The loss to the Blackhawks was fine, folks!
I got a bone to pick with Avs fans and media right now and it might not be a popular take – Stop overreacting to losses!
They happen! The Colorado Avalanche lost 3-1 to Chicago on Wednesday and it seemed like everyone’s take was apocalyptic. The Avs weren’t good enough! They didn’t work hard enough! The top line was lazy! The defense is terrible!
NO. Stop. None of that is correct. The Avs played essentially the same game Wednesday that they played in a 6-1 win against Minnesota on Thursday, and obviously the result was way better.
Colorado had the better of every underlying team statistic in both games, but couldn’t get bounces to go their way in Chicago. That happens sometimes, and frustration about it escalated exponentially because the Blackhawks were able to capitalize on most of the chances the Avs gave up against a goalie making his first NHL start in Trent Miner.
Colorado’s top line dominated possession, scoring chances, and shot share in both games. Petr Mrazek just didn’t let them score because he has some kind of witch’s hex protecting his net in Avs games. They absolutely rocked, and worked very hard to do it like they always do.
The defense gave up 20 shots in Chicago and 25 in Minnesota. That’s actually really really good defense. Sure there were high danger chances – 8 in Chicago, 19 in Minnesota – but that’s gonna happen in every game and notice how the number for both in Chicago is lower than the one in Minnesota? THEY PLAYED WELL!
I get so sick of media and fans railing against the team after games like that – yeah, of course there are things to fix, ways to improve, and better individual performances that could lead to more goals, but when the team plays very well and just cannot get pucks to go in that’s hockey dawg. It’s gonna happen.
Stop overreacting. I don’t wanna hear it. Save your anger for when they’re actually bad.
FRIDAY FEELS
Sorry I yelled at you friends. I live in LA and my city is burning so I’m grouchy (my neighborhood is relatively safe). Let’s do Yells and Bells this week. Yells are things I’m mad at, Bells are things I’m chiming happy chimes for.
YELL: Drouin Injury Speculation
Jonathan Drouin had to sit out the Chicago game to nurse his ongoing upper body injury but was able to suit up against the Wild, prompting some to speculate that the Avs rushed him back to early and they aren’t treating their players’ health with enough care.
You don’t know that. You are not in the room with the trainer. Coming up with a maintenance plan including sitting out one game in a back to back is standard injury stuff – pro athletes are almost all playing hurt, and have to take steps to manage their pain in order to contribute. That’s literally their job, and the Avalanche organization has proven time and again that they take injury management seriously and let their players make treatment choices as needed.
You think the Sabres would have let Landeskog try an experimental knee cartilage surgery? No, they’d Jack Eichel him right out of town. The Avs are better than that, so back off with this wild speculation. The injury luck is awful right now, but the training staff is not.
BELL: Depth Scoring
Loved seeing Jusso Parssinen, Logan O’Connor, and Parker Kelly get in the goal column this week! The Kivi-Kelly-OC line still hasn’t scored when on the ice together, which is insane, but Parss coming in and adding some skill to the bottom six seems to have really helped.
Oddly the game they both finally scored was one of the worst possession games for Kelly and O’Connor in a while, though that may be because of line jumbling. Kelly moved down to the 4th unit with Innala and Felhaber, and even though Felhaber somehow finished with pretty solid metrics that group was never going to do much damage.
Casey Mittelstadt took his spot centering Kivi and OC, and that experiment didn’t give up any goals, but they got out shot and outchanced pretty significantly. This was supposed to be a Bell so I’ll just say it’s good that goals went in despite that! T
YELL: Keaton Middleton Minutes Madness
So, we know Jared Bednar likes Middleton in the lineup more than Calvin de Haan, right? We can tell that because de Haan has been a healthy scratch for a lengthy stretch of games lately. So then, why when both guys are in the lineup is de Haan getting more minutes?
Middleton played just 4:39 in Chicago, and 13:48 in Minnesota. De Haan got 8:31 and 15:37. This isn’t a bad thing, as to my eye de Haan is the far superior player even though he seems to get caught in no mans land screening his own goalie, so I guess this is a Yell just because I’m confused. If de Haan deserves more minutes when they’re both in the lineup, shouldn’t he be in the lineup over Middsy?
Middleton hits, and that rocks. De Haan doesn’t really play a physical game. But he does do the rest of a defenseman’s jobs way better soo… I dunno. We’ll see how this plays out when Sam Girard gets back in the lineup (hopefully soon! Rest up sweet G),
BELL: Mackenzie Blackwood
The difference a good goalie makes couldn’t have been more clear this week, as young Trent Miner got lit up on 20 shots against and Blackwood dominated a much more difficult workload. He is so strong positionally and never seems to lose track of a puck, and it’s just wonderful to watch him calmly shut down what should be dangerous chances. I couldn’t possibly get through this whole article without shouting him out.
PREDICTIONS
Last week I assumed the Avs would get positive results against their weaker opponents, and they did not. The also beat Florida, the loss I threw into my predictions because I didn’t want to say they’d sweep. Whoops! This week I’ll say:
@ Winnipeg: W
vs. NY Rangers: W
vs. Edmonton: W
Season Total: 23-20