Post Game Rip Job: Avs Have To Be Better

The Colorado Avalanche are riddled with injuries. Landeskog is out. Downie is hurt. And tot o top it all off, Ryan O’Reilly is still unsigned and not playing. But guess what? That is no excuse for the pathetic on-ice effort the Avalanche have put forth over the last few games. You can make all the excuses you want, but when it all comes down to the cold hard facts, the Avalanche are just not a good hockey team right now.

Paul Stastny has been invisible almost all season. Matt Duchene plays great at times, but he has not stepped up as much as he should in the absence of the team’s other big stars. When your best players thus far are John Mitchell and Cody McLeod – when you have a roster of Duchene, Parenteau, McGinn, Hejduk, Jones, Stastny – you have got serious problems.

The 2^nd line is the worst line on this team. Sure, they have big moments, but those are few and far between. They are too easy to get the puck from, their breakouts from the zone are sloppy, and there are countless giveaway, and if a pig flies and they actually forecheck, they are weak in the corners and lose the puck.

Overall as a team, there is no net presence. A guy can have the puck in the corner and what are his options with it? Pass it to the floater skating up by the Dmen, or pass it behind the net. They are not putting themselves in positions to score. Just a poor effort offensively all around.

The Defense is another sad story. Never have I seen a team in this league with so many 3^rd line, defensive defensemen. Right now the Avs have 6 (Hejda, O’Byrne, Wilson, O’Brien, Zanon, Hunwick). Now, I am not an NHL coach, nor do I pretend to be, but when inconsistent Erik Johnson is the only rear guard with offense, do NOT scratch a guy like Tyson Barrie in favour of O’Brien, or any of the other 5 guys listed above. When you constantly have to put McGinn, Parenteau, or Duchene on the point on the powerplay, maybe it is time to get the kid out of the press box.

Now, having said that, I am not an NHL GM, nor do I pretend to be. But when there is a log jam of offensively challenged Dmen on your team that could make a beaver climax, maybe it’s time to move a guy or two. Having 2 healthy scratched Dmen per game, none of which can score, is not an effective winning strategy.

Anyways, that is it for tonight….oh right, discipline and penalty killing. Well let’s just sum them both up in one word: pathetic. Not enough? You’re right. But we don’t want to take up all of your time, so we will leave it at that.

So in summary, the Avs look absolutely terrible. They can’t score and they can’t defend, their top guys are playing like garbage, they take too many penalties, and the defensemen are useless in every way possible. This is NOT a playoff team. This is a joke.

Let’s hope for a better team next game Avs fans. Until then, thanks for reading, and lets all enjoy how terrible the Red Wings are playing.