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The Weekly 5-on-5: Records are broken and apples fall from the sky

Jesse Montano Avatar
Jesse Montano
March 28, 2022

The trade deadline is behind us, and NHL teams are now sprinting to the finish.

Plenty to go over now that all the trade rumors are done, so let’s get into it.

Dadonov saga 

Ok ok, I promise this will be the last time I bring this up, but this has maybe been the most interesting storyline of the season for me. 

The NHL finally ruled that the trade sending Evgenii Dadonov from Vegas to Anaheim was not a valid deal due to Dadonov’s no-trade clause, which had been submitted on time, correctly, and included the Anaheim Ducks as one of the 10 teams he wouldn’t a accept a trade to.

So Dadonov was sent back to the team that traded him and was immediately put back in the lineup. The reason I’m still talking about this is because of what happened next. 

Of note, Dadonov had been very good for VGK leading up to the deadline, being one of the primary drivers of offense for them with all their injuries. In the two games they played without him while the trade was in limbo, the Golden Knights were shut out twice, in the two games since he’s been back… they’re 2-0, and Dadonov has two goals, including an OT game-winner.

Wouldn’t it be something if Dadonov ends up saving the season for Vegas? They’ve got an uphill climb ahead of them to get into the playoffs, but with all the guys they have out of the lineup right now, I honestly think they’re pretty lucky to still have him around.

Immigration delays

Honestly, this one could have been in the Avalanche portion of this article, but I wanted to put it here to somewhat prove a point. I’ve seen several folks on twitter complain about how this process seems to impact their team, and their team only. This is a problem league-wide right now. 

Florida waited nine days before Ben Chiarot was cleared to play, the Arizona Coyotes claimed goaltender Harri Sateri off waivers from Toronto a week ago and both he and Artturi Lehkonen were finally cleared to play in the last 24 hours.

This has always been an issue at this time of year and it’s certainly an annoyance for teams who want to get their players into the lineup but it’s simply part of the process.

Battle of Alberta

I usually think these games are a little overblown, mostly because these two teams haven’t been any good for several years now, but whew… this one was a barn burner. 

The Oilers have been on a bit of a roll lately as they make a push for the playoffs, and the Flames have had a great year overall and are trying to hold off the field to win the Pacific Division; both teams were swinging for the fences all night.

Ultimately it went the way that you’d expect, Edmonton scored a ton of goals, but just don’t have the goaltending to truly go toe to toe with top teams as Calgary ended up coasting to a 9-5 win.

Nicklas Backstrom 1,000 point celebration

I just thought this was great. The Capitals decided to celebrate Backstrom’s 1,000th NHL point by giving away commemorative apples to every fan that came to the game. Well, in predictable fashion, Nick Backstrom scored a goal and pretty much every apple in the arena was thrown onto the ice creating a hilarious scene. 

That looks like a nightmare to clean up.

Frozen Four

The Frozen Four is set! Regionals played out in four different cities over the weekend to determine who moved on to the semi-finals of the National Championship tournament. 

The Frozen Four will be made up of two teams from Minnesota facing off against each other and Colorado’s own University of Denver going head to head with the star-studded lineup of Michigan for a chance to play for a National Championship.

Truthfully, it’s hard for me to catch a lot of college hockey during the season, but I never miss the Frozen Four. For so many of these kids, it’ll be the biggest stage they’ll ever play on and the biggest moments of their career. They lay everything out there, and it’s such exciting hockey to watch. Make time to tune in.

Cale Makar sets another record

All season we figured this would be a record to fall, and on Wednesday night, Cale Makar scored two goals to move into sole possession of the most Avalanche goals in a season by a defenseman, with 24. 

Getting to watch Makar up close every day is such a privilege. For my money, he’s the most electric skater in the NHL, including Connor McDavid, he has an elite shot, and his hockey IQ is absolutely off the charts.

Congratulations to Cale, my guess is this isn’t the last record he breaks. 

Avs D-Core breaks record of their own

Speaking of records, those two Makar goals, and a Kurtis MacDermid tally on Wednesday also helped a team record fall.

The 2021-2022 Avalanche now have the most goals scored by defensemen in a single season in franchise history.

It’s even more impressive when you consider how much time this team has played with no Bowen Byram and, recently, no Sam Girard. It speaks to the absurd depth that this team has on the back end, and how efficiently Jared Bednar deploys his personnel within his system. 

The Avs have identified a specific type of player they want to play on their blue line, and Joe Sakic has done a great job bringing in guys who are solid in their own end but can contribute offensively. It’s part of what has made the Avs such a matchup nightmare for the last couple of seasons. 

Bowen Byram

Just wanting to give an update here.

Byram has been skating as a “full participant” in practice for a week now, and to my eye, it looks like he’s been ramping up the intensity with every passing day.

The first day he skated in a regular jersey (not a non-contact) was Monday, deadline day, and he definitely looked like he was taking it easy, not over-exerting himself on his first day going full-speed with the team. 

Every day since then, I’ve seen him get more and more involved, playing at a higher pace and initiating more contact every day. 

Byram is on the trip with the team, though Jared Bednar said he is not expected to play. The Avalanche are letting Byram make the decisions in terms of his workload, and what situations he’s put in. The fact that he is feeling well enough to be around the team every day, being in meetings and video sessions, working out, and now traveling are all signs that things are going in a positive direction. 

Nobody in the organization is going to rush him back, but you know they’d love to have him back in time for playoffs. To me, I think that’s the goal. Ease him back over the next four weeks, maybe get an AHL game or two to see how his body responds to game action, and have him ready to go for playoffs. They have the option to shelter him a bit on the third pair due to all that depth we talked about earlier. 

Kadri heating back up

Don’t look now, but Nazem Kadri is starting to fill the net again.

He must have seen a bunch of people saying that he had fallen off since the All-Star game.

Kadri now has points in five straight, including four goals, and a Gordie Howe Hat Trick against Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

Kadri is such an X-Factor for this team. That’s one thing that gets glossed over so much when you talk about the COL/VGK series last year; the Avs didn’t have Kadri. He fits that second-line center role so well and just causes so many problems for opposing teams that try to match their shutdown line against Nathan MacKinnon.

Kadri plays hard, has a really solid defensive element to his game, and can score in bunches. The Avs are such a dangerous team at baseline, and it’s even more when Kadri is going like he is right now.

26 goals on the season now, and he still sits inside the top 10 in the league in points. You can tell he is fired up for his postseason run, he’s got a lot to prove. I can guarantee he has thought about that Vegas series more than anyone over the last year, wondering how much of a difference he could have made.

Kadri has had to watch his team get bumped out of the playoffs three times from the press box while serving a suspension. Kadri has talked at length this season about wanting to be an impact player for this team and a leader. To me, his game looks so much more mature this year than even when he arrived in Colorado. 

This team has so embraced team>self, and Kadri seems to be one of the driving forces behind that this year. He wants to contribute, and he wants to win, Kadri knows what a difference he can make when he’s bought in and I think he’s determined to change the narrative around him in the playoffs.

Eagles Update

I haven’t dabbled much into the Avs’ AHL affiliate in the 5-on-5, so why not give you all an update on where the other pro Colorado pro hockey team is at.

Things are going well in Loveland, the Eagles now sit just three points from clinching a spot in the postseason, and some of their top guys are ramping up play at the right time.

Both Kiefer Sherwood and Dylan Sikura sit inside the top 15 in AHL scoring, and Jordan Gross isn’t far behind. In addition, Martin Kaut has five points in his last six games. The lone pockmark for this Eagles group recently has been the play of Justus Annunen. Now, Annunen hasn’t been “bad”, but just nowhere near the standard he set earlier in the year when he was winning AHL goalie of the month awards. 

The Avs see Annunen as a guy that has the potential to be an NHL goalie someday, you’re never going to play a perfect season, but I can promise they’ll be keeping an eye on him to see how he bounces back once we get into playoffs.

I remember being a little worried about the Eagles when they became the Avs’ AHL affiliate, that fan base is ravenous, and they have become accustomed to winning hockey over the years, but so far, making the playoffs and winning games has been no problem at all, and they integrate so well with the Avalanche when players are called up. It pays to have consistency in your organization.

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