Paul Stastny Asks, Who's YOUR Daddy?

Paul Stastny has quite a legacy to live up to. His dad, Hall of Fame player for the Quebec Nordiques (with a brief stint on the Devils), was Peter Stastny.

Who's Sidney Crosby's dad? Is he in the Hall? I think not.

Though it's obviously a tall order, Stastny doesn't seem to be having any trouble following in his dad's footsteps. Last season, he finished second in the Calder voting for Rookie Of The Year (behind some kid named Malkin). This season, well, he's doing slightly better.

Stastny scored five points (1g, 4a) against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night, which, combined with his hat trick in the first game of the season for his Colorado Avalanche team, brings him to eight total for the year. In three games.

In case you're bad at math, Son Of Stastny (as I call him) is on pace to score 219 points this season. I can see absolutely no reason why he wouldn't do so. It would only be a three-fold increase of his point total from last season, which is completely normal for a second-year player. Oh, and 219 points would set a new record, replacing some other guy with a "y" at the end of his name.

Son Of Stastny will not be denied.

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The Avalanche Will Get Nothing And Like It

Last night the National Hockey League held their annual awards gala, handing out the hardware to the best players in the highest level of professional hockey. Among those nominated were Avalanche players Joe Sakic (Lady Byng Trophy for most sportsmanlike play) and Paul Stastny (Calder Trophy for best rookie).

Having won it previously in 2001 (along with a few other trophies), Sakic was the favorite by far for the Byng, despite having higher penalty minutes than the other two candidates, Pavel Datsyuk and Martin St. Louis. Stastny faced stiffer opposition from Russian phenom Evgeni Malkin, but some very compelling arguments had been made on behalf of Peter Stastny's sensational younger son---Paul was a dark horse, but a strong one.

But, consistent with the kind of season their team just suffered, both Stastny and Sakic went home empty-handed from the awards show.

Stastny finished second in the balloting to Malkin, who, having the benefit of playing on the same power play unit as the best offensive player in the entire league, racked up more points overall and that's really all the voters care about. Never mind Son Of Stastny's superb performance killing penalties (something Malkin did almost none of) as well as his record-setting 20-game points streak. None of that seemed to matter.

As for Sakic, his defeat at the hands of a dirty Dead Wings player was sadly predictable. With higher total penalty minutes, Sakic's widely respected styles of disciplined on-ice play and quiet leadership just couldn't seal the deal. In fact, he finished third in the voting, not only behind the winner Datsyuk, but also behind Martin St. Louis, who obviously benefited from a few pro-dwarf sympathy votes.

An appropriately fitting end to a similarly frustrating season for the entire Colorado team. Sigh.

The complete list of award winners can be found here.

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Son Of Peter, National Hero

Paul Stastny, Avalanche star rookie, scored the game winning goal, one other goal and an assist for Team USA in the IIHF World Championships in a 3-0 defeat of Germany. Team USA has now clinched a spot in the next round. Tyler Arnason, another Avs player, assisted on Stastny's first goal, which proved to be decisive.

Stastny now has six points in five games with Team USA, tied for second on the team behind Lee Stempniak.

Team USA now plays Canada in the final first round game, but regardless of the result, they will advance to the next round.

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Colorado 6, Calgary 3 (The REAL End)

At least they went out on a high note. Not a Dan Hinote, but a high note nonetheless.

The Avs beat the Flames handily in a come-from-behinder that included Joe Sakic reaching 100 points, Jose Theodore actually winning a game, and rookie hero Paul Stastny recording a goal and an assist.

And to top it all off, Ian Laperriere beat the living crap out of Flames Doucheman Dion Phaneuf for a cheap-shot on Dear Lord Stanley favorite Tyler Arnason.

photo courtesy AP/Jack Dempsey (how fitting?)

Said Lappy:

"Nineteen players out of 20 on their team knew exactly how the game was going to be played: play hard but don't be stupid. At the end, it was a stupid hit. We don't want to hurt them going into the playoffs and nobody wants to get hurt going into the summer. You can play hard and smart, but he decided to take a run at Arnason and I felt it was the place to tell him it's not right.

"You just can't do that. You've got to respect the game because it's going to come back and bite you."

Too bad the game itself didn't really mean anything...

Except this: The team that deserves the eighth spot the most will not be in the playoffs this year.

For the first time in my entire life I'm actually rooting for the Dead Wings to win a playoff series. I hope Detroit crushes the Flames in four games, all shutouts, and reminds them that literally backing into the playoffs with the help of a ridiculous one-point-for-an-overtime-loss system will not cut it in the NHL. Destroy them, Dead Wings.

Just make sure you lose the next round, of course.

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Coloardo 3, Vancouver 1

photo courtesy Chuck Stoody/AP

The impossible continues to be the norm as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks last night while the Calgary Flames lost to the San Jose Sharks, keeping Colorado in the race for the playoffs and closing the gap between them and the Flames to just three points.

Milan Hejduk scored all three Colorado goals and rookie phenom Paul Stastny assisted on each. Hejduk, who played like he was half asleep for most of the year, has scored ten of his 34 goals since February 27, when the Avs began their desperate run for the final playoff spot. Stastny, who set the NHL record for rookie scoring streaks at 20 games earlier in the year, has scored two goals and five assists in the last four games.

Still standing in the Avs' way are Nashville and Calgary themselves, not to mention a win by Calgary against Edmonton on Saturday that would mean the end to any remaining chance of a playoff spot.

The farther the Avs go, the more potentially painful a Colorado loss or a Calgary win becomes.

And still the question remains: Why the hell didn't Colorado win like this during the rest of the season? Why did they wait until game 65 to remember how to play like the championship teams of 1996 and 2001?

Part of me wants to be proud and impressed by the Avalanche, but the rest of me is nothing but frustrated and disappointed. Hopefully next season they can play like this from the very start. Anything less is unacceptable.

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Rookie Mistake

Paul Stastny, look out!

photo courtesy Jeff McIntosh/AP

Try not to lose your head. The Avs need you to have a long and healthy career in the NHL, young Son Of Stastny.

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Colorado 4, Phoenix 3

The Avalanche finally reached 40 wins last night with a victory over the ever-struggling Coyotes, but remain seven points behind Calgary for the final playoffs spot in the West. The Flames have forgotten that they suck on the road and somehow keep winning. It's like they really want to play in the post-season or something.

As for the Avs, their win over Phoenix started well enough, with four unanswered goals in the first two periods. Said coach Joel (Dr.) Quenneville (Medicine Woman),

"We played perfect for two periods of hockey."

That's very true, coach. Unfortunately, there are actually THREE periods in a hockey game, and your team very nearly lost the game in the third one. In the final period, the Desert Dogs managed three goals of their own and twelve shots on goal, while holding the suddenly-inept Avs to just three shots. I'm no infallible hockey expert, but I'm pretty sure that if you're going to play any two perfect periods, they should probably be the last two, not the first two.

Almost every game it seems the Avalanche at some point forget what it is they're supposed to be doing (winning). They somehow manage in the end, but barely. Even if they make it to the playoffs, does this team really deserve to play in the post-season? Sure, they've been really successful in the past 15 games or so, but it's almost in spite of themselves.

The good news is Paul Stastny ended a five-game scoring drought with two assists, and Tyler Arnason continued his solid play with two assists of his own.

Now all that remains of the season for the Avs are games against Minnesota, Nashville, Vancouver and two against Calgary. No pressure.

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