The Good, the Bad and the Ugly over the final week of the Avalanche preseason

 

The Colorado Avalanche finished up their preseason on Saturday. Get the latest overview on how they fared in the exhibition games and get a glimpse of what to watch in their home opener Saturday.

THE GOOD

1. Regular season hockey starts Wednesday! The Colorado Avalanche start the season with their home opener against the Dallas Stars on Saturday, October 15. It’s about time.

2. The Avalanche won six straight preseason games as well as both rookie showcase tilts, the only NHL team to go undefeated in the exhibition games. While victories during the regular season are key, a six-game winning streak can do a lot for a team’s confidence, especially when one considers they have a new coach and are earning wins with a mishmash of players.

3. The Avalanche closed out the final game of 18 years of Frozen Fury action in Las Vegas with a dramatic overtime win. They also helped finish the Los Angeles Kings preseason with a loss, contributing to the Kings first losing exhibition record since 1988. Who says preseason doesn’t count?

3. Forward Mikhail Grigorenko scored with just over a minute left in the third period to tie the game against the Kings. Then, 37 seconds into three on three play in overtime, captain Gabriel Landeskog notched the game-winner off a great pass from forward Nathan MacKinnon. Remember last season when Colorado struggled to come back in the third? Nice to see the guys bury those memories.

4. The Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild in both exhibition matches, putting the specter of their old nemesis in the rear view window.

5. Colorado defeated the Dallas Stars last Wednesday 1-0, proving they can carry and win with a one goal lead gained in the first period.

6. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov announced his return with authority, allowing only two goals in three games. He sits atop the NHL leader board for wins with four, ranks second with a 0.67 goals against average and second in save percentage at .978. Calvin Pickard also looked strong, surrendering only two goals during two contests and ranking eighth in goals against (1.20) and sixth in save percentage (.962). As a team, the Avalanche only allowed five goals throughout the six exhibitions. Can anyone say ‘confidence builder’?

7. Something has seriously changed with Colorado’s defense as they successfully killed off all penalties in six games without offering up a single goal. Let’s hope the strong defensive play and great goaltending continues.

8. The defensive pairing of Erik Johnson/Nikita Zadorov is worth watching as the two accumulated over 25 minutes of ice time in the game against the Stars and were on the ice when the Avalanche scored their only goal. Zadorov seems capable of rising to the challenge with top line minutes, which should help lift the load off Francois Beauchemin and keep him fresh for the postseason. Everyone cross your fingers.

9. Grigorenko led the team in scoring throughout the preseason hitting net four times. He also ranked as the NHL’s leading preseason goal scorer. The surprise second place goal scorer for the Avalanche was Ben Smith with two tallies and an assist. Rene Bourque led the team in assists with three assists and a goal. Keep in mind, a couple of the games were loose on the assist count, so take it with a grain of salt.

10. Finally, and maybe this should be ranked first, the Avalanche showed something new in the preseason. The team adjusted for failed strategies between periods and changed tactics. Apparently Coach Bednar understands every game plan, no matter how well crafted, will need to be tweaked throughout the three periods. Refreshing.

THE BAD

1. Not a single Colorado Avalanche preseason matchup was televised or live-streamed. In the information age, where the wonders of technology open the doors to offer greater access to sports and can help generate interest in one’s team, the Avalanche and Altitude Sports seem woefully uninterested in promoting hockey outside their PR department. Even the NHL network broadcasted preseason games. What’s the deal?

2. The new Colorado Avalanche site as run by the NHL network offers some great video interviews but if you want to read anything while at work, you are out of luck. The large graphics also take up a ton of space, making it difficult to find anything insightful. Apparently, reading is a lost art if you are interested in following hockey, at least based on the construction of the NHL hosted sites.

3. Ummm…can something be done about Colorado’s power play? Please? The Avalanche scored only twice on over 20 chances. The real killer? They looked miserable when on a 5-on-3 advantage. Those should be money goals with forwards of this quality.

THE UGLY

1. Injuries continue to hamper the construction of Colorado’s starting roster. Mikko Rantanen, recovering from a bone bruise on the ankle, has started to skate with the team. John Mitchell still struggles with a hip injury although he has been seen skating before practice. Blake Comeau continues to heal from a groin injury and has yet to hit the ice and Jarome Iginla reportedly suffers from a hip issue. Potentially four forwards are missing from the team’s roster with only four days before the season opener. Is it any wonder the Avalanche signed both Bourques to contracts?

2. The NHL deadline for team’s opening night roster looms at 5 pm today. The Avalanche will need to refine their roster to 23 players by then, potentially moving a couple of players to injured reserve or sending them to the San Antonio Rampage to fit under the limit.

3. The Avalanche game against the Kings had no officially recognized statistics. No list of assists, no records of power play or penalty kill success, no time on ice, nothing. It’s kind of hard to evaluate the play without at least some basic tracking. Especially if it’s not televised. Unless this is the NHL’s backhand way of saying the only thing that matters are wins and losses. Could this all be a plot to undermine advanced statistical analysis? Hmmm…conspiracy theorists, unite! Or stats guys, whichever. ‘Corsi people unite!’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

NOTABLE PLAYER MOVES

In the past week, the Avalanche sent the following players down to San Antonio – Chris Bigras, Duncan Siemens, J.T. Compher, Anton Lindholm, Mike Sislo and Trent Vogelhuber. The team currently has one more move to make before the deadline this afternoon. Gabriel Bourque had to clear waivers after his new contract but the expectation was he would remain with the Avalanche. The Avalanche also extended contracts to both PTO invitees, Gabriel Bourque and Rene Bourque (no relation).

WHAT TO WATCH

1. Final roster moves should be made later today as the Avalanche and all other NHL teams need to meet the 23 player limit by the end of the day.

2. The Avalanche host their season opener Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. For those unable to attend, you will actually be able to watch the game as Altitude will finally televise hockey. Everyone say yay!

3. Unfortunately for Colorado, the team then goes on a four-game east coast road swing with back-to-back games next Tuesday and Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, respectively. Next week will reveal a lot about the character and the makeup of this year’s Avalanche team.