep

Decor you you got to get things figured out in your own Zone if they do that this team can go as deep as they want if their plan is to try to outscore what’s happening in their own Zone you got maybe a round maybe two yeah I hear you I think the

The defensive Zone from all fronts from defensive players from forwards and that has to be seriously looked at and dissected from coach bedar and really addressed but as far as the the goal scoring I I mean you even touched on it with the road losses it’s it’s very much

In their heads it’s between the ears right it’s mental you see it on the power play which we’ll get to in a second as another issue of theirs they’re overthinking they’re trying so hard to get that cross seing pass and back to Jared bednar’s press conference after Vancouver where he talked about

Filling the net and he also started talking about how they Scout the goalies right and this is where I was like this kind of feels like overthought this kind of feels like this is why this team struggles to score at times because he’s like oh well we look at the goalie stats

As you know what they get beat on whether it’s a cross eyes pass or um one-timers from the blue line and that just seems like such over analysis which is great I know that’s Jared bednar’s job the coaching staff they’re supposed to look at all that but at some point

You just kind of got to say just fire the puck just play hockey and just just find ways to get it to the back of net and not try to dissect oh no we have to get this guy sliding left to right or else we’re not going to score right yeah

And it’s so it’s hard for me to say because I don’t know how much typically goes into that I don’t know how much other teams do that but I do completely agree with the fact that I think they are overthinking a lot right right now M ranin told me last week two weeks

Ago cuz I asked him I said when when we were on that six game Road Trip things things weren’t going well I said do do you think it’s an effort issue do you think it’s an execution issue I was just trying to get his perspective and he said no I don’t think

It’s effort he said if anything and I thought it was a funny way of saying it but I what he meant he said if anything I think there’s times where we’re trying too hard and he’s talking about what you’re saying and you know he’s like we’re gripping the stick and we’re

Trying to make the extra pass and we’re trying to you know put it into a window that’s this big instead of taking the Easy Pass to you know a lane that you’ve got that’s this [ __ ] big or you know whatever um and so I do think that

That’s I think that’s a real thing for them right now is that there’s there’s a lot of stick squeezing going on and we have it has to be the perfect pass and the perfect shot yeah it doesn’t have to be I think the Special Teams we can point right at in the month

Of February the Avalanche have allowed six Power Play Goals and have scored two one oh just one just one um maybe it’s two I could be wrong but either way I thought it was two for 29 I got one from Artu lein and that’s about it I I just

Did the quick look back right before the show so I might have been I might have missed one but either way there’s a discrepancy there and it’s heavy and I think it’s not what we’re used to seeing out of this team the Avalanche power play is used to being dominant MH they

Get the most power plays in the NHL they should be capitalizing on them and I think the penalty kill early on in the season was something that they really proud prided themselves on and now suddenly it’s it’s a a a point of struggle now not terribly I look back at

The Vancouver game again and the penalty kill won him that game at the end if you remember Sam Gerard really making that great play at the end to clear it um so I think the penalty kill has been there at times it helped them out last night

At the very end but at the same time they also gave up a penalty kill goal earlier in the game so I think there’s a little give and take with the penalty kill but there’s there’s good parts about it they’re just getting scored on right now well and

And I’m with you on the penalty kill I don’t think the penalty kill is necessarily an issue but they’re losing the Special Teams battle every night every night for the last month they’re losing the Special Teams battle and Jared Bor has talked about that that’s that’s losing hockey like yeah

Doesn’t matter how good un unless you’re going to go five for five every night on the PK you have to start producing on the power play um you know yes you’re missing Val nucha I’m not including Gabe landeskog anymore in any of these like oh you’re missing this guy because it’s

Been two years but like yes you’re missing Val nushin who was huge on the power play earlier this year but you got arur Le and back like for all intents and purposes that top unit should be pretty damn close to what you would want with a fully healthy lineup right the

Only difference is Jonathan drwan being still in there and you can’t tell me that Jonathan drwan is such a detriment to that power play that he’s the reason it’s terrible right and I would honestly even make the argument there’s been several Power plays where like yeah he’s the only one out there

Distributing um you know so I don’t know if that’s damn I fixed it earlier and it just fell again I don’t know if um I don’t know if you change Personnel I don’t know if you say Hey you know we’re going to we’re not going to play a

System tonight just go score a goal and obviously I’m being factious when I said but like you know I don’t know but you have to find some way to at least get back to even footing on the Special Teams battle because yeah their penalty kill helps them out at the end of the

Game against Vancouver but how many other these games in the last month can you point to and say win the Special Teams and you win that game yeah yeah break even on special teams and you win that game break even on special teams and you win that game score a power play

Goal and you win that game like that there special teams is something that I actually don’t know if we are collectively talking about enough um that you put in a couple more Power Play Goals and suddenly This Record looks very different over the last month and

Even your road record uh you know over the last three weeks probably feels a lot better and back to kale marar right he he said he had a different demeanor last night and in watching his postgame interview he even kind of called himself out he was this close to calling

Somebody else I don’t know if it was a handful of people but he’s like me giving up the puck and H mostly me giving up the puck right he was very down on himself and I don’t obviously he hasn’t had a point in a in a stretch of

Games seven seven games in a row now without a point from kale Mar so he doesn’t see himself performing up to his expectations but you can point to that directly as if kale marar is not playing that well well yeah either is the power play neither is the penalty kill and

Neither is the goal scoring in general right I mean that’s a guy who produces a point per game and if he has seven in a row with no points then yeah the the point the the goal scoring is going to go down so man you telling me that he

Doesn’t want to stand up part of me thinks oh is that is that his body again kind of acting up a little bit and saying man we’re tired we need a break or is he just deflated emotionally when was the last time genu ly kale Mar at

Any level has gone seven games without a point in his life yeah I don’t know I I honestly don’t know if he ever has like this may be the first time ever since he started playing organized hockey that he’s gone this long without a point um it it seemed like disappointment last night

From him disappointed in himself disappointed in in the stretch that he’s kind of going through and the other part too that’s so tough like I don’t think kale marar has been bad I don’t think he’s looked like himself I think he’s made a couple plays that have been very unkill

Mesque but like I don’t think he’s been a detriment out there you know what I mean right and so I I don’t know man I just think last night felt kind of like a and I’m hesitant to say this cuz I’ll say this and they’ll go get their heads kicked in

Like last night felt a little bit more Rock Bottom than Florida interesting last the the vibe in the room last night was just like I’m over the like we’re over this over losing and this happens every year right I think last year it was the Chicago Blackhawks right around this time they

Beat the Avalanche and everybody’s like a this this this season’s done and then they went on a run and you know March came around and they popped off just like they’re probably going to do this year well well and again that that is the other thing that

With everything that you and I are saying it’s all I think everything that you and I are saying factually is true about the power play and the obviously we have our own opinions on stuff that can you take it however you want but like the end of the day this group these

Players the highend talent the depth on defense this group could extremely easily go rattle off 10 in a row and suddenly you forget all about all this stuff MH um you know again go back to the cup year I think they lost seven of their last eight going into the

Playoffs and I bookmarked a ton of them and I never went back to him the amount of replies I got you’ve clearly never watched hockey if you think a team can just turn it on and then they went and like had one of the most dominant playoff runs in NHL

History so like this group this core can do it it’s just not coming together right now and that that’s exactly I like the way you put that right there because that’s exactly how it was going to come out of my mouth it’s not coming together

Right now we’re not going to find a lot of stretches of time where Nathan McKinnon’s slowing down his point production kale Mar’s slowing down his point production the power play is slowed down the penalty kill has suddenly struggled and I guess I wasn’t going to get into Anin because he

Actually played decently well but um well then and then here’s the other thing too where how many people the I mean the ABS were rolling going into the break how many times I think you and I even had the conversation like G this break comes at a bad time for the ABS

They were really in a Groove Y and they were really rolling along and coming out of the break they just haven’t been able to get back on that same footing I have every reason to believe as disappointing as as last night was for them I have every reason to believe that they will

Get back to that and here’s the other thing you just won’t convince me that the trade deadline looming isn’t at bare minimum on a couple of guys Minds Bowen Byrum Ryan Johansson maybe a Freddy Olson who was scratched last night knowing the ABS might need to like

Move some money around like there are a few guys in in this group that are are probably watching their phones a little extra closely here for the next couple weeks and and I remember Jared bednard telling us at one point over these last couple years that

Like this time of year just weighs on certain guys um you know whether that be am I going to get moved is my friend going to get moved who are we going to bring in are we going to bring in anybody um does he like Michael Jackson whoever we’re bringing in yeah right

Exactly that’s their win song of course yeah um Billy Jean yeah uh right you know saying does he fit in that’s kind of what I was getting right right right and so I just I I do also think that in addition to again in addition to everything that we’re talking about on

The ice you just won’t convince me that that’s not going through a couple of guys heads um I think this is maybe the first time in a couple years I don’t think there’s anybody in that room that’s like disliked or on the outs but I just don’t I I think there’s a couple

Guys that maybe don’t quite fit the the chemistry mold that we’ve seen this this locker room have over the last several seasons and and again I I have every reason to believe that they’re going to get it figured out I I sit here on February 23rd I think this team can

Win a Stanley Cup genuinely I think a team this team can win a Stanley Cup this year um but that doesn’t happen without them getting a lot of stuff straighten out yeah and let’s let’s also you know keep in mind that the Avalanche were one bow and Byam finished Breakaway away from

Winning four out of five 100% right four out of the last five so to get away with a point and they’re still playing decently well they still have um a lot of home games ahead of them and again that month of March I think is just so

Juicy for the avalan that they’re really going to pull ahead and and probably end up the month of March in first place in the central that’s I’m calling it right now all right calling it February 2 hot take I don’t think it’s that hot take um I guess with that conversation of of

Some guys in the chemistry not quite fitting in not that their personalities don’t fit in but maybe their play style right it’s like sometimes you get a goalie Who’s hot on one team and then goes to a new team and you’re like why does this goalie suck or even

Quarterbacks in the NFL you were having a conversation with our studio manager John about Russell Wilson and it’s like what why did this guy not fit in he he used to be good it’s kind of that same idea right so let’s look at Ryan Johansson and how well he’s been playing

Lately because it feels like I don’t I mean he got four point points in a decent stretch of games I know they’re just points you got more more hockey to play than just that moment when you’re shooting the puck right but he is contributing from a from a from the from

Like a physics standpoint I can’t figure out how this thing keeps falling like that I don’t know we even have it taped and everything um but Ryan Johansson had has contributed some points here and there and and it kind of feels like Zach piz’s entrance into the lineup may have

Something to do with that with them playing together but um I think Joe Hanson may be finding a little of something here while also not fully being able to walk all right is that what you I I don’t know I I disagree I don’t I don’t think he’s

Any I don’t think he’s been I think I think he’s been better I’m not saying I’m looking at Ryan Johansson be like all right he found it this is it see and again I guess that’s where I when I when I’m watching him I see better in shifts I I’ve seen

More quality shifts out of him I’ll say in the last four games I guess so even now I’m backpedaling thanks a lot for challenging me on this one but um you’re right even one of the goals he scored in that Vancouver game both one of right

I’m saying one of them there was a shift that I remember watching him the the puck goes into the corner and it’s like he would have been the first one to that Puck and he didn’t even go into the corner for it he just went into the slot

And did something else so and then later that shift ended up scoring so I’m with you it’s not 100% okay Ryan Johansson has figured this out he’s now a valuable member of this team but I see progress I see him at least inching his way and not

Making all ABS fans rip out their hair and say what is this guy doing on the team you know what I see a stack of playboys what you would have had to listen to the last episode to understand that reference if Evan was here he would get

It but he’s too busy buying Pearl Jam tickets today I guess Pearl James you guys could have had Evan instead of me but apparently Pearl James more important than us um I see good coaching and I see smart decision making okay Jared Bednar has strapped Ryan Johansson with two

Players where he basically says you have to go work otherwise they’ll work for you and I think Ryan Johansson has benefited from that in the last week I think Ryan Johansson’s an outstanding individual he’s a very nice guy um I just think I think he’s a short timer here in

Colorado I think that has set in with him I think the organization understands that and I just think everyone’s kind of at this weird impass right now where I do believe they are going to try to move on from him before March 8th but if they can’t I mean I really would be

Legitimately surprised if he’s at training camp next year with the Colorado Avalanche like I I just I I think the relationship has not gone the way anybody wanted it to I think both sides understand that um Jared Bard has used words like competitiveness and hunger when

Describing what he wants to see out of Ryan Johansson this group do you are you that’s like the fifth time you’ve done that well cuz you you keep looking back there yeah you’ve never seen people that just look up to think to process what you’re saying I just happened to be looking that

Direction so I look you look like you’re making eye contact with somebody so I keep waiting to turn around and see Mark standing there adjusting levels um but I I like those are not I hate you so much those are not words that you want your coach using when saying gosh we could

Just use some more man that guy would just try a little harder right and I mean how many times per game JJ do you and I either text each other if we’re not together or you know bump each other in the in the Press Box where he’s just SK standing straight up

With a stick at his waist and it’s like holy smokes you this group does not demand that you are the best most skilled player on the ice Andrew cogliano is one of the most important players on this Avalanche team guy like Logan oconor very important players because they just

Work harder than everyone else not because they’re these elite players who are constantly making showstopping highlight real plays they just outwork everyone else on the ice and you have a guy like Ryan Johansson who you and I talked about it the other day what was the first thing Ryan

Johansson told us at training camp I believe it was the first answer he gave to us right that he was a onec his whole life been a onec my whole life we got a one plus here so I just got to come in and make his life easier here

And I get the sense this is purely speculative I get the sense that there’s a little bit of like a I’ve been a one C my whole life I don’t need you guys to tell me how to play center and I just don’t think it’s ever worked that’s a good theory now I’m

Going to go with my theory and this is pure theor theoretic theoretical yep pure purely theoretical you got there you got there and I know because this is such a touchy subject in the NHL so I’m going to do very well to handle it delicately great but what I see out of Ryan

Johanson I don’t see a refusal to work hard I don’t see a refusal to be a competitive player I see an inability oh interesting a physical inability and let’s look at last year he he he finds himself on the injured list suddenly Barry Trot starts saying he

Doesn’t think that this player has what it takes to to keep up with the speed in the NHL anymore and Ryan Johansson says you know what I am going to prove you wrong I’m going to show you I’m going to try my best to do everything I can to

Still be an adequate NHL player but I don’t know what the hesitation to maybe throw him on the IR once or twice here throughout this season has been because I don’t see a fully healthy version of Ryan Johansson and even the avalan lch posted the other day on their way to

Detroit right a video of Ryan Johansson walking to the airplane and it looked like Ryan Johansson was doing his hardest to not look like he had a limp or not look like he was in pain he just like just just just walk as smoothly as you can so what

I’m saying is I’m speculating that there’s quite the injury he still has and that he’s dealing with and there’s just no I guess no quit in him to say yes I’m injured and I don’t know from the Avalanche standpoint what the hesitation would be to be like hey you’re injured

Like take a seat for a little bit but I I personally think that that has a lot to do with it I think I I buy into your theory too I think there’s something to it um but I also just think he’s just not 100% physically simply said

Uh I agree with that but if if that’s the case I don’t think it’s an injury that he’s gonna get better you know what I mean like yep I if if we’re talking about what you what you’re saying which I don’t think is a crazy Theory I think

We’re more just at the point where it’s like this is just your reality now mhm and he was never you know blazing speed guy to begin with um and what I think maybe the ABS were hoping was K can you go park yourself in front

Of the net and be the big mean nasty uh you know when I talked to kale Mard last summer at the NHL awards and I asked him you know what’s Ryan Jo Henson like to play against he goes gosh he’s just you know he’s mean

He’ll give you a shot when the ref’s not looking he gets in your head he’s always right in your hip pocket uh you know always has something to say blah blah blah blah and that’s the part for me that I just don’t haven’t seen yeah like

Like that was what when Ryan johans was with the Predators and having to you know the ABS were having to play against him uh you know three four times a season that’s what I remember is that he he was an offensive threat maybe never the offensive threat that he was kind of

Build as when he got to Nashville but but you know um offensive player who was just mean and just a pain to play against and I haven’t seen that yeah I mean look we he’s he started the year at pp1 I think there’s still a little bit of there cuz he’s still on

Pp2 but we know how little time pp2 even gets well but so here here’s the other part with that he is now not rolling out with pp2 if they’re changing on the Fly Zack periz if the second power play unit is going out on a dead Puck Ryan Johansson

Will go out to take the face off the last three or four times pp2 has been deployed it’s been on the Fly and he has not taken a rep so it’s just he continues to work his way down the lineup he’s now full-time centering Andrew kagano and yoel kiv

Ronto like like he is the fourth line Center um and truthfully I actually that’s the spot he’s worst fit for because those have to be your most highly competitive guys yep and I just think that you are at a point where whether it’s what you’re talking about what even you know

Whatever it is it just it doesn’t work anymore and as a result the avalan just don’t have a second line right with Johansson Falling Down the lineup Val NuSkin out of the lineup of course you know Gabe landeskog or whoever you you just are missing a

Second line now you’re forced to to use that Colton wood ‘ Conor line as your second and sometimes it it works sometimes it doesn’t so I think I honestly just think the avalanch are missing a second line uh yeah I I do um I am intrigued by some combination of leenan and

Colton skating as a sudo second line we don’t have to get into this right now we’ll have a a couple more shows before trade deadline but like I am more and more entering into the camp just as I see the mar how the market is shaping up

I’m more and more getting to the point of just saying go get the player who you think makes you the be like makes you the most better how do you say that I think that’s right makes you for just better I don’t think you need to do most it’s redundant I think

You just say whichever player makes you better because I think there’s multiple players that can make them better but like I want the most better yeah yeah whichever player you like the most M and you think improves your team the most the most there you go good English um

I think you go out and do that I think you move Ryan Johansson clear out the money uh and I think you make do with what you got I think the Abs if if you can if you can count Val nushin in which for right now we still

Have almost two full months till the end of the season I’m GNA remain on the side of yes he’ll be back um I think you have a mix if you can add another guy that’s like a Bonafide top six or a bare minimum clearcut top nine can move up

And down the top three lines I think you got a mix of 12 guys that that you can make some magic with I I think a guy like Ross Colton is gonna really shine in the playoffs for the way that this AB team likes to play uh I think Miles

Woods same thing and and I just think you’ve got some guys there in the middle that that can make it work you need one more piece a and gosh I feel bad saying this I do I I I like Ryan Johansson a lot I think he’s a really really good

Guy uh and and I’m with you I think he wants to I think he wants it to work out but I just think everyone understands that we’re kind of past that yeah I agree I guess looking at the the depth of the team those bottom three guys right we’re

Still seeing Ron in the lineup who has yet to really do anything even though he’s in there night in and night out we’re seeing mcdermid slip in when they need to you know it sounded like olon had a sickness last night kagano had a sickness so it was kind of an emergency

To use mcdermid but I’ve been asking you for a while about guys like tufty or there’s even Ben Meyers Poland Andre Pavo those are guys that I think we haven’t seen enough of this year and we’ve seen too much of the other guys so I’m not saying those guys are going to

Come in and and make or break your season but those are guys I think I’d like to see a little bit more of and it’s interesting um and this was actually a thought put into my mind by our mutual Twitter friend penguin doodle but remember how successful the

Avalanche were at acquiring NCAA free agents right and now it seems like Jared Benard is kind of kind of at a point where he doesn’t even want to use these guys he gives them a shot and then they’re out and we don’t see them for months at a time how’s that going to

Affect the Avalanche in the future in in bringing these NCAA guys and and I guess what what are your thought I mean me I’m personally just in love with tufty he’s the one name that that stands out to me out of all those AHL guys that I wish I

Could see more NHL minutes from I understand he’s not exactly a fourth line type of player but I I also think he he brings more to the table than a kiv ronto or a mcder um yeah I don’t think it’s going to affect their ability to go after these

Guys in the future one because Jason Poland Sam molinsky Logan oconor uh who’s another example here of uh you know kerfoot going back you know several seasons now like they’ve had a t Ben Meyers duh all of these guys have seen NHL minutes and I think they’re going to

Continue to be able to go to these guys and say hey we’re a contending team and we’re willing to give you a look and we’re going to prioritize you as a prospect um we know Jared Bednar loves predictability uh I think if I had to guess that’s

Probably why yoel Kibby Ron is still drawing into the lineup every night Jared bedar knows I’m gonna get nothing but I know what kind of nothing I’m gonna get I know the type of nothing I’m GNA get isn’t going to be a bunch of turnovers and mistakes yeah I get you

Offensively nothing defensively he he plays the right way yeah yeah he’s passable um and and I do also think some of that has to do with two things season is starting to ramp up this is this is not develop your prospects time two and this is the one that is

Hard to keep in mind because of the way that the league is set up like the eagles are in a race too like the eagles need to win games as well like that’s an organization and a franchise that has to be successful independently um and so I do think

There’s a little bit of that of like hey if you really need one of these guys and you think that they genuinely give you a better chance yeah every time but if we’re just trying to shuffle the deck chairs what’s the sense and constantly rotating this lined up mixing things

Around I think they’re trying to find some level of consistency some level of um well consistency chemistry chemist yes thank you yeah that’s another word I get it I I’m with you I just felt like it was a good topic to bring up on the podcast sleepy sleepy that jet lag’s

Kicking in I got up it uh dude all right let’s take a pause from all the no we’re ready to start winding down anyway yeah uh one do you know what time zone Detroit is in uh I would guess the Eastern all right all right well you’re smarter than

Me I thought only reason I know that is cuz Indiana for some reason my wife’s from Indiana so and for some reason parts of Indiana are in the Eastern Time Zone despite it being very much in the center of the country so I just went

With that so it is it is in the Eastern Time Zone I thought it was Central I don’t know why um I was asked to do uh a hit with our friends over at Fox 31 and I like coordinated it all all out I was like yep let’s do it at 4:30 or

What you know whatever time 4 400 p.m. mountain time it’s like I went and got lunch all this stuff back in front of my computer five minutes till 5 and I texted uh her budy Mick and I was like hey I’m on whenever you want to

Jump and he was like o okay let me see if I can get on there early sorry like H let me see if I can make it work and I was like the hell bro what do you mean to see if we can make this work and then I looked at my phone

And I was like he just said something that like would be an hour from now and so I went and pulled up the world clock and I was like oh my gosh I’m the dumbest person ever and so I’d apologized to him like never mind don’t

Try to scramble carry on normal time is planned uh but so there was that yeah I mean let’s not get it twisted you’ve almost hit every single NHL rank this year you’ve been all over the country three short um I’m for short this season I’m three short of all 32 I

I feel like that would jumble anyone’s brains so if there’s anyone out there who’s judging you for missing up the Eastern versus Western middle time zone Central Mountain thank you uh and then this morning dude I’ve had a few flights and I I genuinely I really don’t mind

Early Travel I find the airports are typically a little bit easier and when you’re taking one of the first flights out of the day your odds of hitting delays and stuff like that are just way lower so I I really I don’t mind it in most instances I’ve had a few 6 a.m.

Dude I had a 5:45 a.m. flight this year um those you have to get up so early it’s not even like you’re not even sleeping you’re napping you know you take a two two and a half hour nap and get up go to the airport start

Your day then you got to you know take another this was a weird one cuz like I got back to my room got everything packed up as I always do the night before got everything ready I was in bed at like 11:30 scrolled my phone a bit called my wife you

Know phone down going to sleep by even say midnight right well then my alarm went off like at 6 and now you’re just into like no that wasn’t enough sleep now I’m just tired mhm and so um yeah like 6 and 620 the alarm goes off get out of bed like first

One goes up at 6 second 620 get out of bed shower to try to wake you’re a two alarm type of guy oh I’m usually like a four or for for stuff like that I’m a four or five just to make sure are you not no I just need the one really yeah

That’s impressive that’s honestly like on this is maybe a bad example because morning skates at 10:30 but like on an ABS morning Skate Day we’re like yeah I know I’m gonna be up I can I can do just one but for something like that this morning like for a flight an early

Flight I always set see for me flights and golf if I have to wake up early I usually wake up before my alarm just cuz the anxiety of missing it is greater than my want to sleep so game six second round 2022 uh in St Louis the have blue game five in

Spectacular fashion so everyone after the game is scrambling to get flights booked and get to St Louis so we do that I’m right back at the same hotel that I was at it was like this really weird Deja Vu thing the ABS win in equally spectacular fashion to close out the

Series and I just remember it was one of those things we were all talking like leaving the arena like okay worth it worth it to have to come back and do this crazy thing uh so I had a really early flight and I remember being worried that I said oo

I’m going to wake up and there’s not going to be Ubers I’m gonna have to wait a long time for a car so I set and I don’t remember what the exact times were I had like something like I was planning on leaving my hotel at 5: my flight was at like at

7 so at 4: 4:15 myarm alarm goes off and that was my check for Uber’s alarm and I looked and they were everywhere 2 minutes away through I was like oh I’m good I closed my eyes and then it was one of those like man I feel way more rested than I

Thought I would and it was like 6:15 called an Uber I told him I was like I’m in a hurry he got me there and the St Louis airport thankfully is really small all there’s no one in security that was the last one on the plane but ever since

That I’m multiple alarms no chances for flights that was the whole story no you started telling that story to tell a different story and I think I distracted you along the way was it about today’s flight yeah well so I’m I’m I’m starting to get tired because I technically woke up at

4:30 Mountain Time understandable and because I didn’t get like the ah just a little power nap you can power through it then get another nap like I feel like I got enough sleep last night that I really shouldn’t go home and nap and now I’m just tired yeah it’s you

Just crushed a Koba burrito you’re going to be crashing soon I had to rewrap myself double the carbs I’ve got two more conversations for us they’re both fun to to guide us ease us on our way out so you can get head to nap territory

Jesse I don’t know if you saw I I do want to say really fast I love Coba they’re not a sponsor but I would love for them to be a sponsor but they double WRA my burrito today for no reason didn’t ask for it so I had to take it

Out of the first one F rewrap it I’m just too tired for that well hopefully you can get through these last two conversations they they’ll take minimal effort from a a mental standpoint are you saying that I’m not mentally sharp right now well you were

To start the show but maybe the full 60 is a little tough for you tonight we got to just end strong let’s protect the house park the bus and make sure we don’t get scored on late here right Fanatics oh god dude I’m so glad you brought this up has been a big

Conversation not only in the NHL but in the sports world as they’re taking over a lot of the uniform making and in the MLB players are complaining that they made their pants see-through have you seen the pictures I have not seen the pictur haven’t seen the pictures I’d

Rather not see men see through pants so so to to to me there’s two pictures that are bad you can like you can see stuff on the whole they’re just bad because you can see all the jerseys tucked in like even in the even in the instances where you can’t see actual

Hole you know when I said on the hole I was like that was maybe not the best phrase to use for this topic but again let let’s even say that there there was like a mandatory bass layer that players had to wear so you couldn’t see anything

You can see that the striping on the jerseys and all that stuff tucked in the the worst one dude was fanatic’s Twitter replied to an MLB player a young MLB player who was sharing a picture of the Jersey sitting in his stall like man this is crazy and the quality on it was

So bad the numbers were crooked then again the kid the player didn’t call any of that out he was like wow I have a an MLB jersey and Fanatics replied they were like wow that Jersey doesn’t look right why don’t you DM us so we can make

This right and it’s like this is an MLB authentic sitting in a player stall and so I have been massively of the opinion for the last year that everyone was just being weenies that everyone needed to relax so was I but not anymore the Fanatics stuff was way

Overblown here is a little known fact Fanatics has actually been the ones making the jerseys for both the NHL and the MLB for multiple Seasons now what’s changing this season in the MLB was they partnered more openly with Nike to change the Fabrics led by fanatics and then on the NHL side they

Signed I believe it was a three-year agreement saying they are not allowed to touch materials design anything so for the next three seasons NHL jerseys from my understanding should look and feel identical the only way that’s going to be different is instead of the three stripes it’ll be the Fanatics F on the

Back that’s in the contract but right now today Fanatics makes the game more in jerseys they’re manufactured there licensed by Adidas so that’s why I have been like everyone’s freaking out and they don’t even realize they’re already wearing the product this and the other but now seeing all this stuff coming out of

Spring training I’m like holy [ __ ] apparently yeah the Fabrics that um the Fabrics they’re using are obviously thinner um and and less quality the the numbers the spacing and the alignment I’ve seen several examples of again MLB players that look terrible let alone the replicas they’re

Selling uh and then the third thing that I was reading just this morning on the plane is that apparently MLB player used to go in uh at the beginning of Spring training and would get completely custom fitted you’d go in and you’d get your pants fit your your your um your the

Shirt that goes under your actual button-up shirt fitted you get that fitted you’d tell them I want longer sleeves shorter sleeves I need this tightened up here I want my my pants to hit me here but I want this to go to there and and the tailor would be there

Da da d d d and then a week later whatever you’d get a giant box with all your uniforms cut to your exact specs this year I guess they scanned last year 300 MLB players they did a full body scan and they have taken that down to I believe it was three options

So now instead of getting can I get this up here tighter can I get that it’s which of these three Cuts slim regular relaxed and the only customization they’ll do is length of sleeve and length of pant the pant customization you have two options you have short or

Full length and so I was reading this morning that I guess there’s players with um I don’t know exact I think they keep their socks up the stirups mhm who are like I normally get stirups at you know this length and now my only options

Are this or this as I punched myself in the face with his microphone and like that’s the stuff to me that reading that like that’s problematic it doesn’t really translate to the NHL though no at least not that we know of you know like I like we see

The game jerseys like they are not the same as what you buy even as the authentic ones like there’s different cuts and stuff that so I don’t know you know maybe there are certain things where players ask for jerseys to fit in a certain way over their shoulder P you

Know I I’m not I don’t know but like the the fact that they’ve eliminated customization and stuff like that like that tells me that they are cutting Corners just heading the wrong direction for cost right and so this is the first time in the last year that I am on board

With a lot of the apprehension around the NHL switching to Fanatics all right I’m glad I brought that you had a good response to it finally Jesse this one’s fun and I bumped into this on Twitter of the 10 players to ever play in the NHL with the longest

Names two of them were on the Avalanche Conor wall Chuck’s got to be one no really really okay are you asking who I’m asking it see and if you can guess the two players with the longest names in NHL history can you give me letter like how many letters

Uh no okay I will say that they’re both French Dave anduk is that French does that sound like a French name to I don’t know Dave anduk hey Dave anduk well that’s also not how you would say it I don’t know if it was like and I don’t know um think recent think

Lakeo think Le Tahoe yeah who remember uh he thought he was going to be skating on the lake itself so hold on are you talking about first and last name yeah his full name okay I thought you meant their last name like it was actually spelled that on the

Full name Pier Edward Belmar there’s one yeah I don’t know this is a dumb game now I thought you were talking about because you’re terrible at it no John Sebastian jig you really just talking about guys with hyphenated names well the longest name names in NHL history that was that

Was silly silly that was a bad one whatever I thought you meant like the ab had two guys with names that had to like Arch all the way from the bottom of each number no that’s not what I said I I said I thought that was if that’s what I

Was asking that’s what I would have said but you said they had the longest name I didn’t know you meant Oh you tell me the first middle and last name are the two longest names in NHL history no middle names there’s no middle names finish this show that was a bad

Way to finish it come up with something else way to go Jesse that’s two podcasts in a row he ruins by just yelling at us doesn’t he ruined thanks thanks for hanging out with us ruined it this has been gorilla hockey with JJ featuring Jesse we’ll be back next week thanks for

Hanging out with us bye