Wings/Avs Coverage

Today, a look at the Denver Post's post-game coverage from the Avalanche/Red Wings match on November 8th, which the Avalanche lost 5-2, despite playing the game in somebody else's home arena. First off, the newspaper recap of the game:

Turnaroud needed by Avalanche after loss to hated Red Wings

Franzen is often caught daydreaming of playing the Avs.

In this article, Adrian Dater recaps the Avs/Wings game. In it, AD describes the Avs' effort as "Washington Generals-style road performance," which pretty well sums this game up, actually. He points out that the Avs' lousy PK led to two goals by Johan Franzen, who probably experiences nocturnal emission when he dreams about facing the Avalanche. Dater includes quotes from David Jones and Daniel Winnik, as well as coach Sacco... mostly standard "we've got to turn this thing around" sort of thing, but Winnik's quote about "peaks and valleys" in particular was a good one. This is a pretty well-done article overall.

Hejda Introduction and Treasure Hunt

Well, the bad news for Avs fans is that the Red Wings jumped to a convincing 5-0 lead against the Sens last night, before some late goals made the final score closer than the game was... and those Red Wings are heading to Denver for a game tonight. The good news for Avs fans is that the Red Wings had to travel across three time zones and gear up for a game the very next night, so maybe the Avs will catch them a bit out of breath. Those Red Wings are all old and soft, you know. Whatever happens tonight, it will be great to have hockey back!

And now, on to the articles...

Defenseman Hejda is feeling right at home with the Avalanche

The Geico caveman in his little-seen first role.

In this article, Adrian Dater gives us some information about one of the Avs' new additions, defenseman Jan Hejda. It is a well-done article that leaves the reader feeling that he or she has learned quite a bit about the Avs' new defenseman. Dater opens with a good intro to gain the reader's attention, and then proceeds to educate his reader about the big Czech. Included are quotes from both Erik Johnson and Hejda himself, a bit of history for the man, and a hint at the sort of game we can expect from him paired with Johnson as the Avs' top defensive pairing. Needless to say, the Avs defense went from speedy-but-undersized to freakin' huge seemingly in the blink of an eye, didn't it?

This article continues Dater's Jekyll and Hyde pattern of doing a decent (and sometimes, very good) job with the real-news articles for the Post, while simultaneously providing irritatingly banal, subjective, and often downright cranky offerings with his blog (and presumably, Twitter. I'm not even bothering with Twitter but I understand he's quite snippy there also). His recent blog entries have been biased, uninformed, and downright misleading—examples of everything a journalist should avoid—and then he flips the switch and offers a fairly well-done piece like this one.

Just like Titanic, Avalanche Without a Captain

Colorado Avalanche waits to name its captain

In this article, Mike Chambers does some last-minute housekeeping before the Avalanche start their regular season. The first bit is about the team's decision to go with three alternate captains rather than naming a captain. Much has been made, including in the comments for this article, by Avs fans of this decision (or indecision, depending on your point of view), but frankly I think it's 99% hot air. I don't think a team functions any better with a captain than they would with three alternates. Chambers includes a quote from coach Sacco to help explain why the Avs are in no hurry, and I agree. A team either has leadership or it doesn't...a cloth "C" sewn on to one guy's jersey doesn't change that in the slightest.

Chambers moves on to discuss the team's final roster moves, which included the reassignment of Stefan Elliott to the AHL, and the placement of three others on the IR list. Unlike Dater's blog entries about these moves, Chambers tells his reader about these moves without any bias or commentary (and without the misleading, uninformed, flat-out wrong stuff Dater threw in about Elliott being forced out to make room for Cumiskey). He finishes this line of discussion by noting that Gabriel Landeskog made the team. Chambers indicates on what line the rookie will likely be playing, and provides a quote from Landeskog as well.

Overall, this is a good, tight, and informative piece of newswriting. Chambers writes with a direct and objective style, which I admire. I read this article, and I have no idea if Chambers thinks having three alternate captains is a good idea or is completely stupid, I have no idea if he thinks Stefan Elliott should have made the team or if he thinks Matt Hunwick and Kyle Cumiskey suck, and I have no idea if he thinks Landeskog is going to win the Calder or fall flat on his face. I have no doubt that Mike Chambers has his own answers to these questions, but he doesn't tip his hand at all in his writing, which is one of the things that makes it so good. His goal is to inform, not to convince... and as usual, he does a great job of it.
A

Dater's Dear Diary Entry about Road Trip, Followed By Three Pages Filled With "Adrian Forsberg" Signature Practice.

http://www.denverpost.com/dater/ci_17380837

In this article, Dater offers a brief reminiscence all the way back to the time where Peter Forsberg returned to the Avs in the midst of a four-game road trip in which the team lost all four games. Those were the days...

Basically just a couple half-done ideas thrown together into one article, this is a recap of the Avs' most recent road trip, almost entirely devoid of substance (the article, that is, not the road trip... although that's probably debatable). Dater begins by stating that never in his time covering the team has the Avalanche locker room been as quiet a place as it was following the Nashville loss. I like the way he lets the players and the room tell us how to feel here, rather than saying something like, "This team is really lost right now." Right or wrong, that would have been Dater's opinion... but by telling us what the locker room was like and how the players were acting, he actually reports what he saw, and lets the reader draw his or her own conclusion. It's good writing, and obviously, I'd like to see more of that from Dater.

No recap of this road trip would be complete without just getting lost in Peter Forsberg's baby blues for a bit, and naturally Dater obliges.

Savor every single moment of this comeback, folks. I totally am. I admit it — I'm a Foppa fan boy. The man has put me through the wringer as a reporter trying to decipher his clues, but consider me a willing glutton for punishment in this case. 

It'll be a long time before we ever see the likes of his kind again. I don't care what his stats are through the first two games, he's still the most compelling player to watch out there. And he easily could have had three or four points in those two games if not for good goaltending and the clumsy sticks of teammates.

Wow. I mean, how often to you hear a reporter actually write something like, "I'm a Foppa fan boy?" Honestly, he sounds like he's past just being a fanboy... he sounds a bit like he's actually enjoying a little Foppa S&M. On more than more than one occasion, Dater has chided reporters from other teams with the motto, "There's no cheering in the press box." It certainly seems like Dater could stand to take his own advice here, although it might be difficult for him to hear it with Forsberg whispering sweet nothings into his ear. While it's certainly no secret that Dater has always harbored a massive mancrush on Forsberg, there are still some lines you don't cross as a professional journalist, and flat-out admitting in print that you're currently slobbering all over the people you are assigned to cover is one of those lines.

Furthermore, what NHL player wouldn't have a few more points if not for good goaltending or botched plays by teammates? I realize Dater is trying to get us to look past Forsberg's numbers a bit here, but this just struck me as a really dumb thing to say. Love makes you say stupid things, apparently, and on Valentine's day, I suppose we should forgive Dater this one time.

He closes by thanking an unnamed Nashville cab driver for not stealing his stuff, despite his having been somewhat rude to the guy. It is nice to see that Dater's "faith in humanity" has been restored. I wonder how long it will last?

Grade: C+.  Although it did include a very nice, objective description of the Avs' state of mind following the Predators game, there is really no reason at all to have written this article. Because it is so completely useless, the Forsberg serenade doesn't seem quite as jarringly inappropriate as it probably should.