News Article: NHL.com 30 in 30: Colorado Avalanche

[The Merchant]

Roy determined to get Avalanche back in playoffs
[NHL]832728[/NHL]

Changes were inevitable when the Colorado Avalanche missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, the fourth time in the past five seasons they failed to qualify.

They went from first place in the Central Division in 2013-14 to last with a 39-31-12 record and 90 points, seven short of the playoffs. Patrick Roy coached them to 112 points his first season to win the Jack Adams Award.

"I'm here to win the Stanley Cup," Roy said. "I'm not in Denver to see us missing the playoffs, I'm here to see us winning. I really want to make sure that's the last time we're missing the playoffs. It makes you very humble. First time I missed the playoffs as a coach in junior and the NHL."

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Varlamov, young forwards give Avalanche optimism

The Colorado Avalanche learned last season that a successful start is just as important as a good stretch drive. They finished strong but ended last in the Central Division and 11th in the Western Conference with 90 points, seven points out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Avalanche are determined to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Sometimes the reality is you have to go through it," coach Patrick Roy said. "I truly believe our team will be much better because of it. I'm sure everybody is going to take a deep look at what we did and come in with a totally different mindset."

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Questions for Avalanche start with state of defense

The Colorado Avalanche will need to tighten their defensive play for a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after falling short last season. Overworked goalies Semyon Varlamov, Reto Berra and Calvin Pickard faced 40 or more shots on goal a combined 16 times, and they permitted four or more non-shootout goals 21 times.

The Avalanche also need to regain their swagger on offense. Their goal production fell from 250 to 219, the power play skidded from the fifth-best percentage in the NHL to 29th, and they were shut out eight times.

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Rantanen, Pickard lead Avalanche's top five prospects

The Colorado Avalanche are committed to building through the NHL Draft, using free agents to fill in the gaps while waiting for their prospects to mature.

"This is where we're going to have to focus," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "If we feel that we need to have a free agent to give time to our young guys to develop, we will do that. But we truly believe that the draft will be the key in our success."

The Avalanche have been stockpiling promising defensemen in the system, but right wing Mikko Rantanen, goalie Calvin Pickard and center Joey Hishon have the best chance of playing in the NHL this season.

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The rest of the content can be found on the NHL.com home page.

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[member 116861]

"Barrie and the defense"

That statement always pisses me off so much. Barrie is my 2nd favourite player in the league but how stupid do you have to be to say that.

 

[The Merchant]

"Barrie and the defense"

That statement always pisses me off so much. Barrie is my 2nd favourite player in the league but how stupid do you have to be to say that.

The video as a whole was pretty painful to watch. The perpetual highlight reel of the Avs getting scored on coupled with Rosen's incessant use of the phrase "just a bubble team" made me cringe more than a couple times.

 

[tucker3434]

We were a bubble team last year after all the problems we had, and people act like it was a dumpster fire. If you had taken a poll before the season started: how would the Avs do if they exited October with 3 wins and Varly, EJ, and MacKinnon all spent time on the IR list later in the season? Everyone would have said bottom 3. Most would have probably said dead last. As they said in the video, everything that could go wrong for us, did. In that situation, 9 points out of the playoffs really isn't all that bad.

I guess we'll see how it goes. I think the media is really dinging us for losing ROR (which they should), but not really giving us much credit for our additions. Grigorenko is pushing Cliche's 7 points out of the lineup. Comeau is replacing McGinn's 6 points. Zadorov is pushing possession black hole Guenin out. After this past week, I'm think Rantanen will probably make the squad and force another AHLer out. The biggest difference between the Avs and a top ten offense last year wasn't our top end players. It was the number of guys hitting 30 points. This year that number should be going up by at least a few.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Yeah, don't watch the video. Wonder if Dallas and their 92 point season will be called a disaster. The whole thing was condescending "well maybe if they figure it out". No one person can replace O'Reilly but he's not THAT irreplaceable. "If Varlamov can get back to how he played two years ago" And MacKinnon the 3rd best forward for fantasy, uh...

Sadowski wrote most of the content. He's a good reporter but maybe not the best on personnel and prospects.

 

[Ararana]

Year after year I tell myself not to watch EJ Hradek's stupid video segments on the Avs. Year after year I give in and immediately regret it.

After everything that went wrong last year we were still in the playoff race very late down the stretch and only missed out by 9 points. They way they talk we were next to Buffalo in the standings.

I hope we come out flying simply to wipe that stupid ass grin off EJ Hradek's face.

On a side note, am I the only one around here who thinks Zadorov is a WAY bigger addition than these NHL articles are making him out to be. We just landed a 20 year old LHD with top pairing potential. These articles glance over hime as if he was a throw in.

 

[bromando]

I'll actually take the bad press. What this team was missing, especially in the beginning of last year, was the spark and the need to prove something that came with our division championship run and being 29th in the league the year before. While we're still so young, it's good to have the media stoking the fire for us.

 

[Freudian]

#AvsNewAge

 

[Stories]

Meh. Not a particularly interesting article.

 

[S E P H]

To me, EJ Hradek isn't really the issue, he is more of a puppet for the NHL than an actual "writer" or "NHL insider" for NHL.com. It is Dan Rosen who really is the idiot of NHL.com. I've been reading his mailbag this summer, and he's been asked a couple of Avs questions. In each one he keeps whining about the defence and how they will finish last in the division. Which he then goes on to say in a different question how Dallas Stars will be a playoff team, but somehow with a much worse defensive core.....

I mean look at Rosen with Hradek, he couldn't pronounce or even forgot how to say Varlamov, had to say "the goaltender is good". He did soften up and say Avs are going to be a bubble team than saying prior how we suck and will finish for Puljujarvi. But honestly Avs are the biggest wildcard club in the NHL, so I do not expect to get any hype from any media except from someone like Pierre McGuire who loves our core or Craig Button.

 

[Bender]

It doesn't matter. They can say what they want. They can say that 'The Avs were the darlings of the NHL in 2013-14' but that's a bunch of ********.

All we heard that season was how unsustainable it was and how they were going to come crashing down because of poor possession.

How was the possession last year when we finished the year 35-23-7 after switching from man-on-man coverage after 17 games?? Was it STILL horrible? How about those shots on net??



Just keep watching those scoreboards because you can't be bothered to stay up late to actually WATCH any games.

That's not to say that the Avs didn't need improvement especially on the blueline. But then we go out and get that improvement and they STILL don't seem to think it will make a difference. Bunch of ****ing nonsense.

 

[FoppaForsberg*]

I take articles written by Eurolanche and other smaller 'market' writers over the big names. I have yet to see a really good article come from NHL or TSN for a Western team, they know the East and have very limited knowledge of the West.

 

[Pokecheque]

Meh, I don't have any problems with that video segment. Last year's offseason was indeed a dumpster fire. There was very little that was good apart from the Iginla signing, hopefully that move continues to bear fruit.

And I think they actually qualify the "disappointment" segment by saying if not for that spectacular rookie season by Coach Roy they'd be exactly where everyone expected them to be in the rebuilding process. Whether we want to admit it or not, that season raised expectations by a fair margin. Some regression was to be expected but I still think they screwed up big-time both on and off the ice. The good news is that this offseason, they seem much more in command and making almost all good moves, at least on paper.

I'll actually take the bad press. What this team was missing, especially in the beginning of last year, was the spark and the need to prove something that came with our division championship run and being 29th in the league the year before. While we're still so young, it's good to have the media stoking the fire for us.

Could not agree more. I was scared to death when The Mullet picked the Avs in the 2nd round against the Kings in 2001, and they struggled. He picked the Devils over the Avs in the Finals and I relaxed a little.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Do they need to be better, absolutely. The only thing they can do is go out and prove people wrong. But to say there's nothing wrong with 5 minutes of sneering and condescension I can't get behind. It's parroting a popular meme that's been kicked around by the media, doesn't bring up anything new or insightful or even information, just common perceptions. I don't mind criticism but make a point with it at least or bring up something new. It's all about names, big name out, no big name in. That's as far as it goes.

 

[chet1926]

I fully agree with everything they said in their preview video. I would consider us a playoff bubble team. And honestly I'd probably say we are closer to out of the playoffs than in. I do think they were a little harsh in their review of last season we still ended with 90pts, which isn't exactly garbage.

Our defense is still not good enough, period. It's better, but not playoff caliber. When you still have players like Holden, Guenin, Redmond, Stuart occupying your 3rd pairing you aren't going to do well. Compare our defense to those in our division and we are probably still the 2nd worst, the only one that is worse is Dallas.

Plus we are still pretty young. We're resting a lot of hopes on a 19 year old taking the next step, it usually doesn't bode well. There is a steep learning curve in the NHL, MacKinnon might break out big time this year he might not.

We also have some guys that aren't getting any younger, like Tanguay, Iginla, Beauchemin etc. Who know what they will bring this year, could be good still, could be lost a step like Stuart. We'll have to wait and see with those guys.

I like where the team is headed, but as of right now it's going to be a fight to make the playoffs this year, and if we do make it, it will probably be as a wildcard. I mean does anyone here really think that we'll finish higher than St Louis or Chicago? After that Minnesota and Nashville are probably a step ahead right now. Us, Winnipeg and Dallas are in similar spots.

We need to continue to add solid pieces. I think Bigras will be a big time add to the defense once he is ready for full time duty (which may not be for another year). But the defense for this year, in my opinion, is still a big area of concern, especially if one of the top 4 guys goes down with an extended injury. Still not sure why we didn't offer Hejda a one year deal to play 3rd pairing minutes. I'd rather him be out there than one of Holden, Guenin, or Redmond. Honestly I'd rather roll Siemens out there than any of the above mentioned players, but that will never happen.

 

[linusandvarlamov]

To me, EJ Hradek isn't really the issue, he is more of a puppet for the NHL than an actual "writer" or "NHL insider" for NHL.com. It is Dan Rosen who really is the idiot of NHL.com. .

I couldn't agree more with you.

I can't wait for the Avs to grab either a wild card spot or a 3rd place finish in the division this year . Just you wait and see Dan Rosen be all positive about Dallas in their upcoming video .

 

[Congo Jack]

I always find it odd that San Jose is applauded for signing Paul Martin on a 4 year deal while they seem doubtful about the Beauchemin signing due to his age, despite the fact that they will be the same age when the contracts are done with. Also weird that Zadorov is barely mentioned despite being the biggest part of the ROR trade.

 

[Nzap]

Also Hishon our 4th best prospect?

 

[Lord Moriarty007]

You know they haven't watched last season if they have too resort to paper for everything they say. EJ didn't say anything about how well Iginla contributed to the team like he said last year that it was a mistake of signing him.

 

[the_fan]

Why do people take anyone's opinion seriously when it comes to those so called analysts or writers?

Just because they are given positions as writers or analysts, doesn't mean they know anymore than regular hockey fans.

The only thing i take seriously when it comes to reading articles is news and facts, their opinions don't mean much to me because more often they are all wrong.

 

[Foppa2118]

"Barrie and the defense"

That statement always pisses me off so much. Barrie is my 2nd favourite player in the league but how stupid do you have to be to say that.

About as stupid as you'd have to be to say "Varlamov wasn't as good last year" as if it was his fault, and not that the forwards decided to stop playing defense for half the season.

 

[Tweaky]

About as stupid as you'd have to be to say "Varlamov wasn't as good last year" as if it was his fault, and not that the forwards decided to stop playing defense for half the season.

He was worse last year. Save percentage dropped from .928 to .921. That is a decent drop. If he had maintained .928 for last year, it would have meant 11 fewer goals for the season. And it was not the fault of the forwards or D...he saw 1791 shots in 57 games last season and 2013 in 63 the season before. Works out to per games averages of 31.4 vs 32.0 respectively...meaning they gave up fewer shots each game.

Why he was worse is up for debate. I am one of those that attribute it to lingering pain and stiffness throughout the season due to injuries. And that means I think he will bounce back this season.

I also hope he levels out a bit. I would much rather have the Varly that only posted 2 shutouts in 41 wins than the one that got 5 in 28 (along with 6 games of 5+ goals).

 

[tucker3434]

I'm not going to complain about a .921. That's more than good enough to be a playoff team.

 

[the_fan]

The only thing I'm worried about is MacKinnon and Duchene. Whichever way i try to convince myself that those 2 will play to their capabilities, I just can't get convinced. I really don't know which Duchene and MacKinnon are going to shown up next season but I do know that they have to be top players for the Avs to make the playoffs. They can't rely on Iginla and Tanguay leading in points again and expect to make any noise in the western conference, specially the central division, MacKinnon and Duchene need to lead the way.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Everyone knew he wasn't maintaining .928, the point is he didn't play worse.