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avalanche

Sullen Budaj takes blame for loss to Oilers

Two wasted 5-on-3 power-play situations also play a big part in the loss at Edmonton.

By Adrian Dater
The Denver Post

Posted: 11/19/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

Updated: 11/19/2009 01:17:03 AM MST

Avs winger Wojtek Wolski, right, takes a shot from Edmonton's Sheldon Souray at Rexall Place. ( Andy Devlin, Getty Images )

EDMONTON, Alberta — On a night when Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj fought the puck, the puck emerged the decisive victor.

On a night when the Avs had a two-goal lead and two subsequent 5-on-3 power-play advantages, they decided to get more charitable than Bill Gates' foundation and dropped a 6-4 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

With the five goals he gave up on 32 shots, Budaj has allowed nine goals in fewer than five periods of work in the past week. This might explain his hunched posture and the muttering gestures to himself in the locker room afterward.

"Pucks were going through me," Budaj said. "We score four goals on the road, we should win. I was in the right position a few times, but

Colorado Avalanche

• View slide show of Avs-Oilers game Nov 19.
• View slide show of Flames-Avs game Nov 17.
• View slide show of Avalanche forward Matt Duchene.
• View slide show of Avalanche center Paul Stastny.
• View slide show of Canucks-Avs game Nov. 14.
• View slide show of Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson.
• View images of the Avs' new jerseys.
• View slide show of Avalanche rookie Ryan O'Reilly.
• Find notes and analysis from the ice on the All Things Avs blog.
• Evaluate boxscores, roster and the latest team numbers on the Avs Stats Page.
• Ask Adrian Dater about the team or NHL in the Avs Mailbag.
• Post photos of your team spirit.

they sneaked through me. It was bad goals; I wasn't able to make the big saves at the right time."

Budaj deserved a big chunk of blame for this loss, but not all of it. After the Avs built a 4-2 lead on Kyle Cumiskey's perfect wrist shot at 11:04 of the second period, referees gave them two 5-on-3s, each for less than a minute.

Marek Svatos got a couple of great chances, but that's when Oilers backup goalie Jeff Deslauriers — awful to that point — started to get his game together. Then, with 16 seconds left in the period, Budaj allowed a huge rebound right to Sam Gagner's stick and it was a 4-3 game. At that point, it seemed like bad things were set up to happen for the Avs in the third period — and they did.

"I think the 5-on-3s were a turning point, I think the goal at the end of the period was a turning point, and a goal that we gave up at the start of the (second) period," Avs coach Joe Sacco said. "We talked about not throwing any blind plays into the slot area, and unfortunately we did that. We got caught with three guys over there."

Sacco was talking about the sequence that led to Edmonton's tiebreaking goal, by Chris O'Sullivan with 8:53 left in the third period. The Avs

BUFFALO, NY - NOVEMBER 18: Michael Frolik #67 of the Florida Panthers celebrates his first period goal scored against Ryan Miller #30 of the Buffalo Sabres on November 18, 2009 at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. (NHLI | Bill Wippert)

got bunched up on the right side of the net, after Cody McLeod (minus-4) failed to clear a puck at the blue line. After the puck went back down low, Avs defender Tom Preissing turned it over and O'Sullivan put home a shot from the doorstep.

"We can't fault Peter on all those. You're not going to win many games, either, getting (18) shots on goal," Sacco said. "We've got to shoot more, got to generate more offense."

Milan Hejduk scored Colorado's first two goals, and Matt Duchene assisted on both. The two points Duchene had were one more than he'd had the previous 11 games, but he'd have traded them in for a win.

"We've got to be better in that (5-on-3) department," Duchene said. "We've got to bury them when we get the chance. It's been a little tough because we haven't had a lot of time to practice it because of so many games and haven't had many 5-on-3s to begin with, but it's no excuse."

Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com

Avs Recap

The Post's three stars

1. Shawn Horcoff.

Scored a goal for Edmonton and was good on the penalty kill.

2. Milan Hejduk.

Scored twice for Colorado.

3. Lubomir Visnovsky.

Oilers defenseman was a plus-3.

What you might have missed

Matt Duchene had another strong night in the faceoff circle, winning 10-of-15.

Up next

At Vancouver, Friday at 8 p.m.

Adrian Dater, The Denver Post

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Preview of World of Warcraft TCG: Scourgewar

From Upper Deck Entertainment

Published: 11/18/2009 12:24pm

World of Warcraft: Scourgewar

• Upper Deck Entertainment
• Street date: November 24, 2009
• Cover price: $3.99
• Booster packs of 20 cards (19 game cards and one UDE points card)

Scourgewar is the 10th World of Warcraft Trading Card Game Expansion.  It introduces new elements to the WoW TCG including new mounts, new keywords, the Death Knight class, and the Lich King’s lieutenant himself, Kel’Thuzad.  The set also includes three new Loot Cards that give players of the WoW MMO cool options and enhancements for their online avatars.

Click below for the preview card with the new "Mount" mechanic, drawn from the play of the MMOG.

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LotR Steins

And Mugs and Tankards

Published: 11/19/2009 02:00am

Fans of Lord of the Rings will soon be able to quaff their favorite beverages in collectible steins, tankards, and mugs from Taverncraft, which recently acquired a license to produce the drinkware from Middle Earth Enterprises. 

The first Lord of the Rings release will be a series of steins based on The Hobbit, beginning with a 10” fine-grain stoneware stein with art by fantasy artist Matthew Stawicki.  Each stein will feature bas-relief sculpting and a solid pewter lid. 

Taverncraft has recently begun distributing its World of Warcraft steins to the hobby, and plans to do the same with its Lord of the Rings line. 

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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State's winning streak at home against nonconference teams was in jeopardy.

The second-ranked Spartans -- and their fans -- refused to let it end against Gonzaga.

Durrell Summers hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with a few minutes left, made two at the line in the final seconds and finished with 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to help Michigan State rally for a 75-71 win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday night.

Fast Facts

• Michigan State rebounded from a five-point halftime deficit to beat Gonzaga and claim its 41st consecutive home victory against nonconference opponents.

• Durrell Summers led the way for MSU with a team-high 21 points -- 17 of them in the second half.

• Four players reached double figures for Gonzaga, including Robert Sacre tying a career high with 17 points.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

"It was the kind of game we needed, especially this early in the year," Summers said.

The Spartans (2-0) won their 41st straight game at home against a nonconference team, extending a streak that started after a loss to Duke on Dec. 3, 2003.

"There's no question the crowd won that game for us," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "If you were down there, you could hear it."

Robert Sacre matched a career high with 17 points for the Bulldogs (1-1) despite playing just 19 minutes.

"He was really making a difference in there, then his minutes got limited because of the fouls," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "That hurt us."

Gonzaga freshman Elias Harris scored 17, Matt Bouldin had 15 points and Steven Gray added 13.

Kalin Lucas made a layup with 39 seconds left to give Michigan State a three-point lead and finished with 19 points.

Raymar Morgan scored 16 off the bench despite playing on a sprained left ankle and injuring his right ankle in the first half.

"I am really proud of Ray," Izzo said.

Michigan State scored first, then trailed Gonzaga for much of the game.

The Bulldogs led by 13 midway through the first half and were ahead 35-30 at halftime.

They built another double-digit lead early in the second half, but were hurt by the 7-foot Sacre getting called for a third foul and 7-5 reserve Will Foster getting a fourth foul shortly after halftime.

Michigan State freshman Derrick Nix made a putback with 11:52 left in the game to put the home team ahead for the first time since the opening minute.

The Bulldogs, though, refused to wilt in the raucous Breslin Center despite having one of their youngest teams since becoming one of the nation's stronger programs.

"It's a terrific college basketball atmosphere," Few said. "Before Thanksgiving, it felt like a game that would clinch a championship game in a league with the energy.

"We played here [in 1997] when I was an assistant with Dan [Monson] and this place has really grown."

Sacre made a shot midway through the second half to put Gonzaga ahead by seven and a fadeaway with 4:42 to go for a 65-61 lead.

The Spartans made enough shots and stops in the final minutes in a game that will get them ready to play Florida, North Carolina and Texas before the Big Ten season.

"It's a big win for us because we didn't play real well," Izzo said. "Gonzaga took it to us for at least 30 minutes. I have a lot of respect for Mark and their program.

"They punched us in the mouth, picked us off the ground and punched us again early -- and I thought we were ready to play," Izzo added.

Gonzaga, hoping to reload instead of rebuild, also faces a tough schedule with games against Wake Forest, Arizona or Wisconsin, Duke, Oklahoma and Illinois before starting West Coast Conference play.

Few said he had mixed emotions about Tuesday's game because the Bulldogs had a shot at pulling off an upset -- which would've perhaps been one of the school's biggest wins in the regular season -- but he went home proud.

"There's a lot of positives we can take out of this, certainly how we competed," Few said.

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NEW YORK -- When the phone rang, Zack Greinke let it go -- he didn't recognize the number. Only after listening to the voice mail did he call back and find out he'd won the American League Cy Young Award.

The Kansas City Royals ace easily beat out Felix Hernandez for the honor Tuesday after a spectacular season short on wins but long on domination. Winning left the extremely shy Greinke with mixed emotions.

"Back in Orlando, I haven't really got a whole lot of attention from people, which has been nice," he said. "So I hope it doesn't get that way, where everyone is like, 'Oh, hey, Zack, hi.'"

He'd prefer to remain anonymous when he's not on the mound. He's not looking forward to being introduced at banquets as "Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke" for the rest of his life.

AL Cy Young Voting

"In that way, it's kind of like a negative for me," he said.

It's been quite a turnaround for Greinke, who led the AL in losses in 2005 and quit baseball for six weeks the following year after being diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder.

Greinke went 16-8 with a major league-low 2.16 ERA this season and received 25 of 28 first-place votes and three seconds for 134 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Hernandez, 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA for the Seattle Mariners, drew two firsts, 23 seconds and one third for 80 points.

"I thought it was going to be real close between the two of us," Greinke said.

Detroit's Justin Verlander was third with the remaining first-place vote and 14 points, followed by the Yankees' CC Sabathia (13) and Toronto's Roy Halladay (11).

"Greinke deserved it. Before the season was over, I said my vote was for him," Hernandez said in Venezuela.

"This has taught me that I need to be perfect, I will prepare myself to be stronger next season. I will need a superb year because just a good one, it's not enough," he said.

The NL winner will be announced Thursday.

Despite what he's overcome, Greinke doesn't view himself as a role model.

"I really don't like having a bunch of attention, so even if I did see myself in that light, I don't do anything about it," he said. "I'm real uncomfortable doing stuff like that, to be around people and doing stuff like that," he said.

Cy Young Winners On Non-Winning Teams

The Royals went 65-97 last season, by far the worst winning percentage of an AL team that had a Cy Young winner.

He fidgeted a bit and spoke softly during a series of telephone conference calls and a video linkup from a studio in Orlando, Fla.

Even before winning, this was sure to be a big week for Greinke. He is getting married on Saturday to high school girlfriend Emily Kuchar, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and then is heading to Hawaii for a three-week honeymoon.

The 26-year-old right-hander was the sixth overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in 2004 and got hit hard the next year. After leaving spring training in February 2006 to combat his anxiety, he worked his way back to the majors by late September.

Greinke was 7-7 the following year and 13-10 in 2008 before his breakout season. Greinke's ERA was the lowest in the AL since Pedro Martinez's 1.74 ERA in 2000 and his 242 strikeouts were second in the league behind Verlander.

After speaking with a pair of pitchers on opposing teams -- he wouldn't identify them -- he credited an improved mental approach in which he put all his focus on each individual pitch he was throwing.

But he did think he had the best season. He said he had spoken with teammate Brian Bannister about his FIP -- a new-age statistic called Fielding Independent Pitching, which is supposed to factor out defensive differences.

He allowed just 11 home runs this year -- nine solo and two with one man on, according to STATS LLC. His victory total matched that of Arizona's Brandon Webb three years ago for the fewest by a starting pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in a non-shortened season and was the fewest by an AL starter to win in a full-length season.

Steve Carlton was the only Cy Young Award winner who pitched for a club that was worse. The Hall of Fame lefty was 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for the 1972 Philadelphia Phillies, who went 59-97.

Kansas City, which tied for last place in the AL Central at 65-97, scored just 13 runs in his eight losses and 21 runs in his nine no-decisions. He failed to get a victory in six starts in which he allowed one run or none.

Greinke, who agreed to a $38 million, four-year contract last winter, received a $100,000 bonus for winning.

The first-place votes for Hernandez came from Chris Assenheimer of The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, and Mark Feinsand of the Daily News in New York. Verlander's first-place vote was cast by Steve Kornacki of Booth Newspapers in Michigan.

For all the recognition, Greinke could have done without it.

"A lot of stuff going on today," he said, "when I usually just like doing nothing. But just part of life."

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Dick Jauron on Tuesday after a 3-6 start in which the offense has been one of the worst in the NFL.

AFC East blog

• Blog network: NFL Nation

Jauron was 24-33 since being hired by former general manager Marv Levy in 2006 to be head coach. He has two years remaining on his contract that will pay him a total of $6 million in 2009 and 2010.

"I really don't have anything to say," was all Jauron would say when reached on his cell phone by The Associated Press.

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was named interim head coach on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the team's first black head coach. Fewell, who's never been a head coach at any level, will make his debut on Sunday when the Bills travel to play Jacksonville.

"I am announcing today that I am relieving Dick Jauron from his duties as our head coach, effective immediately," Bills owner Ralph Wilson said. "I have tremendous respect for Dick and thank him for all of his efforts during these past four years. While this was a very difficult decision, I felt that it is one that needed to be made at this time for the best interest of our team. We will now focus on moving forward and preparing for our game this week in Jacksonville."

Jauron was blindsided by the firing, an NFL source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Jauron traveled to Detroit on Monday to meet with Wilson; the last time he traveled to Detroit was last summer, when the team fired offensive coordinator Turk Schonert. Jauron and Wilson met Monday and again Tuesday.

The former head coach of the Chicago Bears, Jauron finishes with a 60-82 record as a head coach in the NFL. He was also an interim coach in Detroit in 2005.

Buffalo, which has not made the playoffs since 1999, has now gone through four coaches since the end of the 2000 season, when Wade Phillips was dismissed. Gregg Williams was not rehired after his three-year contract expired, while Mike Mularkey abruptly resigned after a front-office shakeup following the 2005 season.

Fewell shared a simple but blunt philosophy in taking over as the interim head coach.

"Play like hell and win," Fewell said.

That's the plan and also the challenge for Fewell, following the defensive coordinator's promotion. He has seven games left in the season to prove that he's capable of turning around a struggling team and a franchise that's now on its fifth coach in nine years and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a 10th straight season.

Fewell showed he's smart enough to not make any guarantees, when asked to assess how much he can do to fix an offense that's sputtered for most of the season despite the presence of Terrell Owens.

"We are who we are," Fewell said, adding he'll wait until Wednesday to announce whether quarterback Trent Edwards or backup Ryan Fitzpatrick will start this weekend. "We have that identity. We're going to try to give a little spark, but we are who we are."

Under Jauron, the Bills couldn't get over the 7-9 mark. The team was 7-9 during his first three years. During the offseason, the Bills entered minicamps with optimism they could improve on offense. They signed Owens to take away coverage from Lee Evans, the team's No. 1 receiver.

Jauron and Schonert decided to go to a no-huddle offense. The team didn't huddle during the offseason or training camp. Before the season started, the Bills fired Schonert and handed the offensive coordinator job to Alex Van Pelt, who had been the quarterbacks coach.

The Bills are averaging 15.6 points a game this season. They haven't generated 300 yards of offense in eight of nine games this season, including their past seven. They also haven't had a quarterback generate 200 yards passing since Edwards had 230 yards in a 33-20 win over Tampa Bay in Week 2.

Defensive end Chris Kelsay was shocked to learn of the move happening this late in the season, but not entirely surprised. Kelsay was well aware before the start of the season that changes were in store if the Bills faltered.

"I think everybody understood this was a big year and there was lots at stake," Kelsay told the AP, adding he maintains his respect for Jauron. "I feel a little responsible for it, and most players do. I feel like I let him down because we, as players, are the ones to blame."

Jauron becomes the first NFL coach to be fired this season and first Bills coach to be fired midseason since Hank Bullough was fired nine games into the 1986 season and replaced by Levy.

Fewell has been the Bills' defensive coordinator since 2006.

"Perry has done a great job with our defense and has demonstrated excellent leadership skills as defensive coordinator," Wilson said in a statement. "Our players and staff have a lot of confidence in him and that is important as we look forward to these next seven games."

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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