Yes, we made the mistake of letting Anthrax out of his cage. It happens from time to time. Ryan was kind enough to share a space with Thrax, which is more than 99% of the populace is willing to do. From tomorrow night’s program:

Since the Avs shutout the Hawks here last time, they’ve gone 5-2-1 which means they’re 10-4-1 since December 1st. Is this real or just a spike of good fortune?

Murphy: This is real. Despite their defensive shortcomings (especially with Erik Johnson out a couple of weeks), the Avalanche were never as bad as they were in November when they were trying to integrate a big chunk of new players onto the roster and losing an improbable amount of close games. Carl Soderberg, Blake Comeau, Francois Beauchemin, and Andreas Martinsen are now making important contributions on a nightly basis and have added a supplementary presence the core group badly needed. What we’ve seen since December is a market correction. Many of us predicted a borderline playoff team at the beginning of the year, and that’s right where they are now 41 games in.

Anthrax: When I was in high school, I got a puppy. Cutest little guy in the world, sweet face, big brown eyes. Problem with this dog was, he was impossible to train. Deuces dropped all over the house, pissing in the corner of the living room, it was awful. Then, finally, one day, it’s like something clicked! The dog is waiting by the door to go outside, I let him out, he goes out and drops corona-corona in the yard, like a Good Boy. I was thrilled! The next day, I woke up, and I couldn’t find my car keys. Do you see where this is going? The dog ate my car keys. Surgery for the dog, the dumbass.

Are the Avs gonna eat my car keys? Probably. I’m gullible though, so I have hope.