[Photo Courtesy of the Edmonton Sun]
While Colorado sports fans are wondering if the Broncos are good enough to win the Super Bowl, they should be thinking big about another pro sports team in town that can bring a championship this season. The Avalanche are good enough to win a championship this season from watching good portion of their games this season.
NHL teams that start out like gangbusters for a good two months are teams that are worthy enough of being cup contenders. The Avalanche are up there with the Blackhawks, Bruins, Blues, Ducks, Kings and Penguins as teams to be reckon with come spring.
After improving to 23-10-1 with a 4-2 victory over the Oilers last night at the Pepsi Center, there’s every reason to think the Avalanche can play into late June this season. They have everything they need to win the Stanley Cup from playmakers to defensemen to goaltending to coaching.
The Avalanche always had the talent to excel on the ice. They have scorers who can change the complexion of the game in Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Stastny at any given moment. That was evident in last night’s game when Duchene set up a goal for O’Reilly to score that help tie the game at 2 in the second period, not to mention creating momentum for them heading to the third period.
With elite scorers on that roster, the Avalanche are never out of it. It was a matter of time until they would come back after a 2-1 deficit against the Oilers. Not even Taylor Hall’s goal was going to stop a determined group this time around unlike last year.
No one could say that about the team in the last few years. That’s a testament to Patrick Roy’s coaching and the maturity of Avalanche’s young stars.
What’s neat about the playmakers is they make everyone good with their ability to create plays that put other role players in a position to succeed. That was evident when Stastny and Duchene set up a goal for Tyson Barrie to score the Avalanche’s first goal in the second period. That’s going to come in handy this spring when role players score goals in the playoffs more often times than not.
The Avalanche defense is night and day compared to the last few years. They are effective in blocking shots and forcing other teams to turn the puck over. Their defense helped them win last night’s game when Marc-Andre Cliché received the puck from an Oilers turnover and he handed it to Maxime Talbot, who scored a game-winning shorthanded goal in the third period.
For all the credit the Avalanche received for their offense, their defense flies under the radar. Considering how Seymon Varlamov can be a headcase as a goaltender, it’s important the defense prevents that many pucks to his zone.
Varlamov is considered a question mark by experts. That’s why not many experts are taking the Avalanche seriously as a Stanley Cup contender. He is going to have to show he can get it done in April.
Roy believes in him, and that’s important for Varlamov to succeed. The Avalanche goaltender can be fragile, so he needs all the positive reinforcement he can get.
The rookie Avalanche head coach have put so much time in getting his goaltender to be in the proper frame of mind after being fragile in the last few years whenever he would give up goals. He and Avalanche goaltender coach Francois Allaire have helped Varlamov improve his technique of making saves by having him raise his glove hand.
The teaching paid off for Varlamov so far. He has a 2.39 GAA and .924 save percentage in 24 games he played this season, and he kept the Avalanche afloat by matching saves with Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk in the second period. He has not given up many bad goals, and even when he gives up a bad goal, he focuses on playing rather than dwell on a mistake.
Confidence and Roy’s teaching could be a reason Varlamov does well in the spring. He certainly has the tools to win postseason games, and that’s good enough to believe in him. What counts is his team believes in him, not the experts. That can only help the enigmatic goaltender.
There’s something to be said about good coaching in hockey. There’s no question Roy has made an impact with this team. His team’s great start had him clinched the Jack Adams Award in October.
Roy has his players playing with discipline, and he has them believing they can win. He has his team prepared. His temperament on the bench stand out being that he is serene than a maniac on the bench, and that goes a long way with players who need all the leadership they can get in the game.
The rookie coach is good at working with young players based on his experience in the Quebec Major Hockey League, and that’s why he was a great hire for a team that featured players who needed guidance. It’s not surprising he is doing well as Avalanche coach.
Good coaching goes a long way in the postseason, and Roy is the right guy to get his players to play well in April. He knows a thing or two about the postseason from his NHL goaltending days.
The Avalanche are thinking big for sure. They feel they can win the Stanley Cup. Let’s put it this way. If Roy did not think they were good enough to win a championship, he would not have wasted his time coaching them. He knows a team that is special when he sees one.
That’s why it’s okay to envision them hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.
This spring should be special like old times when the Avs always contended for championships year after year.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter.
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
