Avalanche announced today that it has acquired forward Matt Hendricks from the Boston Bruins organization in exchange for defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

Worst trade ever. Worst trade ever. I am going to sincerely miss Boychuk. He's my favorite player on the Monsters and I loved watching him every night. I don't know what I'm going to do not watching him! Worst trade ever. Ok, maybe not ever, but at least today. worst trade today.

this is why colorado won't get a cup anytime in the near future. detroit drafts and develops their teams. when colorado has gold, they trade it off and sometimes sell the farm to buy it back. this is a bad trade.

You say this is a bad trade and give no reason. You obviously know nothing of Matt Hendricks. You are in for a pleasant surprise!!!

Hendricks is a very solid player (I looked up his stats before posting), but Johnny was a fan favorite for a reason and is yet another example of Colorado not developing their players.

quote:

Originally posted by Gordie Howe hat trick:
Hendricks is a very solid player (I looked up his stats before posting), but Johnny was a fan favorite for a reason and is yet another example of Colorado not developing their players.

Colorado does a fine job drafting and developing players but sorry to tell you, Colorado has to worry about Colorado and not Lake Erie. Boychuk was never going to make the Av's. I am not saying that Hendricks will but this has a larger importance than the Monsters. This most likely means Nigel Williams or Kevin Montgomery or both will be signed and brought to the Monsters.

If Boychuk had no chance with the Avs, then why him, of all the other defenseman, was he called up in January when injuries plagued the Avs? They could have brought up Jeff Jillson who has already had NHL experience, but they went with Boychuk. Also, they called him up during the playoffs. Sure it was just for practice purposes, but again, they could have called up a bunch of other players.

Okay. You did notice the "A" and I had avoided the term "Fan Favorite," though it thoroughly applies to Hendricks. Does the organization need a charismatic, hustling Center who has proven himself in the AHL? Looks like a pretty fair trade, and Boston needs Defensemen. Hendricks could do a lot help develop the Monsters. It seems that AHL Centers don't get called up much.

I think the biggest issue is the AHL schedule. If Providence played Lake Erie, we would have more than box scores. It's probably a good trade and I don't mean to diss Hendricks, but Boychuk was a standout on a less than stellar squad this past year.

Lake Erie will love Matt henricks. He started his career in rochester and was one of the best that we had. Johnny Boychuk was impressive also. I bet you by Christmastime, Matt will have won everyone over. Be prepared to be impressed.

so that's two gone from last years squad (boychuck, richardson) i dont know anything about hendricks so i wont comment on him but if colorado thinks this will help their teams then okay, people this is minor league hockey.
to be honest i think the squad that will be put on the ice for this season will definitly be better than last years squad with all the acquisitions colorados made and with the trades.

Brent Kelly has gone to Europe also..

That's the AHL. The vets are going to move out year to year unless the Avs sign them. It's better to concentrate on the rookies that will tend to stick around for a number of years. That's where the real development takes place. The vets are just looking for their way into the NHL and will go to where that is most likely going to happen.

On the bright side, after a few years you'll really start to know a lot of the players the Monsters are facing off against, and so will the coaching staff. Allowing for more interesting and fun games for the fans.

Now we can all boo Boychuk and Richardson if they show up in an AHL uniform. Haha...

Ah, yes, the AHL. Boychuk may even be back in Cleveland. Let's hope for his sake that his career leans more toward the path of Mike Green of the Caps. And then there was that real famous offensive defenseman for the Bruins...

Colorado does indeed have to worry about Colorado. They also had a player in a mirror image of Johnny on their roster last year in Jeff Finger...

I think that was a solid move in picking up Hendricks for next season. His stats and the opinion of a Hershey friend of mine says we will indeed love him. He is gritty (121 PIM) and has some scoring touch (22 goals/52 points)...sounds a bit like Nick Bootland, doesn't it.

I have to admit, I will miss those wicked hip checks...

I hope you all are right about Henricks. I mean, Boychuk did put himself all out there on the ice every game. He helped me become a hockey fan this past season. I hate change, and being that this was my first hockey season, when the originals (for me) leave, its hard to take. Similar to the Indians in the late 90s. Although those players actually were winning. But its hard to see the team you first grew to love leave. I will not boo Boychuk, nor Richardson, although I wasn't a big fan of him. I'll give the new guy a chance, but I'm going to deeply miss Johnny. I just won a card of his on e-bay too...Thanks for the memories Johnny!

Now, what this about Brent Kelly to Europe??????

I read it on the avs blog:

Brent Kelly to Europe

Great...lets just get rid of everyone who won't make the Avs this year!

Joe Sakic possibly won't return to the Avs this year, that's why the Avs concentrate on centers. There could be an injury plagued season next season like it was last season and if so (and if Joe decides to quit) Henricks could be needed to center the Avs' fourth line for a few games. As long as Sakic doesn't announce his decision there's not a huge cap space to play with. This means no chance to sign a great center. That's why Giguere made that trade in my opinion.

a possible reason for kelly leaving is the pay situation. there is a salary cap in the nhl and its getting smaller every year or couple of years so teams have to make sure they can keep there star players and have enough money to sign 'em and in the ahl, there are no multi-million dollar contracts, endorsement deals so these guys will sometimes just up and leave to go play in the european leagues for the money (not to say there money grubbers) but the chance to make a little more scratch than what they are seeing playing in the ahl, this mostly applies to the veterans like kelly. i heard about this on cbc's hockey night in canada, they interviewed the president of the ahl.
they are also letting more players (18) on the roster instead of the 15 and also for overtime periods during the regular season they are toying and givin it a trial period, overtime 1:00 penalties when its 4 on 4, so watch out for that as well.

Hey, people, we knew it was going to be a rough off season with 15 players up for signing in Colorado, not to mention the one year contracts here in Cleveland. There is going to be a lot of changes no matter how we'd like it to go. Boychuk will be missed (especially those hip checks). May he prosper in Boston's system.

Meanwhile, here in Cleveland, let's hope the GMs are addressing problems at both levels so that we can have a more competitive team. The salary cap is always a consideration, but in the Colorado system it is more they had no long term plan in the minors. The split affiliation until last year is proof of that. So, not only are they trying to shore up an aging team and/or please the Denver fan base but they are also having to learn how to run a minor league team to develop the future players. Much as I would like it to have come magically together in the blink of an eye it isn't going to work out that way.

I still expect to see an improvement over last season's mixed performance. The old excuse of "the Big Club comes first and only" does not develop winning players in the short or long runs. If, indeed, the Avalanche culture is to have performance and professionality at all levels, then I expect to see that every bit as much in Cleveland as in Denver. That means getting some players in here that are capable of all aspects of the game, not just putting in their time until they get called up.

quote:

Originally posted by tha hansons!:
a possible reason for kelly leaving is the pay situation. there is a salary cap in the nhl and its getting smaller every year or couple of years so teams have to make sure they can keep there star players and have enough money to sign 'em and in the ahl, there are no multi-million dollar contracts, endorsement deals so these guys will sometimes just up and leave to go play in the european leagues for the money (not to say there money grubbers) but the chance to make a little more scratch than what they are seeing playing in the ahl, this mostly applies to the veterans like kelly. i heard about this on cbc's hockey night in canada, they interviewed the president of the ahl.
they are also letting more players (18) on the roster instead of the 15 and also for overtime periods during the regular season they are toying and givin it a trial period, overtime 1:00 penalties when its 4 on 4, so watch out for that as well.

have to correct myself, the salary cap has incresed but so do the players salaries, so to sign some of the big names they have to let some of the little fish go.
honestly, i cant wait until next season, yeah its going to be alot of new faces but some of the old faces will still be here. look at it this way, boychuck and richardson may get more ice time and be able to play up with their respective parent clubs.

As much as you all will miss Johnny, you will love Matt also!!! He is a good leader and will put his heart and soul out there for 80 games and 60 mins a game. The one year he was in Hershey he won over the crowd and showed his intensity on the ice every minute of every game. We miss both of the guys here in Hershey.

For me personally this was a tough trade. I have loved Johnny since his rookie year and he needed to get out of the Avalanche system and most of the fans in Hershey wanted Hendy back last year, but he was looking for the opportunity to go to the NHL, which he thought would have been in Boston. One warning, be prepared for Matt to be on his bottom a lot on the ice. It isn't a bad thing, it is a very good thing. He hustles a bunch on the ice and ends up losing his edge, but it is ok, because he is making the play.

Enjoy Hendy!!! He is a great guy on and off the ice.