Whats The Difference? Avs/Kings Offense

Consider this the second installment of our “What’s the Difference?” feature running throughout the offseason. This is where the totally qualified hockey experts here at Avaholics Unanimous analyze the difference between the various aspects of the Colorado Avalanche in comparison to the most recent Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. Our first installment, found here, analyzed goalies. We’re going to skip ahead a bit and look at the difference on offense.

Let’s start with the first 2 lines. On any given night, Coach Sacco ran a top 6 consisting of Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Paul Stastny, Steve Downie, Milan Hejduk, and Peter Mueller. Sometimes, however, David Jones or Ryan O’Reilly would take Milan Hejduk’s place on the 2^nd line. This of course was not the definite, no brainer top 6 for the Avs, as Sacco seemed to enjoy not building any chemistry by constantly changing lines.

The Kings top 6 goes as follows: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, Dustin Penner, Dustin Brown, and Anze Kopitar. The difference you ask? Age is a big factor. The Kings top 6 forwards average 27.6 years old, whereas the Avs top 6 is only 25.1 years old. Subtract Hejduk, who went a majority of the last half of the season on the 4^th line, and add Ryan O’Reilly, the number plummets to 22.6 years old. Experience does matter in the NHL, and the Kings used their middle aged, in-their-prime players to lead them to the Cup. The Avs are still simply too young for elite status.

Apart from age, on paper as it stands right now, the LA Kings top 6 are just better. Gagne, Richards, Carter, Penner. Apart from the Cup they just won, they have all been through long playoff runs. Penner has already won a cup with the Ducks, and the 3 former Flyers made it all the way to the Finals in 2010, only to lose against the Blackhawks. In comparison to the Avs top 6, who, without Hejduk in the mix, have played under 60 playoff games combined, don’t know what it takes to become serious playoff contenders, and have no experience fighting hard-nosed playoff battles. Furthermore, apart from all the arbitrary stats, the Kings top 6 is just more skilled, bottom line. Now, ask us that same question in 3 or 4 years and we have a different answer, but as it stands right now, the Kings top 6 are better all around.

Successful teams are not just built around their scoring ability on the offensive lines. If that were the case, the Edmonton Oilers wouldn’t be at the basement of the league year after year. The checking/defensive lines are just as important as the scoring lines. The Avs were proud last year to boast a bottom 6 of Jamie McGinn and anyone from Hejduk, Jones, O’Reilly, and Mueller, along with McLeod, McClement, Kobasew. Again, a good looking squad on paper, but apart from O’Reilly and McClement, there were no real defensive standouts. Apart from Cody McLeod there were no big hitters, or hard to play against forwards. To sum it all up, these guys were too easy to play against. They did not shut down the league’s top lines, they did not grind in the corners, they did not use their size to their advantage, and they did not create scoring chances for themselves. Kobasew was an offensive disappointment, McLeod and McClement didn’t put up big numbers, and they were never dangerous in the attacking zone. We don’t mean to blast them, but it is kind of hard to show them much praise.

Now let’s look at the Kings bottom 6. The surprising line of King/Nolan/Lewis, along with the dynamite line of Stoll/Richardson/Williams is not very good on paper. But teams like the Kings like to prove time and time again that paper means nothing when it comes time for the puck to drop. The Williams line could score, and they did score. They could hit, so they hit. They could play defense, and they defended. Williams could be a top 6 forward on quite a few teams around the league, and Avs fans should know how well Richardson kills penalties. The Lewis line, much like the Avs’ McClement line, does not score consistently. But the major difference is the fact that the Kings bottom 3 was hard to play against. Just ask the Sedin’s, Kolvalchuk and company, and the entire St. Louis Bleus organization. They threw the body, they were hard in the corners and on the Penalty kill, Nolan and Lewis were superb. To put it into context, the Kings 4^th line reminded us of the Podein, Hinote, Yelle lines in the Avs glory days.

A somewhat forgotten aspect of a team’s offensive is its ability to fill gaps in the lineup with competent well rounded role players. Due to injuries, suspensions, or any other unforeseen incidents, every team in the league is faced with the question of who to insert into the lineup when a regular can’t play. The Avs, last season, were lucky enough to be able to rely on Kevin Porter, and anyone from Mark Olver, Brad Malone, Van Der Gulik, and anyone else they could get from the minors. The Kings, fortunately enough for themselves, were in a better position when it came to fill-ins. They had choices ranging from Colin Fraser and Andre Loktionov, to defensive minded Kevin Westgarth and Kyle Clifford. Now, much like the Avs reserves up front, these players weren’t superstars, but reliable enough to trust.

It is easy to compare an 11^th place team against a Stanley Cup Champion and find obvious flaws. We only chose to do this because up until the last 2 weeks of the season, the Kings were much like the Avalanche. Fighting for a playoff spot, struggling to score goals, and wondering where they would be come mid-April.  It’s not like we’re not comparing the Avs to the New York Rangers. The purpose of these analyses is to show you, the fans, that with a few tweaks, the Avs have a very good chance of becoming the next LA Kings. The Avs need to get a little tougher, become harder to play against in both zones, and with proper development of young superstars like Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, and Matt Duchene, they are only a few short years away from becoming serious contenders.

So what have you learned in the time it took you to read this? That’s right. You should have been a Kings fan, what were you thinking? Now go out and buy your Kopitar jersey.

That sound you just heard was a couple hundred people all simultaneously jumping off the bandwagon. Now that I have the serious fans’ attention, what you’ve really learned is that the Avs aren’t all that bad. And with some luck, we can get back into the playoff hunt. You’ve also learned that you could have spent the last 5-10 minutes doing something more productive, but don’t let that stop you from coming back and reading our Defenseman comparisons. And you should thank us for not making any Dustin Penner\pancake jokes, especially when our desks are stacked with them. Until next time, see you on the flip side.

Prospect Profile; Mitchell Heard

The Following is our profile on newest Avs signee, from the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, centerman Mitchell Heard.

We first wrote about Heard in a past blog featuring terrible jokes (we’re not sorry) and the rest of the Avs draft class, found here. Consider this the second of hopefully many write-ups on Heard, one of which should mention a Stanley Cup ring.

Not much was known about Heard in Avs nation when he was drafted in the 2^nd round this summer. Most of us had never even Heard of him! (Ok, we’ll stop).And even still, the most diehard of diehards still probably don’t know enough about this prospect as they would want. That’s what we’re here for.

Born in 1992 in Bowmanville, Ontario, Heard started his Junior Hockey career in the 2009-2010 season with his hometown Junior “A” Bowmanville Eagles of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). He had an impressive year with the Eagles scoring 30 points (17-13) in just 22 games. It was at this time he started gaining attention from the Major Junior team, the Plymouth Whalers of Ontario Hockey League (OHL), who held his rights throughout the season. Heard managed to squeeze in 16 games with the top tier Whalers in his rookie season, scoring 2 goals and adding 1 assist for 3 points. Heard would then make the Whalers out of training camp the next season, which is somewhat rare considering he was never drafted into the OHL out of minor hockey. In his first full season with the Whalers, Heard put up 20 goals and added 30 assists for 50 points in 60 games. Impressive for a junior player in his first full season.

One would think these numbers would be reason enough for an NHL team to take notice of the 6’2 forward, but in his first year of draft eligibility, he was not drafted and as a result, became an unrestricted free agent.  August 2011 gave Heard another chance however, as the Toronto Maple Leafs invited him to their Rookie Camp round robin tournament against several other rookie teams from around the league. He failed to raise any eyebrows unfortunately and remained unsigned. It was back to Plymouth for another season. This past 2011-12 season was an improvement for Heard. Limited to just 57 games, he put up a point per game average, scoring 29 goals and adding 28 assists. This was enough, apparently, to get heard noticed, as he was subsequently drafted by the Avs, as you probably know by now.

 So what are the Avs getting when it comes to Mitchell Heard? The Avs are getting a smart 2-way center with some size (6’0, 190lbs) behind his impressive offensive numbers. He could be compared to Ryan O’Reilly in a sense that he is great in both ends, and his determination is high. After being left out of his first Junior draft and NHL draft, Heard has a lot of General Managers and scouts to prove wrong.

His future with the Avalanche falls under the category of the unknown as the current team has a plethora (thanks Thesaurus.com) of centers. We’re not saying he’ll never play, but don’t rush to the store for your own authentic Mitchell Heard Avs jersey just yet. With Matt Duchene, O’Reilly, Paul Stastny, and a hopeful Joey Hishon in the works, there does not seem to be a lot of room at that position. Sure, Duchene plays left wing a majority of the time, but no one should expect that to be a long term idea. Heard has played the wing in the OHL, but as with Duchene, it is not his natural and most skilled position. Taking a defensive minded forward out of his natural role can cause problems in his own end, as they are thrown out of their natural defensive comfort zone.

But don’t get discouraged. Greg Sherman and Co. have never been known to be shy to pull the trigger on roster changing deals (see Anderson/Elliot, Shattenkirk/Johnson, Varlamov/Fillip Forsb…1^st rd. pick). And if worse comes to worst, and Heard becomes a highly skilled coveted player, the Avs could trade him for some valuable assets. But for now, it’s a three year entry-level contract, and a definite trip to Lake Erie, so here is wishing the best of luck to the newest member of the Colorado Avalanche. 

If you have Twitter, be sure to follow Heard at @Heardy15