Avs fans to Trump, NHL: Let Us Ignore Hockey In Peace

DENVER, CO – A group of Colorado Avalanche fans has written an open letter to President Donald Trump and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman following the weekend's developments.

The group of diehard supporters co-signed the memo asking for sports to be left out of their beloved politics after the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they would be accepting the invitation to the White House.

"We, the undersigned, write to both of you explaining how we are devastated by the way the sport has infiltrated politics the last few days," the letter reads.

"We are regular, hardworking westerners. When we come home each day, we use politics as an escape from the horror and devastation that we witness at every Avalanche home game."

My Avs were particularly horrid last year, and sometimes I think that any GM that wasn’t named Joe Sakic would’ve been shown the door already...but I believe it’s more likely that owner Stan Kroenke really doesn’t care about winning hockey games, let alone playoff series and hanging banners. It’s tough to reward an owner with continued season ticket patronage when he refuses to acquire or develop the talent necessary to compete in the league today.

Kroenke is just cashing checks and riding the 1996 and 2001 Stanley Cups to fill what seats he can. Sakic was a great player on those teams, but he is a disaster as a GM. Something like 2 or 3 playoff appearances in the last 10 years?

He definitely isn’t in the habit of paying for coaching talent, either. Bob Hartley was working in a Canadian windshield factory before coaching the Avs. Patrick Roy, of dubious coaching talent, only came back as a favor to the team and then left suddenly. And who the hell is Jared Bednar?

There is some young offensive talent on this team, but in today’s NHL, you better be solid on the backend, and the Avs have been a consistent Gong Show on the blue line ever since the days of Rob Blake and the Great Raymond Bourque. You have to stand tall even in front of the best net minders, and that just hasn’t happened in Colorado for a long time.

It’s embarrassing when the rest of the league looks at a game against the Avs like a night off, but the satire in the letter these fans sent shows that at least they haven’t lost their sense of humor. Hope they can keep it because it’s looking like another long year. It’s a great, strange game, and maybe they can prove me wrong.

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