Lab #77: Win Now Mode

The latest Mile High Hockey Lab episode is available, and Jackie earned a ding. What’s new?

The 77th installment of the Mile High Hockey Lab is available on your preferred Podcast platform! Don’t forget to download our new episode and give us a follow! This episode was hosted by Adrian Hernandez and joined by Jackie Kay, Ezra Parter, and Brennan Vogt.

The Colorado Avalanche have come screaming back to .500 with four straight victories and may have found a solution in net! Or so it appears since we can’t trust what we see in a four-game sample. This episode was recorded on Tuesday, October 22nd, and at the time, Colorado had only rattled off two road wins. Let’s check in to see how this episode has aged.

Reaction to road wins & sustaining successful trends

We started the show by revisiting Colorado’s road win over the San Jose Sharks and what Colorado should take from their two victories into their matchup with the Seattle Kraken. The panel agreed that the Avalanche had shown a commitment to the process over the last two games and seemed to be settling into Jared Bednar’s structured approach.

It’s hard not to talk goaltending these days in Colorado, but this week, we got to shed a positive light on the situation. Annunen looked sharp against San Jose, but we all noted that they weren’t a very explosive foe. He has since gone on to win the next two starts after this episode aired against the Kraken and the Utah Hockey Club. For a moment, it appeared that he’d get the shutout over Utah. Annunen’s save percentage is now .900, and his GAA drops quickly. The jury isn’t out, but it sure feels like they will return a verdict soon if Annuen keeps commanding more starts.

We continued our recap discussion with the following question:

Ross “The Boss” Colton is on a hot streak with six goals in six games. Among the top five NHL point-getters are Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar. The powerplay is still on fire; 38.1% is good enough for third in the league.

Of these three early season trends, which is the most sustainable? Which excites you the most?

Since this question was initially asked, we have some results from the two games. Jackie Kay agreed with Ezra, who claimed that Mikko, Makar, and MacKinnon are likely the most sustainable trends as the season progresses but that the power play success is the most exciting. That has proved correct, as Cale Makar currently leads the NHL in points, with MacKinnon and Rantanen tied for second. It’s early, but that’s still wild.

Oh, and the powerplay is still clipping at a 37% rate and is still third in the league after two more contests. Jackie noted that when Toronto and New York had historic power play numbers, they sustained about a 30% success rate. That’s a game-changing power play unit.

Now for the not-so-good news. Ross Colton has been scoring since our episode but sustained an upper-body injury against the hockey club and has not returned. We still aren’t exactly sure when the injury was sustained, but he missed the entire 3rd period. We will have an Injury update from Brennan Vogt on our next show this coming Tuesday.

The last thing we touched on before moving into our next segment was Cal Ritchie’s outlook. Ezra mentioned that he had been the worst forward in most metrics for a few games and that the writing was likely on the wall. That writing has since been taken off the wall and put on paper as the Avalanche sent Cal Ritchie back to the OHL.

Previewing this week’s matchups and surprise skates from Nichushkin and Drouin.

The Mile High Hockey crew continued our discussion by previewing Colorado’s matchup with the Seattle Kraken. It was noted that the Kraken would be without Vince Dunn, and Brennan mentioned how important it was to keep Eberle off the scoresheet. The Avalanche succeeded and secured the victory against the contentious cephalopods.

Brennan Vogt is the Mile High Hockey Lab’s version of a big free-agent signing, and we are already starting to reap the benefits of adding him to the crew. We had exclusive footage of Val Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin skating at the Family Sports Center while the team was away on business. Brennan wanted to be clear that Nichushkin was skating with Mark Popovic of Ignite Hockey, as Val isn’t allowed to work with any coaches or staff directly affiliated with the Colorado Avalanche until November 13th.

A grinning and hard-working Nichushkin was happy to be back on the ice and was already working in front of the net like he does best. Brennan noted that he will need some time to get his conditioning back at altitude but should be good to go once that’s the case.

Jonathan Drouin also skated later that day in a red non-contact sweater. His upper body injury forced Colorado to place him on the injured reserved list retroactively. He didn’t make the trip but may return later next week.

Ball Arena’s new development, NHL news, and #BoldPredictions

We ended things with a chat about the proposed 55-acre development surrounding Ball Arena that KSE announced earlier in the week. This project is set to be completed in 30 years, and some have speculated it could involve up to 40 high-rises with underground parking. Will these high-rises include new practice and training facilities for the Colorado Avalanche or Denver Nuggets? That has not been specified.

The NHL is partnering with Lululemon and Fanatics to release a new line of fan gear, ‘Go to Gear.’ The line is meant to satisfy customers looking for lifestyle and workout clothing made for your “off-day training session.” What are your thoughts on the NHL’s partnership with Fanatics? Will you be buying some Lululemon Avs gear? Jackie informed me that Fanatics re-releasing an “authentic” jersey at a higher price makes sense as it’s the first genuinely authentic jersey to hit the market in some time.

Bold Predictions

We ended the show as usual with our bold prediction of the week! Listen to the broadcast on your preferred podcast platform and see who earned a ding or a buzzer this week! Here is Jackie’s prediction:

Brennan thinks we will get a high-scoring barn-burner on Sunday against the Senators:

Be sure to share your #BoldPredictions on X and in the comments here! We will discuss them on our show and give you any dings you might earn!

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Go Avs!