Last night the Avs played the Stars. I thought the Avs had a lot of chances, and actually played pretty decent. Raycroft made some great stops and the Avs lost. It's frustrating as all hell, but the Avs are getting their chances. I honestly thought the Avs played pretty well, and that they created some scoring chances. I thought the Stastny-Duchene-Hejduk line was the best line on the ice, at least for the Avs, especially after the first period. It was nice to see after they played poorly in the Edmonton game (but tempered by winning that game)
Well I am certainly in the minority on that view, as a lot of fans and followers thought all the Avs shots were from the point and that Raycroft made a lot of easy saves. It was a common thought on Mile High Hockey and friend of the Blog Dater had this to say about them (in general lately, but after the Dallas loss):
The shots are just too easy to stop, because not enough bodies are in front of the net screening the goalie and/or fighting for rebounds. There are few rebounds anyway, because goalies have too much time and space to see the puck.
Thanks to great work by NHL.com I can actually go look at who was right (hint: me or I wouldn't be writing this):
After the jump I go give my findings and post some video proof.
no comments
Well I am certainly in the minority on that view, as a lot of fans and followers thought all the Avs shots were from the point and that Raycroft made a lot of easy saves. It was a common thought on Mile High Hockey and friend of the Blog Dater had this to say about them (in general lately, but after the Dallas loss):
The shots are just too easy to stop, because not enough bodies are in front of the net screening the goalie and/or fighting for rebounds. There are few rebounds anyway, because goalies have too much time and space to see the puck.
Thanks to great work by NHL.com I can actually go look at who was right (hint: me or I wouldn't be writing this):
After the jump I go give my findings and post some video proof.
no comments
I know a lot of people are looking behind the bench for a change, and feel the losing is on him. But, for me, the biggest reason the Avs are losing is on one guy, but it's not Sacco
It's the guy we traded a 1st round pick for: Semyon Varlamov.
The guy has been abysmal, and again he just gave up another 6 goal night. Here's some stats
He has a save% of .890 (32nd in the league)
He has one .900 sv% night in November, and 2 since October 15th. (He has 7 sub-.900 games)
His ES Save % since the Avs went 5-1 is: .902. (LAst season: Budaj:.914, Anderson:.910, Elliott: .911)
His Shorthanded Save% is .797 (!?!) for the season. For comparison Last season Budaj:.813, Anderson:.898
His November Save % is .835. Anderson's worst month last season (when fans were ready to crucify him): .891
Want to know why the Avs are struggling: The Avs are getting far far worse goaltending than they did last season right now from Varlamov (Giguere has been pretty decent). We can blame coaching all we want, but if Varlamov isn't better the Avs aren't going to win many more games.
Because he has been atrocious.
no comments
It's the guy we traded a 1st round pick for: Semyon Varlamov.
The guy has been abysmal, and again he just gave up another 6 goal night. Here's some stats
He has a save% of .890 (32nd in the league)
He has one .900 sv% night in November, and 2 since October 15th. (He has 7 sub-.900 games)
His ES Save % since the Avs went 5-1 is: .902. (LAst season: Budaj:.914, Anderson:.910, Elliott: .911)
His Shorthanded Save% is .797 (!?!) for the season. For comparison Last season Budaj:.813, Anderson:.898
His November Save % is .835. Anderson's worst month last season (when fans were ready to crucify him): .891
Want to know why the Avs are struggling: The Avs are getting far far worse goaltending than they did last season right now from Varlamov (Giguere has been pretty decent). We can blame coaching all we want, but if Varlamov isn't better the Avs aren't going to win many more games.
Because he has been atrocious.
no comments
When a team is in the middle of a dry spell on goals, and losing, one of the most common theories thrown out there by fans trying to explain the inability to hit the twine is the infamous "Shooting low percentage shots from the perimeter" reason. Recently the Avs have been snake bit for goals, despite heavy numbers of shots. More than one person has suggested that the Avs aren't getting good shots and are settling for shots from the perimeter.
I didn't think this was the case, especially in games like against Phoenix and Edmonton where the Avs had a huge shot (and possession) advantage, yet there were fans who felt the Avs weren't getting real chances.
Frankly, I thought that was poppycock, and I broke down the highlights:
no comments
I didn't think this was the case, especially in games like against Phoenix and Edmonton where the Avs had a huge shot (and possession) advantage, yet there were fans who felt the Avs weren't getting real chances.
Frankly, I thought that was poppycock, and I broke down the highlights:
no comments
In this young season, no two Avs players have been on separate sides of the same coin more than rookie Gabriel Landeskog and 20-year old Matt Duchene.
Duchene is struggling, while Landeskog is flourishing. It's early and both players could have a reversal of fortune, but there's a huge difference in the two's approach early in the season that I think is accounting for the difference.
I actually didn't notice Duchene's poor season at first, until I started playing around looking at stats.Then I noticed that Duchene was getting killed, just brutally beaten, in possession despite getting very favorable Ozone starts this season. After that I started watching him with a more critical eye. Now it's entirely possible that I was paying the most attention during his worstt two games of the season, but this is what I saw:
no comments
Duchene is struggling, while Landeskog is flourishing. It's early and both players could have a reversal of fortune, but there's a huge difference in the two's approach early in the season that I think is accounting for the difference.
I actually didn't notice Duchene's poor season at first, until I started playing around looking at stats.Then I noticed that Duchene was getting killed, just brutally beaten, in possession despite getting very favorable Ozone starts this season. After that I started watching him with a more critical eye. Now it's entirely possible that I was paying the most attention during his worstt two games of the season, but this is what I saw:
no comments
Leafs fans and Avs fans had quite a kerfuffle before the game over at Mile High Hockey. Most of it was a pissing match, but one comment caught my eye. Chemmy (an editor and chief over at Pension Plan Puppet- A hilarious Leafs Blog)made a comment that the Winnik-O'Reilly-Landeskog line was being protected. I didn't think that was true, so I did some basic research. Then another of the Leafs minions mentioned matchups.
After looking at it: So, is the The Avs 3rd line: featuring Winnik(26)-O'Reilly(20)-Landeskog(18) protected?
no comments
After looking at it: So, is the The Avs 3rd line: featuring Winnik(26)-O'Reilly(20)-Landeskog(18) protected?
no comments
