This recap of the trade deadline -- in which the Avs did nothing interesting, all their big trades occurring earlier in the year -- starts off with Dater attempting to tell us that he "didn't trust his instincts enough [to] report what he really thought," namely, that Liles would not be traded... despite this on his twitter account:
If I had to bet on Liles being traded, I'd say 80-20 yes. We'll see
That doesn't sound like a guy who's unsure of his instincts. Dater just can't stand to be wrong... you think he'd be used to it by now. But it would be nice to see him just admit he was wrong, rather than trying the "I know what I reported was wrong, but what I thought was going to happen was actually right!" nonsense. He tries so hard to show that he knows a lot about hockey, it's just pitiful sometimes. This is one of those times.
At least he pokes a bit of fun at himself by sending that weakness to "the judges," who treated it more kindly than I would have.
Dater moves on to suggest that Liles will be captain of the Avalanche. I can only assume that when it ends up being Duchene, Dater will then write that he knew it would be Duchene all along, but because he had temporarily been taken over by some sort of brain slug, he accidentally reported that it would be Liles.
As far as I know, Liles has never worn the "A" other than for one- or two-game stints. The team's full-time alternates are Hejduk and Stastny, and I haven't heard of too many veterans getting appointed captain unless they've worn the "A" for a while. I don't really see Hejduk as a captain, and so the smart money is on Stastny. However, I think the Avs will try the "name the exciting young star captain" thing, as many teams have done recently, and go with Duchene.
Of course, "smart money" is also quite often on the exact opposite of whatever Dater says, so I wouldn't put much money on Liles as the next Avs captain if I were you. Just doesn't make a lot of sense, except in the mancrush world in which Dater spends much of his time, where all sorts of ridiculous things apparently make perfect sense.
Dater continues with a bunch of little travel stories. Honestly, these don't really bug me all that much. I know it's an Avs blog, but hearing what the guy's up to as he covers the team isn't bad, and sometimes it's even entertaining. I have to wonder, though, about the hotels the Post is putting the guy up in... no wireless? You'd think that by now, the Post would know what hotel to send their reporters to give them the tools to do their job.
Dater's silly attempts to backtrack on his Liles prediction just come across as desperate attempt to hide the fact that he doesn't know everything about the NHL, Don't worry, AD... that secret's been out for a while. Nobody's going to hold it against you.
C+
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