Mid-Season Review

We’ve reached the half-way point of the season, and the Avalanche are in pretty good position. After 41 games, they have 22 wins, 18 losses and 1 overtime loss for 45 points. At the writing of this, that’s good for 8th place in the Western Conference and one point behind the 7th place Predators. However, the 9th place Sharks, who have 44 points, have played 6 less games, and the 10th place Stars, who have 43 points, have played 3 less games. So even though they’re in the running for a playoff spot at first glance, they’re closer to a 10th or 11th place team, which is about where I figured they would end-up.
As far as injuries, they’re doing relatively well. Peter Mueller hasn’t played since the first few games in October, and I would honestly be surprised if he sees any action this season. Granted, I’m not a doctor, I don’t have any kind of “inside track” on the goings-on with Peter, but from a fan’s perspective, I don’t see much progress. He is skating and practicing with the team, but still no word on his return. Ryan Wilson is also out with a concussion that he sustained in a hit from Maxim Lapierre; last I heard, he’s also skating with the team but no word on his return either. Matt Duchene is out at least 4 weeks with a knee injury, no word on the extent or the nature of it, but this one stings a bit. Erik Johnson, Kyle Quincey, Brandon Yip and David Jones have all been out with pulled groins, all from Joe Sacco’s “bag skates” (aka “suicides” or “herbies”) in practice…he has since stopped the bag skates in practice. Johnson, Quincey and Jones have all returned and Yip remains out. At this point, no long term injuries to major players (knocks on wood).
As a result of the injuries, a number of the players have been called-up from the Lake Erie Monsters. Stefan Elliott was called-up when Johnson got injured and hasn’t been sent back down…not because Johnson’s still hurt, but Elliott has played well. He still has a lot to learn, but he’s been able to put points on the board and move the puck forward quickly. He reminds me of a young John-Michael Liles. Brad Malone was also called-up, and I definitely like his game, very close to his cousin, Ryan Malone. Solid-hitting energy guy, good in all 3 zones and pretty good hockey IQ. He doesn’t hit as hard as Cody McLeod, but has a more rounded game. Malone was sent back down to Lake Erie once Jones returned. David van der Gulik, aside from having a totally kick-ass last name, has a very similar game to Malone, although he’s a bit faster. He was called-up when Yip went out, and has played well in my opinion. I would rather have van der Gulik over Yip, but that’s for Sacco to decide when Yip returns.
Areas of concern for me are mostly Paul Stastny and David Jones, both have been under-performing. Stastny has 21 points in 38 games, which is way below his normal point per game pace. That’s not to say he isn’t capable of picking it up in the 2nd half of the season, but a bit of a disappointment nonetheless. David Jones has been a disappointment as well, although he isn’t carrying the heavy expectations that Paul is.
I can’t say enough about Ryan O’Reilly or Gabriel Landeskog. O’Reilly has already set a career-high for points (29) and currently leads the league in take-aways. If he played in the Eastern Conference, the media would be gushing about him being a Selke Trophy candidate. He’s been the Avs’ best 2-way forward and is really coming into his own. I’m gonna put it out there, I have a man-crush on Landeskog, he has continued to impress me for someone his age, he plays like a 5-year veteran in a lot of ways. He’s good at driving to the net, persistent at screening the goalie, and good defensively. He does so many little things that most people don’t notice but have a positive effect on the outcome. I forget that he’s only 19!
Overall, they aren’t doing bad, they’re staying competitive in most games and have even boat-raced a few teams. However, consistency has been an issue, which would be expected from a young team. Only Jan Hejda, Milan Hejduk and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are over 30 and most of the players are 25 or younger. I think adding an experienced scoring winger or two in the off-season would help the team, as well as hiring a full-time goalie coach, but I think any possible mid-season trades would simply be a lateral move and not really help the team.

1/4 Mark Review

This is the first of 4 reviews of the Avs’ season that I’ll be doing.

Coaching
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Sacco has looked like a desperate coach in the past few weeks. Especially in recent games, he hasn’t kept consistent line combinations, which makes me wonder if it’s having a negative effect on the team. Chemistry in a line combo takes longer than one game to develop, so changing them over & over doesn’t allow for any growth to occur. Sacco has continued to prove my opinion that he’s inflexible when it comes to strategy. When the opposing team figures-out & stifles his Plan A, he has no Plan B; he just persists with Plan A, even though it’s no longer working. He’s made some questionable decisions on who to put on the ice in key situations like the last few minutes in a period of a close game. One would think he’d have the point leaders on the ice, but no. On numerous occasions, he decided on a combo that included Kobasew, Porter, Winnik and Galiardi, who are 3rd line grinders, they’re not known for their scoring ability. It isn’t like the Avs don’t have players with more talent, either. I’d say he’s definitely on the hot seat, but the bigger question is who to replace him with? I don’t think promoting either Deadmarsh or Lefebvre would be an improvement over Sacco.

Forwards
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Inconsistent play across the board, with possibly Hejduk being the exception. Duchene started-out slow but looked like he was finding his game in recent weeks. O’Reilly has been pretty steady, although his play has dropped-off a bit recently. Landeskog has looked really good at times, but he hasn’t really been a liability. He’s made some rookie mistakes, but generally makes good decisions when he’s on the ice. Lindstrom isn’t making the impact I was hoping for, although that could be due to improper use of talent by the coaches. Nobody else has really jumped-out at me as being really bad or really good, just a lot of “meh” across the board.

Defense
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The defense has been more solid in my opinion. Johnson tries to do too much some nights and goes for the highlight reel play instead of the simple one. If he made the simple plays every night, he’d be the best defenseman. I really like the Shane O’Brien signing, he’s kept his stupid penalties to a minimum and being effective on the ice. For me, the jury’s still out on Hejda. He’s shown flashes of brilliance some nights and a major gaffe that leads to a goal against on others. Wilson’s improved from last year, although he was asked to fill a role he’s not capable of fulfilling last year. He’s more of a bottom-pairing guy, and he’s done a pretty good job in that spot. Both Quincey & O’Byrne have been solid most nights, although they’ve had their share of gaffes like anyone.

Goaltenders
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Varlamov has looked shaky some nights, but he’s also been left-out to dry for stretches. There’s no question in my mind that he’s really talented, just a matter if he can sustain over an entire season. Giguere’s been good when he’s played, and very capable of taking the starting job if/when Varly falters. It baffles me that the Avs don’t have a full-time goalie coach for Varlamov. Considering his age and the price the Avs paid to get him, why wouldn’t they have a fully accessible goalie coach to work with him??

Overall
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From the start of the season, I knew that at best, the Avs are a bubble playoff team, they don’t have the talent to challenge the top-8 in the conference. However, it’s one thing to lose, but I don’t see 100% effort every night from a lot of the team. If they can’t turn it around and start playing better, I see a major change of some kind (trade or coaching change).