Written by Jibblescribbits | 06 December 2007

I may possibly be the last Avs blogger not calling for Coach Q's head. (And no I'm still not, but I'm pretty damn close). Honestly I feel the coach gets too much credit for victory and too much blame for losing. Coaches should really be evaluated over 2 year intervals, I just think 1 season is too short a time for a coach to show his true impact, and should only be fired in extreme displays of incompetency (like Jim Playfair on Calgary last year, and Mike Keenan in Calgary this year), which is why I am trying to give Q the whole season.

But to be honest Q has put himself on the hot seat. He's really done it to himself, by tinkering so much with his lineup that it has left everyone, from the casual fan to the most astute puck-head has been perplexed at his decisions (and According to Dater even those within the orginization are getting tired of it).

So Q has whittled his pass from the rest of the season to 5 more games, no small feat. Really the avs need to go 4-1 or win 5 straight (I'll even take 3-2 with a good effort in both losses) in the next 5 to gain anyones confidence. I think a true measure of someone's ability is how they react when they are down and the Avs are down, and this is really a test to prove himself.

Here's what he should do:

• Commit to Budaj as the starter, using Theo only on one end of back-to-back games.
• Stay with the same lines for 5 games, then readjust from there. Really let a line play more than a few shifts together to see if they are any good. Oh the lines should be
• Bruno-Sakic-Wolski
• Hejduk-Stastny-Smyth
• Svatos-Hensik-Hlinka
• Richardson-Guite-Lappy
• Yes these lines mean benching Arnason (overdue) and moving people around a little for injuries. But really These should be the lines for the next 5 games (sorry McCormik, with Lappy Back you'll fit in on LE nicely despite your good work here)

Really these steps are needed. It's been nearly 1/3 of the season and it's time to settle on some line combos. It's either that or lose your job eh?

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