16-17 Denver Post

[Matt-Colorado]

Insane Night in the GHL Dwarfs Jagr's Return to the Rocky Mountains

Unless you were under a rock today, you know what went down in the GHL regarding some high priced signings. Lost in the 25 million dollar chaos was Colorado signing the ultimate GHL graybeard Jaromir Jagr to 9.3 million dollar contract, length to be determined.
'He can still bring it', was all I got from head coach Terry Kraus via text message when asked for a comment.
Indeed, Jagr, who is now 44, is enjoying a second or maybe even a third wind in his lengthy pro hockey career which is currently in its third decade. In his four years since returning to the GHL from Russia, he has 203 points in 344 games. He has 101 goals, and has actually scored a goal against every GHL franchise. He's been around so long he's even teammates now with the newest link of his own trade tree:
Two years ago GM Taylor sent Jagr to a Cup Contending Syracuse for Cam Ward.
Ward was send to Chicago for Matt Moulson.
Moulson was sent to Detroit for Mats Zuccarello, and now Jagr's back.

Can he help bring Colorado back to the postseason after two years of spinning their wheels?
GM Taylor thinks so, and he just put a 9.3 million dollar bet on it.

More to come as the offseason progresses, expect Colorado to be on the sidelines for the next few days, but that may change...word is they may ship out a vet or two if the right players linger in free agency.

Cheers.

[Matt-Colorado]

SLIM PICKINS IN FREE AGENCY
Pioneers sign four more free agents.

After making a splash on opening night of free agency, landing the ageless Jaromir Jagr, the Pioneers swing and missed over the next two days.  
While the list players who remained available was more than unimpressive, Colorado signed four players to compete for a handful of roster spots next month.


Cody McLeod was signed for 1.1 million and looks like a good bet to start as the fourth line left wing.  He's below average at best offensively and defensively, but hits almost everything that moves and fights everything that hits back.

Tanner Glass agreed to sign a contract for 600k.  Glass will be competing for a 4th line role with McLeod, Skille, Boll, and Mauerman.  He's not very offensively minded, and everyone of the players listed is better defensively...but Glass's game is more physical than even McLeods.  I'm projecting him as an injury replacement, or on the 4th line against teams with loads of skill.

Ryan Reaves, 400k.  Same as Glass, just bigger and meaner.

Andre Benoit, 1.1 million.  Depth defender that shouldn't see much ice time, but will because Colorado's bottom 4 is fragile.  His game has gone through ups and downs over the years, so look for a 2/3 year deal and cross your fingers. 

[Matt-Colorado]

10/12/2016
Randal Graves, DP.com
St. Paul
Pioneers 2016-17 Season Starts Tonight
Puck drops tonight in St. Paul at 5pm Mountain.




Leon Draisaitl looks to build off a strong World Cup and eventually take the reigns as Colorado's face of the franchise.

Another offseason has come and gone and the Pioneers break the seal on the 16-17 season tonight against divisional foe St. Paul.  New faces will try to make their mark right away, while the 11 returning skaters will try to bring the Colorado club back to the post season.

Owner/GM Matt Taylor had the following comments regarding his team's offseason and outlook this year:

"While we as a management are eyeballing next season as our real chance to contend, we see our division as up for grabs and we're going to go get it this year.  Our players share this sentiment and see this years team as one that can win the division and upset some contenders.  Bishop looks like he's in the zone this season, we did our best to put a solid defense in front of him and some top tier skaters out there to keep the puck out of his zone.  Given our division, and how poor we all did last year, I see anything other than a playoff birth a failure this year."

2016 brings a handful of offseason stories in the the regular season:

- Last years first round picks, Draisaitl and Rychel will dress for opening night and look to have solid sophomore seasons after strong camps.  Draisaitl has wowed Pioneers brass to the point to where they will not even consider discussing his trade value.  He's viewed as a developing franchise center and potential successor to Bouwmeester's captaincy.  Look for Rychel to play bottom six minutes, maybe some powerplay, while Draisaitl will be a feature on the second line at the minimum.

- Veteran Presence:  The return of Jaromir Jagr reinforces GM Taylor's desire to win this year and next.  He makes his return tonight on the top line, while off season acquisition Andrei Markov will start the game on the top pairing with Jay Bouwmeester, who will start his fourth season with Colorado and third as captain.

On to tonight's game:

St. Paul has a handful of dangerous players; rookie Panarin, young gun Rask, and the multi dimensional Brent Burns. 
"He's unique, an elite dual threat, he'll be a challenge to beat on offense or defense" Ben Lovejoy on Brent Burns.
Burns appears to play defense tonight.

Keys to the game:
-Assuming Jagr, O'Reilly and Zuccarello have chemistry, their combination of playmaking, scoring, and possession will hopefully produce against a somewhat average defensive core.
-Outside of the first line, St. Paul boasts better depth/skill than Colorado does on paper.  Draisaitl, Boedker, and Pominville will need to step it up to take some attention away from the top line.
-Get physical, but stay out of the box.  Cody McLeod will start the season on the third line.  His physicality and ability to get under oppositions skin is what got him a job in Colorado...but should he waste his minutes and spend them in the sin bin, he'll wind up on the fourth line and form a true goon line with Glass, and potentially Boll.

Prediction:
Colorado 2 - St. Paul 1

St. Paul outplays and outshouts Colorado, but Ben Bishop shows the GHL what this year will come down to: Him.
*jinx*








 

[Matt-Colorado]

So I was a bit wrong in my prediction.

My prediction for the 2nd leg of the home - home series:
Much closer game, Zuc adds more points, 2-0.

I think I'll try and do weekly recaps on Sunday this year.

[Matt-Colorado]

Wrong again!

Zuc on fire.

[Matt-Colorado]

As the Pioneers struggle through a three game winless stretch, the going gets tougher as the teams heart and soul, Ryan O'Reilly will be on the IR for the majority of the next two months. Colorado management was quietly looking for help on the blue line, and may have been getting close to acquiring a defender...but word is those talks are on hold as Pioneer brass has shifted 100% of their attention to filling O'Reilly's shoes. They have reportedly lsent out an APB to the rest of the GMs in the league announcing their willingness to part with high value assets for a center of an appropriate value.
Rumors from within the Pioneers organization is that at least four teams have begun exploratory conversations.

More to come

[Matt-Colorado]

Colorado Lays an Egg in Boston

Following unconfirmed reports of a multiplayer trade between Colorado and an out of conference team, the Pioneers proceeded to manage just 12 shots on net in a 4-1 loss to Boston. With the loss, Colorado drops to 22-21-7. Luckily, the Patrick Division is so weak, at this point 4th in the division is a long shot...but the way the Pioneers are playing anything can happen.

The trade rumor clearly rattled the confidence and motivation of the players in the away locker room, and we have since learned that the trade has indeed been submitted to the league office, but not yet confirmed:

Mats Zuccarello, Andrei Markov and Kerby Rychel are flying to Adirondack as members of the Pioneers, but they know as soon as the league opens for business tomorrow, the trade will be processed, and the trio will head to the home dressing room instead of the visiting room. Waiting for their new teammates to arrive for the game tomorrow night are Patrice Bergeron and Kris Letang.

Bergeron is the reigning Selke winner, and a complete player who's play covers every inch of the ice. He is affordable at 3.7 mil a year and signed through 2020, which is what GM Taylor was aiming for in a Zuccarello trade. Zuccarello is set to be a UFA after next season. Bergeron has 35 points in 49 games this season, and is sitting on 399 points through 579 games played in his career. One should note he is a +158 in those 579 games.

Kris Letang has had his issues with injuries, but when he's healthy, he's a complete two way defender: 539 games, 251 points, +121 in his career. Letang has 21 points through 46 games this year.

"I'm very excited to bring these two elite veterans into the locker room and hopefully get this team going in the right direction here." Head Coach Terry Krause.


That's it from the Denverpost.


----Really glad I decided to hang onto Marleau today, 4 goals, ouch.

[Matt-Colorado]

Colorado Pioneers end season, peaking just in time for the playoffs.


Things are looking up in Colorado.  Prior to this season, the Pioneers had made the playoffs just once in 5 years under the ownership of Matt Taylor.  This year they made it back to the postseason, and after a season of maddening inconsistency, look like the team has finally put it together going 8-3-4 to close out the season.  

The team finished the season with a record of 36-31-15, which given the division they play in, is absolutely maddening to Owner/GM Taylor and his staff.  "From December through March we were spinning our wheels, guys were injured, but losing games by 5-6 goals, playing down to competition...I was very close to making so dramatic moves."

The team eventually figured it out and a handful of players got hot after the trade deadline:

Patrice Bergeron:  Took him a while to find his grove in Colorado, only 18 points in the 32 games following the blockbuster trade, but he ended hot with 10 points in 8 games, take 9 shots on goal in 4 of those games.

Ben Bishop:  Hasn't lost since March 11th.  

Brian Campbell:  The man played 540 games for Ottawa before coming to the Mile High city, and the change of scenery has done him well.  17 points in 26 games in a Pioneer sweater.

Leon Draisaitl:  The fourth overall pick from two years ago had an impressive second half, not to mention his last 11 games, scoring 17 points en route to a 59 point sophomore season in 78 games.

Jaromir Jagr:  Until the Old Timers record book gets filled in, the 66 points Jagr put up this year is undoubtedly a record for skaters over the age of 40, let alone 45 years old.  8 points in his last 5 games, while setting a career high in points and assists in a season.

Colorado will host Chicago (?) in the first round of the playoffs, in the meantime, it's time for me to generate the ballot for the regular season awards.

[Matt-Colorado]

We have a ourselves a series, Folks.
April 18, 2017

We are three games into Colorado's second playoff run since relocating, and you'd better take it in while it last; we have a competitive series.  After the Pioneers split the series at home and won first game in Chicago, Colorado is looking to make it 3-1 tomorrow, but outside of the first game, Chicago has been in the thick of the series.

Coach Kraus was available after this afternoon's skate for a few comments:
"After the two one goal games, I see the first game as an outlier.  I'd love to win them all 7-1, but Chicago showed us they wouldn't go down without a fight."

After game two, the Pioneer locker room needed some repairs. 
"After we blew a two goal lead, and lost in the span of 4 minutes, Jags thrashed the room.  I haven't seen that kind of raw emotion from a player in years.  It speaks volumes of what he is putting into this game at his age, and it shows, leading the team in points in the regular season.  He told me after that, he felt the guys took it easy after having a walk in the park through the first 5 periods of the series.  I think the guys responded...they closed out game three, in Chicago's house.  It was a big moment, we don't have a lot of playoff games in this uniform, but we have a lot of guys with a ton of playoff games, Jags's display got to them all a bit, it got to me.  They know getting out of this round won't be easy, and it certainly won't get any easier if we get past the Huron."

Moving on from Jagr and the teams mindset, we HAVE to talk about Leon Draisaitl.  His first three playoff games have been the best stretch of his 2 year career.  
Game one: 2 goals, 3 assists for a team playoff record of 5 points.
Game two: 1 goal, 1 assist. 7 points in two games.
Game three: A hat-trick, bringing his total to 10 points in three games.  

Pardon me for going on for a bit on this, these kind of numbers are the numbers Pioneer fans are used to seeing being put up against them.  Good for Draisaitl.
"He's in the zone right now, making his chances count.  I think I'll remind him after the playoffs that he isn't up for a new contract just yet!"
- Ryan O'Reilly.

Tomorrow night, game four, an absolutely huge game.  Bishop will be in net, with Pickard scheduled to start game 5 in Denver.  Hopefully Draisaitl doesn't get the Denverpost jinx, stays hot and brings us home with a 3-1 lead.  One can hope, but numbers be damned, Chicago has been downright hard to play against after game one.  If the Huron win tomorrow, buckle up for a best of 3 mini-series, and you can throw Pickard starting game 5 out the window!

Cheers!

[Matt-Colorado]

Playoff & Overall Season Recap / Offseason preview in the works.

One small item to address:

Word is out of Colorado is that while the GHL is under a trade freeze until after the draft, the Pioneers have a handshake trade in the works with a team in the Campbell Conference.

Owner GM/Matt Taylor is looking to shake things up after fizzling out in the playoffs.

[Matt-Colorado]

Quick rumor update:
Sounds like Colorado has agreed to a trade with an in conference team, word is that the trade is likely a 1 for 1 swap.

[Matt-Colorado]

The expansion list is in. Word is Colorado is leaving some notable veterans exposed, including Letang, Jagr, Sharp, Bishop, and also Pickard.