Avalanche Week 12 Preview: some rest for the weary
Tue vs Capitals, Sat vs Blue Jackets, Mon vs Wild
Alexander Ovechkin & Jose Theodore will make a rare appearance at Pepsi Center on Tuesday night
The ebb and flow of the injury report saw Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson return to the ice just in time for Milan Hejduk and Marek Svatos to sit out as day-to-day scratches. Ruslan Salei is worse-off than initial reports suggested, and there is no definitive timeline for Kyle Cumiskey’s return.
And yet the Avalanche keep on winning!
They logged a comeback victory over the Lightning, and another (!!!) regulation smiting of the division-rival Calgary Flames. That the Avalanche cannot beat the lesser three teams in the Northwest is… puzzling at best. The Avs laid another egg at home versus the Wild, failing to score despite an outstanding effort from Peter Budaj.
However, knocking off the Flames three times in three tries with a trio of three-to-two victories (two of them at Calgary) has the Avalanche alone atop the division nearing the halfway point in the season.
Calgary will have its chance to catch up to Colorado, but not right away. The Avalanche have played three more games than the Flames and only lead by two points, but both teams have a light schedule this week.
The Avs’ mini-break from Tuesday to Saturday couldn’t have come at a better time for this injury-depleted squad as they gear up for a nasty stretch of games to close out 2010.
Tue, Dec 15th vs Washington Capitals (7:30 MST)
There are a lot of intriguing story lines for this game…
The best team in the East meets the third-best in the West. Alexander Ovechkin brings his awe-inspiringly great game to Pepsi Center. And Jose Theodore will likely make the start for the Capitals in his first return to Denver since being slapped around by Detroit in the second round of the 2007 playoffs.
Not that Colorado fans hold anything against Jose (except maybe his exorbitant salary.) He played really well in every other game in the regular season, and was a stud in two first-round playoff victories over the Dallas Stars (2006) and the Minnesota Wild (2007).
But now Theodore is in a time-share with Semyon Varlamov in Washington. He isn’t as quick as he once was, and one can assume that he still takes mid-game naps that lead to cheap goals for the opposing team.
I’d rather see Varlamov in this one, because I know how good a motivated Theodore can be. We can assume that Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau knows this as well, even if Varlamov is clearly the more talented goaltender in any given game. (I once suggested that the Avs should trade Jose for a bag of peanuts. Read this recent Caps blog on trading Jose for a bag of pucks.)
No matter who starts in net for the Caps, their Defense is the real liability. Home ice will likely decide this one in favor of the Avs, but a hot goaltender for either side is just as likely to swing the contest. I like the Avs in a high-scoring thrilla.
PREDICTION: AVALANCHE 5, CAPITALS 4
Sat, Dec 19th vs Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 MST)
The Avs nipped the Jackets 3-2 in Columbus in the teams’ only meeting this season on December 5th. I see no reason to believe that the Jackets will fare any better this time around.
Peter Budaj started that game for the Avalanche, and I would love to see him start this game as well. Budaj proved in Craig Anderson’s injury-induced absence that he is up to the task of defeating fair-to-middling teams. And as fellow PSC writer Dan Olson wrote recently, the most glaring error committed by the Colorado coaching staff this season has been not resting Anderson enough with stand-out backup Budaj readily available.
Either goalie would be a worthy opponent for Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason, but the Avs are buzzing on offense right now and Columbus just doesn’t have the firepower to keep up.
PREDICTION: AVALANCHE 3, BLUE JACKETS 1
Mon, Dec 21st @ Minnesota Wild (6:00 MST)
As sick as I am of watching this team lose to the lowly Wild, the Avs themselves must be twice as disgusted. The Wild have beaten the Avalanche four times in four tries, and those losses account for a sizeable chunk of Colorado’s losses this season.
The Avalanche players and coaches know that they have to go into Minnesota next Monday and find a way to win. I offer this helpful hint: hold on to the &*@#$% puck!
The Wild only do one thing well, and that is puck possession. They are the Avs’ kryptonite for that reason alone. The Avalanche like to run with their controlled chaos/neutral zone super-speed style on offense, and a good possession team like the Wild can be very disruptive so long as they keep the play in front of their defenders.
In the defensive end the Avalanche do well unless its opponent can cycle endlessly until something opens up. Enter the Wild, whose only offensive play goes roughly “cycle, cycle, cycle, throw the puck to Andrew Brunette or Mikko Koivu.”
Enough is enough Avs. Let’s beat these bottom-feeders! Discipline dammit!
PREDICTION: AVALANCHE 2, WILD 1 (SO)
WEEK 9 PREDICTION: 3-0
**Bonus Coverage**
Remember the name ‘Stoa’
Ryan Stoa was not supposed to play for the Avalanche until next year, but the NHL has no script except “win, win, win”. Stoa’s NHL career has been accelerating towards his first start (in Sunday’s win over Calgary) for two years.
It all began with the Avalanche drafting the young power forward in the second round of the 2005 NHL draft. After a standout year with the NCAA Minnesota Gophers, Stoa is looking like a second-round steal of first-round talent.
A rash of injuries for the Avalanche contributed to Ryan being called up last week from the Avs’ AHL affiliate team, the Lake Erie Monsters. More than that, though, there is the noteworthy (and awesome) philosophy practiced by this new Colorado coaching staff; young talent should develop in an NHL environment.
Remember that head coach Joe Sacco coached the Monsters before being called up to the big leagues himself in the offseason. And while he may have only coached Ryan briefly (Stoa decided to forgo a fifth season at Minnesota in favor of signing with Colorado in March,) Sacco certainly maintains close ties within the Monsters franchise.
Ryan Stoa will follow Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly to the Avs, and will be the old man of the 2009-2010 rookie class at 22 years of age. Despite less NHL experience than Duchene or O’Reilly, Stoa should make a similarly impressive impact. He logged 24 goals and 22 assists with the Gophers last season, and is a noted on-ice leader. Welcome to the bigs, young Master Stoa, and best of luck to ye.
