Last season the Colorado Avalanche had the leagues worst record. Professional hockey had hit an all time low in the mile high city, and things didn't look promising for a turn around. People were beginning to speak openly about letting Joe Sakic go as the teams general manager. In a city that has a long, and proud hockey history things were not looking too good. Colorado is one of the states that expect excellence from all its teams. The fan base here in Colorado holds it's teams to a high standard, and they do not put up with prolonged periods of losing. The stage was set for another season of struggles, and an offseason that would be considered turbulent at best. To further solidify the speculation that the Avalanche were going to struggle was the trading of one of its top players in Matt Duchene. He was a fan favorite, but made it clear he didn't want to be here, so he was traded to Ottawa.
After that trade it became clear that this team really came together. They believed in themselves, and went to work. One of the potential signs that this team was going to be successful was that they retained head coach Jared Bednar, and he continued to hold the teams respect despite finishing last in the NHL last year. Top to bottom this team was united, and they quietly went about their business. The team has a super star in Nathan Mackinnon, a number one defensemen in Eric Johnson, a team captain who is as good of a two way player you will find in Gabriel Landeskog, and a few up and coming stars in Mikko Rantanen, Tyson Barrie, and Tyson Jost. They then put together a roster of players that was a combination of solid veterans like Carl Soderberg, Patrick Nemeth, and Colin Wilson with young players like Alexander Kerfoot, Samuel Girard, and others. This team completely transformed itself from last year.
Making the playoffs this year was a surprise to everyone other than the guys on the team, and the fact that they have been able to give the Nashville Predators, who are the number one seeded team in the conference, all they can handle in the first two games shows that the future is incredibly bright for this team. Not to mention that the Avalanche are doing this all without its top goalie in Semyon Varlamov, and its top defensemen in Eric Johnson makes the effort they are giving that much more impressive. Those players being gone is not an excuse to lose this series, and it is clear the team doesn't believe that either. I believe this series is far from over, and Nashville knows they have their hands full.
Regardless of how this series goes the future of this team looks very bright. Does this team have a fe holes to fill? Absolutely. Playing a team like Nashville that is about as close as you can get to a complete team helps point out what those holes are. Briefly to wrap this post up I am going to take a look at next year and some of the things the Avs need to do in the offseason to ensure that next year they are not an 8 seed, but potentially win the division and get home ice advantage.
The Predators have 4 elite defensemen that can do a bit of everything. They are big, they are physical, and can score. Currently the Avalanche have player in Eric Johnson who fills that role, but they need a couple others to step up, and probably need to sign a veteran free agent who can come in contribute at an elite level immediately. The Avalanche have players like Nikita Zadorov who is big, physical defensemen, but struggles to score. They have players like Tyson Barrie and Samuel Girard who are both fit the mold of "offensive defensemen", but are both rather undersized. Girard and Barrie both have a very bright future ahead of them, and most likely get bigger as they age, but as of right now both are a bit undersized.
The other thing I feel the Predators have that the Avalanche don't is size. They are a big team that has earned the nickname "Smashville". Nashville plays a very physical style of hockey, and in a 7 game series they simply wear smaller teams down. I won't say that the Avalanche are a "soft" team, but they could absolutely benefit from picking up one or two guys that have the size to physically wear other teams down, and play a physical brand of hockey. As fighting becomes less and less of a thing in the NHL having big, physical players who can score, as well as play a physical style of hockey is even more important. Playing at altitude is an advantage, but adding a more physical style of play would only wear teams down more. Hopefully this offseason the Avalanche will add a defenseman, and a couple wings who have the size to wear down other teams down, and provide a physical style of play that currently this team doesn't have. One thing is certain though, and that is playoff hockey is one of the most fun things to watch, and it feels great that playoff hockey is back in Colorado!
GO AVS!!!!!!!!!!!
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