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.