Kings of the Hill
Back to back WCHL Cup championships have the Colorado Avalanche riding a huge wave of momentum.
They say it's all about the playoffs in hockey, and that what happens in the regular season doesn't really matter, as long as you get into the post-season.
The Colorado Avalanche are testament to that. After a couple of ok, but not earth-shattering regular seasons, the Avalanche have roared through the playoffs the past two seasons, capturing two straight WCHL titles, and are now trying to become the first team in league history to three-peat as WCHL Cup champions.
"We've got no pressure whatsoever," said Avalanche General Manager Ryan 'Midas Touch' McClanahan. "If we were to lose in the playoffs, yes, it'd suck. No question. But we've won two straight titles already. Who are we letting down? Who are we disappointing? No one. You can't win it every year. We are certainly going to try though, and winning a third straight title would be like adding sprinkled candy on top of the cake. We got our icing last year, now it's time for sprinkles."
For now, just getting into the playoffs is the goal of the Avalanche, who seem to be affected by a combination of losing their top defenseman and future Hall of Famer Niklas Lidstrom to retirement, as well as a case of WCHL Cup hangover. Currently, Colorado is holding down seventh in the Western Conference with a 17-15-3 record, but have actually been outscored 97-99 this season. The revamped Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings are all surprisingly ahead of the Avalanche, who are a pedestrian 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
"It's like we are treading water," said rookie centre Tyler Ennis, who has scored eight points in 14 games since being recalled from the ACHL. "We're playing decent, but we're not getting many breaks and we're also not playing up to caliber. But I'm confident we'll get it going."
Tyler Ennis is hopefully of kickstarting a slumping Avalanche offense.
In an effort to replace the loss of Niklas Lidstrom, the Avalanche acquired defenseman Mark Streit from the Nashville Predators during the pre-season. While Streit hasn't been terrible, he's also managed just two goals and 16 points in 35 games, leaving room for improvement as well.
"It's been an adjustment for sure, coming to Colorado from Nashville," attested Streit. "In Nashville, it was like playing hockey on a bombing range. You felt like if you made a mistake, the puck would be in your net because every else was terrible on that team. Brutal. The goalies couldn't stop a beachball, the rest of the defense had more holes in it than Kurt Fulmore's (San Jose Sharks General Manager) underwear, the forwards had about as much skill as a midget bull-fighter and I've seen better coaching in Arena Football. It takes time for that type of shellshock to wear off. "
Mark Streit is still trying to shake his experiences in Nashville.
The shellshock will likely go away a little sooner once Ilya Bryzgalov stops playing like he's part of th Philadelphia Flyers organization. The backbone of both cup titles, Bryzgalov has been nasty this year, managing just a .875 save percentage this season. Normally a top five goaltender in the league when it comes to save percentage, Bryzgalov has the seventh worst save percentage of all starting goaltenders in the WCHL. Unlike some of the teams with starters below Bryzgalov on that list however, the Avalanche don't really have a legitimate backup plan in net. Unless they want to go with Jussi Markannen as their starter, it's Bryzgalov or bust for Colorado.
Ilya Bryzgalov is getting tired of questions about his pourous play in Colorado.
"I don't know. Maybe I suck. Whatever, you guys decide. I'm just going to listen to my iPod. It's all good," said Bryzgalov, when asked about his brutal play.
As much of the problem as Bryzgalov is, there's also a weakness upfront too. Outside of Patrick Sharp, virtually all forwards are scoring below expectations. Efforts to ramp up the offense have had mixed reviews, with Ennis' efforts roughly panning out, the addition of Jaromir Jagr looking solid, and winger Jeff Skinner falling flat on his face so far.
Scoring two goals and three points in 14 games while asking your new team for a multi-year contract extension at approximately $5.8 million a season hasn't really endeared Jeff Skinner to fans in Colorado.
Expect Colorado to continue to tread water for a while, but have a very strong kick down the stretch drive and hit the playoffs hot. As was said at the beginning of this article, it's not even about the regular season at all in Colorado anyways.
Back to back WCHL Cup championships have the Colorado Avalanche riding a huge wave of momentum.
They say it's all about the playoffs in hockey, and that what happens in the regular season doesn't really matter, as long as you get into the post-season.
The Colorado Avalanche are testament to that. After a couple of ok, but not earth-shattering regular seasons, the Avalanche have roared through the playoffs the past two seasons, capturing two straight WCHL titles, and are now trying to become the first team in league history to three-peat as WCHL Cup champions.
"We've got no pressure whatsoever," said Avalanche General Manager Ryan 'Midas Touch' McClanahan. "If we were to lose in the playoffs, yes, it'd suck. No question. But we've won two straight titles already. Who are we letting down? Who are we disappointing? No one. You can't win it every year. We are certainly going to try though, and winning a third straight title would be like adding sprinkled candy on top of the cake. We got our icing last year, now it's time for sprinkles."
For now, just getting into the playoffs is the goal of the Avalanche, who seem to be affected by a combination of losing their top defenseman and future Hall of Famer Niklas Lidstrom to retirement, as well as a case of WCHL Cup hangover. Currently, Colorado is holding down seventh in the Western Conference with a 17-15-3 record, but have actually been outscored 97-99 this season. The revamped Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings are all surprisingly ahead of the Avalanche, who are a pedestrian 4-4-2 in their last 10 games.
"It's like we are treading water," said rookie centre Tyler Ennis, who has scored eight points in 14 games since being recalled from the ACHL. "We're playing decent, but we're not getting many breaks and we're also not playing up to caliber. But I'm confident we'll get it going."
Tyler Ennis is hopefully of kickstarting a slumping Avalanche offense.
In an effort to replace the loss of Niklas Lidstrom, the Avalanche acquired defenseman Mark Streit from the Nashville Predators during the pre-season. While Streit hasn't been terrible, he's also managed just two goals and 16 points in 35 games, leaving room for improvement as well.
"It's been an adjustment for sure, coming to Colorado from Nashville," attested Streit. "In Nashville, it was like playing hockey on a bombing range. You felt like if you made a mistake, the puck would be in your net because every else was terrible on that team. Brutal. The goalies couldn't stop a beachball, the rest of the defense had more holes in it than Kurt Fulmore's (San Jose Sharks General Manager) underwear, the forwards had about as much skill as a midget bull-fighter and I've seen better coaching in Arena Football. It takes time for that type of shellshock to wear off. "
Mark Streit is still trying to shake his experiences in Nashville.
The shellshock will likely go away a little sooner once Ilya Bryzgalov stops playing like he's part of th Philadelphia Flyers organization. The backbone of both cup titles, Bryzgalov has been nasty this year, managing just a .875 save percentage this season. Normally a top five goaltender in the league when it comes to save percentage, Bryzgalov has the seventh worst save percentage of all starting goaltenders in the WCHL. Unlike some of the teams with starters below Bryzgalov on that list however, the Avalanche don't really have a legitimate backup plan in net. Unless they want to go with Jussi Markannen as their starter, it's Bryzgalov or bust for Colorado.
Ilya Bryzgalov is getting tired of questions about his pourous play in Colorado.
"I don't know. Maybe I suck. Whatever, you guys decide. I'm just going to listen to my iPod. It's all good," said Bryzgalov, when asked about his brutal play.
As much of the problem as Bryzgalov is, there's also a weakness upfront too. Outside of Patrick Sharp, virtually all forwards are scoring below expectations. Efforts to ramp up the offense have had mixed reviews, with Ennis' efforts roughly panning out, the addition of Jaromir Jagr looking solid, and winger Jeff Skinner falling flat on his face so far.
Scoring two goals and three points in 14 games while asking your new team for a multi-year contract extension at approximately $5.8 million a season hasn't really endeared Jeff Skinner to fans in Colorado.
Expect Colorado to continue to tread water for a while, but have a very strong kick down the stretch drive and hit the playoffs hot. As was said at the beginning of this article, it's not even about the regular season at all in Colorado anyways.
