Colorado's domination

[Crow]

Until they win a cup with this core I would hardly use the word ‘domination’. I wouldn’t even say they are cup favorites over Tampa.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

The attempt to talk down Colorado's roster has been a bust. I'd let it go.

If you're looking for a reason why the Canes could beat the Avs, it's special teams. The Canes have the #1 PP in the league at the moment. All it takes to change a series is a hot power play. It's demoralizing to feel like you're about to give up a GA when your team takes a penalty. You can see it in the body language of the players on the ice and how the momentum shifts. Yes, I'm aware that Colorado has a top PK. Carolina's was good to great over the past 2 years, but it didn't mean a damn thing against Boston ultimately.

I was not talking down Colorado's roster. It's a great roster. I'm pointing out that I view Carolina, Tampa (without Kucherov), the Islanders, and Colorado as equivalently talented teams. With Kucherov, Tampa is still in a class of their own.

 

[Chips]

As a Hawks fan I’ve seen the Canes several times this season. A very good team.

Avs are on another level. MacKinnon alone is enough to put them on top in this debate. Rantanen is the best winger on both rosters combined. The Avs are just as deep and skilled only with more size, and better top end talent. Makar is the best defenseman, though Slavin is very close. Overall D cores are very similar but again the Avs top end talent/firepower is just too overwhelming.

There’s really zero reason anyone should look at both rosters(fully healthy) and come to the conclusion that the Canes are superior. Unless they’re just being biased.

Also have to point out that Girard is both very good all around, great transition *and is scoring about the same pace as Hamilton (slightly higher with the same games). His team has the puck a lot and holds the other teams zone very well with him on the ice

Makar is at a higher pace, with less games but he seems to have taken up the same pace.

Toews is scoring a little over 10pts higher pace than Pesce while all previously mentioned adjectives apply to him as well.

Graves obviously isn’t one of the Avs main guys but he should be better than he played for a stretch, and in any case as far as offensive contributions he matches Slavin while being a reasonable partner for a couple of the Avs top guys if they’re trying to spread out.


They play a similar system and these guys really fit and execute it well. I think the teams overall are very close, and considering every team fluctuates and hot/cold timing factors into every series, they’re close enough either could win.

 

[Hasbro]

Until they won a cup with this core I would hardly use the word ‘domination’. I wouldn’t even say they are cup favorites over Tampa.

The original title was in reference to them outshooting opponents.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

I was not talking down Colorado's roster. It's a great roster. I'm pointing out that I view Carolina, Tampa (without Kucherov), the Islanders, and Colorado as equivalently talented teams. With Kucherov, Tampa is still in a class of their own.

It's kind of hard to do one without doing the other in a thread made to praise the Avs.

 

[Chips]

Until they won a cup with this core I would hardly use the word ‘domination’. I wouldn’t even say they are cup favorites over Tampa.

Unless people specifically credited them with having “dominated the playoffs” I’d say the word is perfectly fine considering how absurd some of their team stats and individual players stats have been lately, especially when healthy


Games are games, a competition is a competition and sample size is sample size


Eg the Bolts played poorly that series against the CBJ... but I wouldn’t call them a bad team, and deny that they were dominant that season.

performing badly isn’t exactly the same as being a bad team since literally any team can lose 4 games

 

[Crow]

Unless people specifically credited them with having “dominated the playoffs” I’d say the word is perfectly fine considering how absurd some of their team stats and individual players stats have been lately, especially when healthy

I guess I’m underwhelmed by a regular season winning streak and wouldn’t use that word to describe it. Domination is a lasting thing to me. Teams get hot like this all the time in the regular season. This is not even really a streak. The wild, in their division, have been playing about as well. They did lose to the avalanche twice though.

 

[Mighty Makar]

The Canes are a great team, too.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

Pesce > Girard

This damages your credibility immensely.

The attempt to talk down Colorado's roster has been a bust. I'd let it go.

If you're looking for a reason why the Canes could beat the Avs, it's special teams. The Canes have the #1 PP in the league at the moment. All it takes to change a series is a hot power play. It's demoralizing to feel like you're about to give up a GA when your team takes a penalty. You can see it in the body language of the players on the ice and how the momentum shifts. Yes, I'm aware that Colorado has a top PK. Carolina's was good to great over the past 2 years, but it didn't mean a damn thing against Boston ultimately.

Having a historic PP didn't help the Oilers last year.

The Avs are also the 8th least penalized team in the league. Additionally, the only way the Avs and Hurricanes could play would be in the playoffs where teams can get away with more, so the PP advantage would be diminished.

 

[Chips]

I guess I’m underwhelmed by a regular season winning streak and wouldn’t use that word to describe it.

It’s not just the standings tho, it’s actually watching the games when their roster is intact, they had a rough stretch with injuries but they have 3 defensman 50pt to ppg point (over 82 game) paces, who each have elite (not overuse. Their stats are very very good and few defenders currently match this season) possession, transition, and are playing great defense.

the Avs shot suppression, shot differential overall, and especially in their last three games that they played vs the Wild (2) and Knights who they thoroughly controlled, not just close games; their goal differential last several games (unfortunately worsened in one game by perhaps the worst goalie lol. Thanks Sabres) are dominant.

that’s all with MacK being snake bitten and offensive Makar out a long time they’re top 3 in goals, and they’re a top 3 team in GA with their best Dman missing half the seasom (tied for 2nd w Vegas, who they just beat 5-1)

like Vegas, they have a vezina contender goalie

 

[North Cole]

LOL what is this? Their last 11 games against the Avs? How far back are you going to go? Just as well to use stats from the 90’s too. They haven’t played Colorado this year and they played them twice last year where they split those two games and the game Edmonton won was against Werner in his first ever NHL start and he hasn’t played a game since lol. To top it off Rantanen and Landeskog were both missing from the Avs lineup

Since the Avs have added Makar, Kadri, Burakovsky, Nichushkin and Donskoi to their lineup they have played 2 games against one another. Since adding Saad, Toews and Byram they’ve played zero games against each other yet you’re going to use a 5 year sample size to determine the Oilers play the Avs well?

Im not saying the Oilers can or can’t play Colorado well. But it’s completely absurd to say they do based on a sample size that’s made up of a completely different roster.

I, for one, would love to see an Avs/Oilers SCF this year. Going for EDM obv but I don't mind the Avs and it would be cool to also see Mack win a cup. I guess the site would probably explode with the Drai vs McDavid vs Mack implications if such a series occurred, based on the earlier threads.

I think both teams matchup well, though our goaltending leaves a lot more to be desired. Grub is an Avs player that really doesn't get enough credit IMO - he's underrated.

 

[BlackTipReefer]

On a scale of 1-5 Colorado fans, how comfortable are you with your:

• Goaltending?
• Scoring?
• Defence?
• Depth?
• Coaching?

...going into the playoffs?

 

[MacMacandBarbie]

The 2016 Penguins, the current lightning and the early 2010s Hawks are literally what you just described.

Colorado's constructed really well, but don't act like this is some kind of brand new phenomenon

The hawks teams were more possession dominance than speed, and the pens team was more speed dominance than possession. Just my opinion. Colorado doesn't play that much like those hawks teams at all from what I see.

 

[MacMacandBarbie]

I agree the test will be with Vegas and St. Louis but the Avs just destroyed Minny. They had like 97 shots in 2 games. It honestly wasn’t even close.

The test won't be very tough with STL. Vegas will be the real test in the West, and I am not really sure if the Avs come out of that one.

 

[Hasbro]

On a scale of 1-5 Colorado fans, how comfortable are you with your:

• Goaltending?
• Scoring?
• Defence?
• Depth?
• Coaching?

...going into the playoffs?

3
4
5
4
5

 

[MacMacandBarbie]

I guess I’m underwhelmed by a regular season winning streak and wouldn’t use that word to describe it. Domination is a lasting thing to me. Teams get hot like this all the time in the regular season. This is not even really a streak. The wild, in their division, have been playing about as well. They did lose to the avalanche twice though.

How about on a single game basis, where rangers dominated philly 9-0?

 

[tucker3434]

On a scale of 1-5 Colorado fans, how comfortable are you with your:

• Goaltending?
• Scoring?
• Defence?
• Depth?
• Coaching?

...going into the playoffs?

• Goaltending? Starter 5, Backup 1
• Scoring? 5
• Defence? 5
• Depth? 5
• Coaching? 4

Gotta find a better backup goalie. Other than that, this is the most complete roster we've had since 2003, but that team did get beat in the first round. That's how it goes sometimes. It could happen again. It's hard to account for injuries/luck.

On paper, I like us against anyone outside of the lightning, and even with them, I think it'd be a good series.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

This damages your credibility immensely.



Having a historic PP didn't help the Oilers last year.

The Avs are also the 8th least penalized team in the league. Additionally, the only way the Avs and Hurricanes could play would be in the playoffs where teams can get away with more, so the PP advantage would be diminished.

Directly or indirectly comparing Edmonton of last year with Carolina of this year damages your credibility immensely.

In regards to your point, the refs swallowing their whistles didn't really happen last year in the final 2 rounds. Only Vegas in the series against Dallas had fewer penalties taken/60 relative to their regular season average. The regular season number for the team is in the matching box.

		Opponent
		New York	Vegas	Tampa Bay	Dallas
Team	New York	3.21	-	4.14	-
	Vegas	-	3.51	-	2.64
	Tampa Bay	4.29	-	4.21	4.55
	Dallas	-	4.28	4.24	3.59

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[SimpleJack]

The hawks teams were more possession dominance than speed, and the pens team was more speed dominance than possession. Just my opinion. Colorado doesn't play that much like those hawks teams at all from what I see.

I’m sry but no.

The 2010 and 2013 Hawks teams were RIDICULOUSLY fast from top to bottom. Elite team speed. Especially the 2013 team. That team had Shaw, Frolik, Saad, Kruger, Stalberg, and Bolland making up its bottom 6. Top 6 had Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa. Keith, Oduya, Hjalmarsson, Leddy on defense. Even Seabrook and Bickell were still very strong skaters back then.

Definitely one of the fastest teams to win a Cup in the cap era.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

On a scale of 1-5 Colorado fans, how comfortable are you with your:

• Goaltending? 2. Grubauer is great, but he has an injury history and with Francouz's injury/condensed schedule he doesn't get many games off. If Grubauer gets hurt in the playoffs, the season is over.
• Scoring? 4. Some streaky forwards on the roster. If they all go cold at the same time, the first line could be asked to do all the heavy lifting. Not ideal, but not devastating depending on how long it goes on.
• Defence? 5.
• Depth? 4. There isn't anyone that's playing significantly higher in the lineup than they should be (backup goaltender excluded), so each line and defense pair is effective in their role. Calvert, EJ, Makar, Grub, and Timmins have spent significant chunks of time on IR, but the depth extends to the scratches. Macdonald and O'Connor should be regulars over Timmins and Compher. There are often rumors that Mackinnon is dealing with nagging injuries, but we'll never know.
• Coaching? 5. Sakic gets all the credit, but I think Bednar has a lot to do with just about every player the Avs sign or trade for outperforms expectations.

...going into the playoffs?

Pretty good.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

On paper, I like us against anyone outside of the lightning, and even with them, I think it'd be a good series.

I can't speak for anyone else, but the reverse of this is how I feel myself. I feel like the best compliment you can give another team - except for teams that are already rivals - is being glad they get eliminated in the playoffs before they can face your team. I was relieved as hell that the Avs lost that series against Dallas, because that was the one team left in the playoffs that, everything else being equal, I would've put as favorites against the Lightning. And while the Lightning, obviously, still have a very good roster this year, Colorado's only improved theirs.

If I wasn't a Lightning fan and was forced to pick a winner of a TB-COL series, I'm pretty sure I'd pick the Avs. Of every other team in the would-be Western Conference, they're a level above all of them.

 

[The Abusement Park]

On a scale of 1-5 Colorado fans, how comfortable are you with your:

• Goaltending? 3/5
• Scoring? 5/5
• Defence? 5/5
• Depth? 4/5
• Coaching? 5/5

...going into the playoffs?

Literally the only issues I have with the team is backup goalie and I think we could add a bottom 6 C. Oh and the PP has been pretty bad this year but hopefully that turns itself around. Other than that at full health I’ve very confident in the roster.

 

[Crow]

How about on a single game basis, where rangers dominated philly 9-0?

Seems like I’m nitpicking now, which I am, and also focusing too much on the title.

I’d be comfortable with someone saying the avs have dominated their opponents lately.

When you talk about their domination generally it’s sounds like a bit much. They are in 2nd place ffs.

 

[bossram]

Man, the Avs just throttled Vegas too. For other teams...yikes.

 

[DearDiary]

Avalanche haven't made it past the 2nd round since 2001. Just like the Capitals with 2nd rounds, putting up decent regular seasons, then flaming out when the games get tough. Then winning the 1 season where there were no expectations of them