Thu vs Wild, Fri @ Stars, Sun vs Rangers
Even French Canadian teams are in the running in today's NHL (Bonus Coverage below)
Even French Canadian teams are in the running in today’s NHL (Bonus Coverage below)
For all of the issues that the young Colorado Avalanche have exhibited this year, there has been one constant: goalie Craig Anderson.
Craig has been an unlikely veteran stalwart. A career backup when the Colorado front office nabbed him from free agency, Anderson has played like an All-Star. He came into the regular season with a confidence and swagger that has slowly, but surely, rubbed off on the collection of rookies and call-ups that now surround him.
Over the six-game winning streak put together by these Avalanche, Craig has not been simply a model of consistency.  Rather, he has improved with each game. Through the current streak, Anderson has allowed 3,2,1,0,1 & 0 goals. The first three games were against (at game time) division leaders. The second three were home games against underachievers; the Avs’ greatest weakness this season.
Now, with Craig stopping almost everything, the Avalanche offense is free to play the aggressive, attacking style of offense that has made them so dangerous all season. I have written repeatedly that this young team lacks a natural leader. Stastny leads by example, and Footer leads by force of will. But it has been Anderson who, time and again, has publicly called out his players for their poor performances.
The most dangerous team in the playoffs is the one whose goalie is determined to be unbeatable. Craig is that guy right now. If he can maintain that posture through the remainder of the regular season, woe is the team that draws Colorado in the first round.
Anderson was just named as the NHL’s second star for last week, and one could argue that he should have been named as one of the three goaltenders for the United States Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Canucks continue to nip at the Avalanche’s heals.
The ‘Nucks have paced Colorado with a five-game streak of their own. As Calgary has fallen by the wayside (and what an epic fall it has been,) Vancouver has been more than happy to take their place in the NW Division race.
The Avalanche have a chance to create some separation over the coming four weeks of play, though. With the Winter Olympics coming to Vancouver, the Canucks will play an incredible 14 straight games on the road. Their schedule has been front and back-loaded with home games, but this stretch will test the road-weak ‘Nucks. Vancouver will host the streaking Blues this Wednesday, January 27th, and will not return to General Motors Place until March 13th.
Thu, Jan 28th vs Minnesota Wild (7:00 MST)
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 3, WILD 1
Fri, Jan 29th @ Dallas Stars (6:30 MST)
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 4, STARS 2
Sun, Jan 31st vs New York Rangers (6:00 MST)
PREDICTION:Â AVALANCHE 4, RANGERS 2
WEEK 18 PREDICTION: Â 2-1
**Bonus Coverage**
Parity, thy name is NHL
Calgary’s collapse to 9th in the Conference had a lot to do with the Flames suddenly forgetting how to play defense. They’ve been rolled by teams good and bad over the last two weeks, and now they’re out of the playoff field.
On their way to the bottom of that field, the Flames passed the Avalanche, Canucks, Coyotes, Predators, Kings & Red Wings. This epic fall, again, took only two weeks. Not just because the Flames have little offense to aid their struggling D, but also because the Western Conference is strung tight as a fiddle right now.
The top two teams are the Sharks & Blackhawks at 78 & 74 points. From there, it’s an eight-point drop-off to the Avalanche & Canucks (both at 66 points) at third & fourth respectively. Move another eight points down and you find Detroit and Calgary scrapping for the final playoff spot. That’s four games separating the bottom seven playoff contenders.
For some perspective, consider that the Eastern Conference playoff field is divided neatly into top half and bottom half. Pittsburgh is fourth in the field with 67 points, Ottawa is 5th with 60, and three teams share the basement at 55 points each. The ceiling is lower, as the Capitals hold the #1 spot with only 72 points, but there is a definite divide between the elite East teams (Washington, New Jersey, Buffalo & Pittsburgh) and the wannabe’s who will be swept unceremoniously out of the playoffs come April.
In the West, we have no idea who will come through the other side of the first round. In fact, not a single team outside of the top two can feel any kind of safety in their playoff position, because the potential field includes five teams that are four points or less removed from the eighth seed. Only Columbus and Edmonton are really out of the hunt, and they’re the only two Western teams with losing records.
But wait, the East is a mess too! A similar story is unfolding with the bottom part of the potential playoff field there, as only Toronto and Carolina have losing records. The next worse, Tampa Bay, is only three points back from the eighth-seeded NY Rangers.
We are decidedly on the other side of the halfway mark in this 2009-2010 season, and out of 30 NHL teams only four are resigned to unloading big salaries before the trade deadline. Everybody else is in the running, maybe not for the Cup, but at least for hockey’s second season. This kind of parity is unimaginable in any other major sport, especially this late in the season.  To have 28 of 30 teams playing well consistently over 50+ games speaks volumes about how competitive the National Hockey League is.
For the Avalanche, the message couldn’t be more clear: keep your skate on the accelerator, and for the love of Peter F… don’t look back.
