8 Explanations For What's Going On With The Colorado Avalanche This Season
DENVER (CBS4) - Last week the website Sports Club Stats listed the chances the Colorado Avalanche will make the NHL Playoffs at around 5 percent.
What's going on with the Avs this season? After such a successful 2013-14 regular season, 2014-15 has been a whole different story. The team currently ranks in the lower half of the CBSDenver.com NHL Power Rankings.
In the eight comments below, several CBS4 employees who are big hockey fans share their opinion on what's going on.
I think the Avs overachieved a bit last season. This season it's the exact opposite. They're a team that should fall somewhere in between. Unfortunately, they've fallen too far.
Out of 30 teams, the Colorado Avalanche rank:
21st in Goals Against.
24th in Goals Scored.
29th in Power Play Percentage.
When you look at those numbers, it's actually impressive that a team in the bottom 10 in those 3 categories still has any playoff hope left at this point in the year. (Avs were top 5 in scoring and power play last year, 14th in goals allowed).
The Avs? In the playoffs? I don't see it. The power play has been awful. 0 for their last 27 PP chances as I write this. I think that's also an indication of their inability to get their offense going even in 5-on-5 situations. Their two leading scorers are Tanguay and Iginla. Aging veterans who were brought in for leadership and grit and not to lead the team on offense. Where are the young guns?
Other obstacles to the playoffs include the injury to Eric Johnson, one of the best defenseman on a team that doesn't have many, and the fact that Varlamov looks good but not off-the-charts great like he was last year when the Avs were so competitive. That's just my take. I hope I'm wrong! Go Avs!
Alan Gionet, CBS4 Morning News Anchor:
Problems with shots on goal and still weak on defense.
It was clear during the Feb. 12 loss to the Rangers that the Avs are neither pulling the trigger or crashing the net. In a 1:53 long 5 on 3 power play, they took one shot -- and a measly one at that.
The Avs are being forced to the outside too easily where goalies are playing the angles easily and rebounds reflect away from the net. This is testimony to the up-sizing of NHL players and how good defenses are these days. But the Avs have speed. They should be able to run picks to get into the slot.
Second problem is still defense. The Avs record has tumbled since Erik Johnson has been out for knee surgery. They're really getting bottled up by forechecking and we're so tired of them tossing the puck up to the half-boards where they turn it over. Ah, but for the days of Adam Foote ... no one could move the puck up better.
Brian Maass, CBS4 Investigates Reporter:
Sigh. After the loss to the Rangers the playoff probability is down to about 1 percent. Lots of things just have not clicked for the Avs this season.
Many games I have watched and it looked like the players had just met before the game -- no chemistry, nobody had a feel for what the other guy was going to do. Some nights it looks like Varlamov is just on his own. That's not a winning formula. They could never put a hot streak together: win one game, lose two. Perhaps last season was just overachieving.
I don't really know what's gone wrong this year -- I wish I did. It's been nearly as frustrating for us fans as it has been for the team.
Dave Tessier, CBS4 Director:
Last season and this season are not all that different, I will tell you why. Last year the Avs were 21st in the league out of 30 teams in OT losses, the Avs won all but eight OT games in their 2013-2014 campaign. The fact that they won their division had the NHL scratching its head, however the Wild quickly exposed the Avalanche's major weakness, which is puck possession -- or lack thereof.
Corsi% is a statistic of on-ice shot attempts (on goal, missed, or blocked) taken. Corsi% is an indicator of puck possession. If you don't have the puck you can't score! Last year the Avs Corsi% ranking was 25th out of 30, not impressive however they hung on and won more than their fair share of overtime games. This year the Avs have the third most OT losses in the league, which is the primary difference between this year's record and last year's. Guess what, the Avs Corsi% ranking this year is 29th out of 30 and it's a wonder they aren't in last place.
So, what's going on with the Av's this season, minus some OT wins it's not all that different from last year.
Sara Pease CBS4 Writer/Producer (& "Crazy Avalanche Fangirl"):
Having faced an assortment of injuries early in the season, I believe it is safe to say that the Avs were never able to appropriately kick off the new season in a very positive way. When you start a season in such poor form, climbing out of that hole is always difficult.
I'm not big into comparing last season's success to this year's; each season is a new challenge with teams and coaching always changing. We just need to get better at adapting to those changes and stay consistent. Of course, I don't think the Avs are doing as bad as they could be. If they can pull out of this current rut, they might find themselves back in the running for a wild card spot. The numbers may say otherwise, but I'm a believer!!
Jason Hussong, CBS4 Assignment Desk Editor/Social Media Producer:
An argument can be made that Patrick Roy is the best goaltender in the history of the NHL, if not the world. A very strong argument at that. And if he's not the best, then he most certainly is in the top five: Brodeur, Tretiak, Hasek, Sawchuk, and Roy, in whatever order you like.
But, the thing is, Roy's greatness doesn't much extend beyond his play. To be quite blunt about it, he's not a good coach. He's a great motivator -- as can be seen in so many levels of the team's game and their big turnaround from two years ago to last year -- but he's not a coach, nor will he ever be.
And as long as he's behind the bench, which will be forever with Captain Joe in the front office, the team will languish and their fans suffer. As a Minnesota Wild fan, I'm all for it. So keep on keepin' on, St. Patrick.
