The Colorado Avalanche you may have known are dead and gone. The Avs team that struggled through much of this season – that was too young and showed it the last two years – has found its stride at just the right time.
Tim Tebow will head wherever the wind takes him to continue his rise through the NFL. Like John Elway before him, Tebow has a lot of fine-tuning to do. Unlike Elway, Tim Tebow will not be a Denver Bronco when he finally hits his stride.
The particulars should include something in the neighborhood of $95 million over the next 5 years, and Manning will likely finish his career in Denver. Meanwhile, Tim Tebow will move unceremoniously from a hard-earned role as the Broncos’ incumbent starter to the trading block.
Masai Ujiri has pulled off another magic trick in Denver. The young Nuggets GM transmuted aging big man Nene into athletic 7-footer JaVale McGee and versatile forward Wilson Chandler. Just one year after disappearing Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York in return for five shiny jewels, Ujiri and the Nuggets were back to their old tricks.
The Colorado Avalanche have been searching for consistency all year, and with ten games to go they’re finally hitting their stride. Seven wins in their last ten games have catapulted the Avs into the Western Conference playoff field.
Gabriel Landeskog missed the morning shootaround for the Colorado Avalanche with flu-like symptoms, but when it came down to crunch time the 19 year old rookie summoned up one mighty shot. The nationally-televised matchup between the Avs and Ducks improved Gabriel’s chances of skating away with the 2011-2012 Calder Memorial Trophy given each season to the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
Just a couple weeks after John Elway announced that Tim Tebow would be the de facto starter going into 2012 training camp, a free agent sure to unseat him is flying to Denver on the Broncos’ private jet with Elway, head coach John Fox and GM Brian Xanders.
Gregg Williams should get the boot from the NFL permanently, and he should get the strong arm of the law right to his larynx. Just as Williams instructed his players to put their forearms into Brett Favre’s neck during the 2009 NFC Championship Game, so too should be his football fate.
On Monday in Denver a cadre of Nuggets role-players and backups fended off the Timberwolves’ potent young combo of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.
Denver’s 113-109 win in Indianapolis came despite major injuries to core players slowing down the Nuggets’ high-octane attack. It was the first time Denver had scored more than 110 points since their winless streak began on February 3rd.
