A Game A Month Guide for 2009-2010

I have a feeling the majority of the people reading this don’t have Avs season tickets. It’s also very apparent that the economy and last season’s dead last standing is going to keep a lot of people from buying as many tickets as they did before. You still want the best bang for your buck, but how do you pick just a select few games out of 41? Here’s my seven, one a month, that are must see events.

Thursday, October 1, 2009 – San Jose Sharks

Players to watch- Joe Thornton, Evgeni Nabokov, and Rob Blake

08-09 Series – 4-0 Sharks

What to watch for – Admittedly, the main reason you should be at this game is because it’s also Joe Sakic Night. If you’re an Avs fan and you miss this, you’d better be dead or in jail. But let’s just pretend this is just opening night. DON’T MISS OPENING NIGHT. Ever. It’s always the best game of the season. Mix these facts with the fact that you have the President’s Trophy winning Sharks coming to town and you’re in for an absolutely epic night of hockey.

Monday, November 23, 2009 – Philadelphia Flyers

Players to watch – Ian Laperriere, Ray Emery, Chris Pronger

08-09 Series – 1-1 Tie

What to watch for – The Broad Street Bullies are starting to resurface. Philly had a busy offseason bringing in a lot of extra grit and potential controversy to their lineup. Guys like Pronger and Emery are going to be interesting experiments for the team as they try and further themselves past their unfortunately short playoff run last year. Pronger is known for toeing the line between penalty and suspension, while occasionally stepping over. Ray Emery has shown his ability to stir up controversy and implode a team with even more efficiency then Sean Avery. With Ian Laperriere leaving the Avs and joining a team that plays his kind of game, will he get lost in the fray or will he shine like he did in Colorado and be a leader all over again? Expect a big standing ovation when he hits the ice.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 – Washington Capitals

Players to Watch – Alexander Ovechkin, Simeon Varlamov

08-09 Series – 1-0 Avalanche

What to watch for – I’m going to go out on a (very small) limb here and say that by the time December rolls around, Varlamov will have the starting job in net for the Caps and Jose Theodore will once again relegated to the bench. The new guy for the Caps showed incredible talent during the playoffs last year and will only get better as time goes on. While he’ll be performing acrobatics between the pipes, watch out for the most underadvertised man in the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin. While some say his antics can be distasteful, one this is for certain: Ovi is damn good at hockey and he doesn’t mind showing how much fun he’s having.

Sunday, January 31, 2010 – New York Rangers

Players to Watch – Marian Gaborik, Donald Brashear

Honorable Mention: Player NOT to Watch – Tyler Arnason

08-09 Series – 1-0 Rangers

What to watch for – While Lappy will probably get a standing O when he comes back to the Pepsi Center, Arnason is one guy who won’t. It’s still unclear why any teams would want to pick up Arnason, who is the most apathetic player I’ve ever seen play hockey. At least the Rangers made some splashes in the offseason with big signings like Gaborik and Brashear. As long as Gaborik is healthy, he should be able to add some sorely needed offense to the Blueshirts. Brashear will help round out the gruff side of the teams already consisting of Sean Avery et al. What’s that? Chris Drury? What about him? Yeah, he is on the roster, but he hasn’t been notable since Buffalo. Don’t expect anything from him this year, either.

Saturday, February 6, 2010 – Edmonton Oilers

Notable Players – Nikolai Khabibulin

08-09 Series – 3-3 Tie

What to Watch For – Seeing as February is not only a short month, and it’s been cut even shorter thanks to the Olympics, there’s not much to choose from. The Oilers is by far the most interesting game, but that’s not really saying much. Just enjoy your Saturday night at the game and try and sing as much of O Canada as you can.

Monday, March 1, 2010 – Detroit Red Wings

Notable Players – Kris Draper, Todd Bertuzzi

08-09 Series – 3-1 Avalanche

What to Watch For – I struggled with whether or not I should recommend this as the game for March. Some of you naysayers would argue it’s the easy way out to choose a Red Wings game. More of you naysayers would say that the rivalry is over. Hey, the rivalry ain’t over until Avs fans stop hating Wings fans and Wings fans stop hating Avs fans. There are just as many reasons in the stands as on the ice that this game will be the hot ticket for March. I’ve never seen more fans get kicked out of Pepsi Center than ones wearing Detroit jerseys. I’ve never seen such comradery among fans in their heckling of those in differently colored jerseys. On the ice, not only are there still players from the Lemieux/Draper days, but Detroit has graciously concentrated all of Denver’s hockey hatred once again by signing Todd Bertuzzi for a second time. So come on down, there’s a rivalry to rekindle!

Friday, April 9, 2010 – Chicago Blackhawks

Notable Players – Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa

08-09 Series – 2-2 Tie

What to Watch For – Offense! See those three guys I just listed up there? That’s just the tip of Chicago’s roster iceberg. With expert youth development and some great coaching coming from Joel Quenneville, Chicago is on pace to start a new dynasty. With the departure of Khabibulin, Cristobal Huet is on his own in net, and that is going to be the biggest weakness for this team. If the Avs have shaky goaltending as well (and they will), this could be a high scoring game.