Noone To Blame But Themselves. Not Even Hunwick...OK maybe Hunwick. Post Game Avs/Ducks

So as you may or may not know, the Avalanche lost today. And, as you may or may not know, we lost another 3^rd period lead. Another inexcusable effort from a team that just seems unable to get the job done. If you watched the game, then we don’t need to tell you what happened. If you didn’t watch the game, just know this: The PK was bad (Anaheim was 3 for 5 on the PP) our D, most notably Zanon, O’Byrne, Hunwick…oh hell, all of them…were too easy to play against and were often found out of position. We could rip the Avs again like we’ve done a few times this year, but that is tired. We write to you tonight to preach our opinions (we can do that because it’s a blog) on a few aspects of this team. So without further Ado, here we go…

Problem #1: Awww man, the refs screwed us over! If the refs weren’t so hard on the Avs, we would have won this game and other games!

NO! Bad dog! Sure, the refs in the Avs/Ducks game dropped a few bombs. McLeod interference, the stick slash, weak call in overtime. We here at Avaholics Unanimous recognize that the game was poorly called, and yes, we wish it could have been different. We don’t disagree that the Avalanche got jobbed.

But, if you blow a 2-0 lead, a third period lead, take a weak penalty in overtime, and perform horrendously on the penalty kill, then we’re sorry Colorado Avalanche organization, perhaps the refs aren’t your biggest problem. If this team were say…more skilled, then they would be able to shrug off the missed and weak calls. Bottom line: if your team is incapable of winning the game because they don’t get a few extra powerplays, then you have problems that go way beyond the men who wear the zebra shirts. So to all of you who think the Avs lost the game because of the refs, then you failed to notice the lazy backchecking, horrible defensive positioning, the bad penalty killing, and the fact that the Avalanche had ONE shot in the third, 18 seconds in. But yes, if 2 or 3 more penalties would have been called, we’re sure all of that would have changed. The team would have done a complete 360.

Problem #2: Joe Sacco.

We don’t usually participate in the whole #FireSacco thing. Although it may have crossed our minds a few times, it has never been something we’ve been very vocal about. But it’s time for Sacco to pursue greener grasses. Maybe an assistant coaching job somewhere to actually learn how to do your job behind the bench. Our problem with Sacco is this: he currently coaches a team that has the 5^th worst PK, 6^th worst PP, 11^th worst 5 on 5 play, and overall, 26^th in the league. His team is 22^nd in goals per game, 21^st in goals against, and 28^th in shots against. Want more stats? The Avs are ranked 24^th in winning percentage when scoring 1^st, 28^th when leading after 1 period, and 29^th when leading after 2 periods. When the Avs outshoot their opponents, they are ranked 25^th in winning percentage. We’ll stop here. Some may argue that the Avs don’t have a good team, and injuries are hurting us. But look at the Avs on paper. Even with injuries they are a club full of offensive talent. But these stats, after looking back in Sacco’s time with the Avs, look shockingly similar year after year.

“Well, the Avs management team sucks. They don’t give Sacco the right players, and don’t give him a reliable defense.” True. That is a problem. But as a coach, Sacco should be able to work with what he has. Don’t scratch Aaron Palushaj and keep guys like Chuck Kobasew and Bordy in the lineup. When a guy like Palushaj comes in and produces, don’t sit him. Don’t squeeze the sparky Mark Olver between Bordy and McLeod. Olver can put up the points. He has shown that last year. But how do expect an offensive type player to help your team at all when he’s playing with two bruisers? Oh, and how was Ryan O’Byrne not sat yet? He has played bad game after bad game after bad game. Greg Zanon? He is just playing horribly. The worst guy on the ice most night. But Shane O’Brien is still sitting up in the press box waiting to get another game in. Ridiculous. This has been said time and time again, but wouldn’t it be nice to have Lindy Ruff? His attitude and work ethic would really whip our guys into shape. No more lazy plays, horrible positioning, and hopefully no more drop passes on the powerplay. YOU ARENT FOOLING ANYONE WHEN YOU DO THAT GUYS! Sacco does not motivate his players when they are down. After a bad game, he does nothing but cling to the “Big plays” his team has made, even if there was only one or two. Even tonight he had a few comments about the refs post game. As a coach you cannot use that as an excuse. You should look at what your players did to lose the game and work on fixing the flaws. Some players also had comments about the officiating. Turn to Adrian Dater’s twitter page for that though; we don’t want to take credit.

The Avs three stars of the night: 1. Giguere, 2. Mitchell, 3. Palushaj.

Dishonourable mentions: Zanon, Landeskog, Duchene, Hunwick

Anyways, that’s it for us tonight. Morale of the story: Avs lost the game, not the refs; Sacco needs to find a way to fix this team or he needs to be replaced. Thanks for reading Avs fans.