As bad as the Avalanche are right now in this moment in club history, only wiping the slate clean makes any kind of sense. Time to clean house Colorado.
Fans are beginning to question whether Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco, general manager Greg Sherman and president Pierre Lacroix deserve to keep their jobs past this lost season
As shocking as the deal for Erik Johnson was, the timing was outrageous. The Avalanche and Blues will face off in St Louis just three days after their big trade.
A day after sending goalie Craig Anderson packing to Ottawa, the Avalanche traded winger Chris Stewart and rookie standout defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the St. Louis Blues for former number 1 pick and US Olympic team defenseman Erik Johnson and forward Jay McClement. The teams also swapped draft choices in the deal, Colorado’s second round pick going to St. Louis for a first round pick, this year or next, depending on how St. Louis finishes the season.
After forwards Daniel Winnik & Chris Stewart went down with early injuries, Mauldin saw a lot of ice time versus a Wild club that has stymied Colorado in recent seasons.
The Avalanche continued a budding rivalry from last year with a fast, tight thriller versus the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.
The baby Avalanche grew playoff brass in San Jose, taking the big boys to task and stealing home ice from the playoff-challenged Sharks. Now the series heads back to Pepsi Center. The house that Joe built. The land of Roy. Peter’s playground. The Can has a history that San Jose can only dream of… Championship history.
The Avalanche blocked shots, scrapped mightily for pucks, matched the physical Sharks hit-for-hit all game long, and rolled their 3rd & 4th lines with the same regularity as their 1st & 2nd lines, especially in the first half of the game. Only 4 of 18 Colorado players failed to log a shot through this total team effort.
The Avalanche had their chances, moving the puck well, attacking with speed through the Neutral Zone, and generally controlling the flow of play. However, Colorado simply failed to convert good scoring chances into goals throughout the game.
In that last five minutes, and really throughout the game, Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson played exceptionally well. He set an Avalanche record for most shots faced in a season, stopping 48 of 51 Dallas shots in this game.
