Behind the Avalanche curtain

I had the rare opportunity to attend two Colorado Avalanche practices in the past couple of weeks and what I observed changed my perspective of the team, some of the players, and the coaching. Not unlike the Wizard of Oz, when the voice called out “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”, attending both practices allowed me to peer past the public relations veil, even if it was just a glimpse. A lot more was going on behind the curtain of the games and press releases.

Since people have begun picking sides and discussing how to improve the team for next year, I thought sharing some of those observations might be helpful at this juncture, especially for those who haven’t had an opportunity to peek behind the curtain themselves.

For context, the first practice I attended was after the Canada road swing and all the key injuries but before the Philadelphia game. The second practice was after the split on the road before the Washington Capitals game. In no particular order, I made a list of both what I observed at practice and afterwards as my daughter waited to collect autographs.

PRACTICE

1. Gabriel Landeskog owned the captain’s role. He seemed to recognize his responsibility to lead and appeared to take the role to heart. He was one of the last veterans to leave the ice, and he stayed after the regular practices concluded to work with the younger players. He fielded questions, gave directions and helped bring focus to the drills.

2. Erik Johnson operated as the defensive captain at practice. At both practices, Johnson was one of the first men on the ice and stayed well over an additional half hour after the end of official practice to take drills with Mikko Rantanen, Andreas Martinsen, Mikhail Grigorenko, Chris Bigras and Andrew Bodnarchuk, as well as Andrew Agozzino and Nikita Zadorov in the subsequent practice.

He never stopped moving, fielded questions, offered advice and wasn’t beyond a little puck play while waiting in line. For all I know, the advice was about girls rather than hockey but he made an effort to be accessible and engage with the younger (and newer) players. Both Rantanen and Zadorov frequently approached him first with questions.

Johnson also worked on passing drills while in line waiting for another exercise. When he wasn’t moving, he was watching the other skaters and he took an active interest in all of the defensive players. He also wasn’t beyond the occasional joke.

3. Calvin Pickard suited up early, stayed late, and seemed to enjoy every minute of practice he could get. He joked around and flopped spread eagle onto the ice when he took a light tap to the helmet. He batted his gloves together like ‘come and get me’ right before shooting practice started. He exuded a rare combination of serious intensity with an infectious light heartedness that made being bombarded with shots look fun.

4. Both Andrew Bodnarchuk and Zach Redmond displayed a quality work ethic, being some of the first on the ice, and the last to leave. When Coach Roy talked about loyalty, perhaps he was referring to the effort these two guys were making to improve. David Farrish spent a good twenty minutes after regular practice just working with Redmond and Bodnarchuk.

5. The team was skated amazingly fast. I have been to a few games but the speed they showed at the first practice took my breath away. They skated with a fierce intensity and made quick, clean passes. I’m unsure if the team rediscovered they could play that way or if other teams have figured out how to contain them before they find their rhythm. But at neither practice did it appear like anyone was mailing it in.

6. There was a huge difference in ability between the top line guys and the bottom ones. Don’t get me wrong. The lower tier guys have serious skills. But the upper tier guys made everything look easy. Beauchemin didn’t think where he had to skate, he glided there, whether backwards, sideways, or straight ahead. Landeskog did things with the puck that made one wonder how he could defy gravity and how could his stick be that flexible. Duchene looked like Mighty Mouse with his speed and agility.

7. I saw Matt Duchene’s return to practice after being sidelined with the knee injury. Duchene did quick, little moves with his hands that swiftly put opponents at bay. In one skirmish, Duchene faked out Beauchemin, made a quick little turn, and flipped the puck backhanded around him and skated off with it. Beauchemin glided off shaking his head. Duchene, still recovering from a knee injury, still presented a significant threat almost no one else on the team could reproduce.

8. In another drill, two defensemen faced off in front of the net, one trying to get the puck in the net, the other trying to defend the crease. Two times Bodnarchuk outmaneuvered Zadorov and pushed him down to the ice. Zadorov easily had six inches and twenty five pounds on him but still ended up falling down. Apparently, there is something to the idea that talent alone can’t overcome experience.

9. The team DID indeed practice outlet passes. The odd thing, though, was the number of times someone still ended up offsides. I am not sure if that was important to the drill but it was interesting.

10. The team also spent extensive time practicing breakaway and odd man rushes. A lot of the scrimmages featured three on two or four on three opportunities while the breakaways themselves were frequently three on two and two on ones.

11. Head coach Patrick Roy oversaw everything at practice and frequently came out on the ice. He lets his assistants run the drills but there was no doubt Roy was actively involved in all the on-ice activities. He was not beyond dishing the puck to his players on drills, either.

12. Zadorov was the only player who took notice of two little kids with Avalanche jerseys in the stands. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the puck up and over twenty feet of netting so the kids could rush down to the concourse for their prize. If the rumors were true and he was sent down to the AHL so he could appreciate playing in the NHL and mature, it appeared he made some strides in that direction. During practice, he frequently asked questions both of Landeskog and Johnson. And, while he sometimes looked a bit lost as to the directions on some of the drills, he seemed attentive to every instruction.

13. The Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Shawn Matthias/Blake Comeau line was big, fast and imposing.

POST PRACTICE

After the first practice, my daughter stood outside and collected autographs, which offered a different perspective.

1. Jarome Iginla was the consummate professional with the fans. He was courteous, patient, and polite.

2. Chris Bigras left with Tyson Barrie. While Barrie was courteous and smiling, he wasn’t particularly social with fans. Bigras was much more engaged.

3. Nathan MacKinnon, obviously physically uncomfortable, signed everything people brought him even though he was injured and in distress. For a twenty year old, he showed a lot of poise under very challenging circumstances.

4. Carl Soderberg appeared to be either an extreme introvert or he disliked dealing with fans as he dismissed the autograph seekers completely.

5. Calvin Pickard asked questions, genuinely listened to responses, and had only good things to say about both the San Antonio Rampage and being up with the Avalanche. If you could bottle his personality and share it with the other players, one would never have to worry about the team mentally taking themselves out of a game again.

While none of the insights were earth shattering, the different perspective gleaned from the practices not only changed my perception of the team, but also hinted at the depth of information only the people in the locker room will ever know. Before everyone jumps on one bandwagon or another about how to improve the Avalanche, maybe take a step back, breathe, and give some consideration to the number of issues which will never reach the public domain, and will always remain behind the curtain.