Artwork by Rebecca Holt

The fatigue Pittsburgh’s Penguins will be facing headed into the next series will be prevalent if it drags on past four games and, trust me, it will. The Canadiens are potentially in the same boat for fatigue, but the momentum they carry behind them should help eradicate some of that. Upsetting Ovechkin’s Capitals the Montreal Canadiens have observed as net-minder Jaroslav Halak stepped up when they needed him most.

GOALTENDING:

Jaroslav “Stop Pucks A” Halak versus Marc “Snow” Andre-Fleury: does really much else need to be said? Jaroslav Halak showed his true colors this season and produced a lot of donuts at that: five shutouts at the end of the season. Marc-Andre Fleury is blessed with a high-powered offense and a team good at rallying late. Considering that he only posted a .905 save percentage with one shutout at the end of the season, in contrast to Halak’s five shutouts and .924 save percentage. If goalkeeping is any reflection of a series outcome, and it is, this one can go to the Canadiens.

ADVANTAGE: CANADIENS

DEFENSE:

This one is close seeing such stellar players from the Penguins as Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik and Roman Hamrlik with Andrei Markov. When it all comes down to it though, the Penguins take the defensive crown between the two.  Why, you may ask? Experience, simply experience. Pittsburgh’s D-Men have traveled the post-season route before and know how strenuous it can be, as well as knowing what needs to be done to win the Cup. Sergei Gonchar is not only one of the top defensemen in the league, but he has two Stanley Cup trips under his belt with his current team, who can beat that?

ADVANTAGE: PITTSBURGH

FORWARDS:

As much as I may hate to say it, Sidney Crosby is all that needs to be said here. Mike Camalleri is stepping up though with eight goals and five assists in his longest post-season run to date. This is his first time making it past the first round and he is certainly making the most of it. Though Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, and Mike Camalleri form a strong set of forwards, Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, and Evgeni Malkin again have the experience. Staal is looked to step up in big games, but his recent injury may cause some issues on the offensive line. Sidney Crosby has both the drive and the talent to single handedly win games, if his team goes under he will claw his way back to the top, no doubt about that.

ADVANTAGE: PITTSBURGH

SUMMARY:

The series is tied at one game each, and if Jaroslav Halak remains consistent, an upset could be seen. Realistically though, the Penguins’ experience, talent, and desire to win will overcome the underdogs in this matter.

CURRENT SERIES: Tied at one game each.

PREDICTION: Penguins in five games.

Boston’s Bruins led by monstrous 6’9” Captain Zdeno Chara and rookie goalie Tuuka Rask, took game 1 over the Philadelphia Flyers quite handily even though it went to over-time. Though it is not yet fair to count out the city of “Brotherly Love.” After slapping around the number two seeded New Jersey Devils, Brian Boucher just needs to get his head on straight and they can make this a contest.

GOALTENDING:

I know: he is only a rookie, these are his first set of big games, he will burn out eventually…as true as some of that may be, Tuuka Rask is the reason Boston has made it so far. Brian Boucher has played well, and has really stepped up in one of his first season’s as a first-string goalie, but Rask has all the potential and raw talent in his corner. Stepping into the shadows of formerly heroic goaltenders, Rask has performed admirably, and whether that play continues will be the deciding factor in the series.

ADVANTAGE: BOSTON

DEFENSE:

6’9” Zdeno Chara versus the battle-hardened Chris Pronger: that is a show I would always pay to see. Both veterans have considerable amounts of post-season experience and strong supporting casts to back them up. However, Boston’s looks to be a bit more physical and so if this series drags to more than a few games Boston’s physical play will pull out the win. On top of that, Boston’s defense has so far produced offensively to counteract their shortcomings on the defensive side (Dennis Wideman putting up eight points, one goal and seven assists).

ADVANTAGE: BOSTON

FORWARDS:

Danny Briere (4 goals, 5 assists) Mike Richards (4 goals, 8 assists) versus Miroslav Satan (4 goals, 5 assists) and game one’s come-back hero, Marc Savard (1 sweet game-winning goal) this is a close horse-race. Though, with the way they are producing at crunch-time right now, Boston has to take the cake. Though my heart goes out to Briere as he is an icon of playoff production, one man can’t take this series. If Boston’s top-notch lines continue their consistency and resist the temptation to slack off, this should be an easy rest of the series.

ADVANTAGE: BOSTON

SUMMARY:

This is the most exciting yet unsung series of the playoffs thus far. With electric finishes in both games, Game 1 and overtime winner from Marc Savard who had been side-lined since early March and Game 2 won in the last three minutes of the third. If this series goes past four games it will only remain exciting and enjoyable.

CURRENT SERIES: Boston up 2 games to none.

PREDICTION: Boston in 6 games.

Number 2 and Number 3 battling for momentum, Vancouver’s Canucks and Chicago’s Blackhawks are two of the most intense teams to watch. Roberto Luongo is also arguably the best goalie in the league today; he sure is overly confident with that opinion, at that. To counter that, Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews are two of the NHL’s young, electrifying stars that can produce well in the clutch. Each team, led by veteran coaches and players, desirse this series win and it should drag out to at least six games.

GOALTENDING:

Chicago has for the past month or so faced the most unstable goalie situation in the league, if Achilles has a heel this is it. Roberto Luongo again is one of the league’s top netminders and so Vancouver takes this decision hands down. He has always played well under pressure, this year’s Olympics can prove as much, so if he is allowed to get his game back on completely Vancouver will take the series easily.

ADVANTAGE: VANCOUVER

DEFENSE:

Offensive defense, defensive offense, defensive defense, any way you slice it defense runs the game and Chicago can play defense. Brent Seabrook, Brian Campbell, and Duncan Keith form three of the league’s hottest and most productive defensemen all on one Blackhawk squad. On the other side of the ice we see Kevin Bieska and Sami Salo, strong defenders in their own right but against Chicago’s hotter forwards do they really stand a chance? I think not. Chicago takes this decision like Luongo took the goaltending, hands down.

ADVANTAGE: CHICAGO

FORWARDS:

Okay, okay, Henrik Sedin DID lead the league in points and assists with 93, but I am going to rule in favor of Chicago’s young guns here. Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toews, and Kris Versteeg all have constantly surprised us NHL fans, and I don’t think they are anywhere near done surprising us this year either. If they can come together to produce like they did in Game 2, working with veterans Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, they should easily tip the odds of the ice in their favor.

ADVANTAGE: CHICAGO

SUMMARY:

Both teams want it, both teams could take it; it has really come down to a mental battle between Chicago’s shooters and Roberto Luongo, Vancouver’s Goaltender. If they continue to pester him in the following games they will be able to reign victorious in the next few contests to advance. utT, if Luongo is allowed even the slightest bit of time to gather his thoughts and get back on his game, Chicago will potentially face blowouts until they are knocked out.

CURRENT SERIES: Tied at 1 game a piece.

PREDICTION: Chicago takes it in 6.

San Jose and Detroit: some of us could have seen another upset due to San Jose’s previous playoff woes, though it looks like this year the boys in the sun are taking it seriously. Up 2-0 the series goes back to Detroit tonight with hopes of Detroit being able to keep their hopes alive with a win. Joe Pavelski has really picked it up of late scoring big goals in both contests to douse Detroit’s alleged fire. This is the year folks, San Jose is finally gonna hit the Western Conference Finals and maybe even the Stanley Cup final.

GOALTENDING:

Evgeni Nabokov was good, Jimmy Howard is good, that is really all that needs to be said on the matter. The rookie Howard has been a dominating presence in net and pulled out all the big wins to get the much loathed wings to where they are currently. Nabokov is much like Pittsburgh’s Marc Andre-Fleury, and is lucky to have a strong offense producing up front. Howard will be groomed to become quite the wall in net in future seasons, and though he wins this battle, he will not be the dividing factor in who wins this series.

ADVANTAGE: DETROIT

DEFENSE:

San Jose’s Dan Boyle and Rob Blake opposite the wily Detroit veterans Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski compose the two best defensive units in the Playoffs right now. Dan Boyle has put all of his previous playoff woes behind him, after scoring Colorado’s game-winner in overtime in game one off of a rebounded shot by Ryan O’Reilly, and has really begun to pick it up. Rob Blake has and always will be a man after my own heart after his seasons with Roy and the fabled Colorado Avalanche of those days. Opposite Detroit’s powerful offensive defenders in the two vets, this is possibly the only tie we will see in this playoff prediction competition.

ADVANTAGE: TIE!

FORWARDS:

Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, and Danny Setoguchi versus Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and David Cleary? Four on three may seem a little unfair, but those three can do their fair share of damage against any team. Still, Joe Pavelski has won this battle for the Sharks this time in his strong play presented in the first two games. Coming up big, the young Shark has really shown he can play in the post-season and he deserves to be here. Continued production from him and the other three can only provide a ticket to the Western Conference Finals early for San Jose’s frozen Sharks.

SUMMARY:

Though the series is 2-0, the story on the ice tells itself much differently. Detroit has displayed its hard-fought desire to win as it always does, but San Jose consistently bats them back with timely goals and incredible shut-down comebacks. Joe Pavelski is the moving force in this series, if only he could have played so well in the Olympics.

CURRENT SERIES: San Jose leads 2-0.

PREDICTION: San Jose wins it in 6.

Photo by Rebecca Holt

The series stands at three games to two in favor of San Jose, reminiscent of the Olympic days of old, where Russian goliaths stood on one end and a group of American college boys cowered at the other. The young Colorado squad have beaten the expectations of NHL experts and fans alike, and  its winning formula of good defense and excellent goal tending has given this rowdy bunch an opportunity to pull out a major upset. So far, out of the five match-ups only one has been won in regulation (5-0 San Jose in game 5). It really has been a battle of the goal-tending. Both teams have excellent net-minders.

Avalanche rookie Matt Duchene has faced a lot of pressure so far in the post-season as he is a top three candidate for the Rookie of the Year Calder Trophy. Thus far only posting three points on three assists and no goals, to win this series he is going to need to pick-up the slack and bring his regular-season scoring ways back into the post-season. Having scored 24 goals and 31 assists in the regular season, those abilities would be greatly appreciated to break this tie in our favor.

The San Jose Sharks, being one of the most offensive AND defensive powerhouses for the past few years, they have been more than inconsistent in the post-season. The inconsistency has reared its ugly head for this team yet again this year. As the number one seed has perhaps met its match in the number eight seeded Colorado boys.

The Avalanche, on the other side, have only one multiple goal scorer in Chris Stewart, with three goals so far. Furthermore, only ten players have made the score sheet as of now, with hotshot Paul Stastny leading the way with four points, 1 goal and 3 assists. Craig Anderson is the toast of the town, though, after a 51 save night that allowed San Jose Shark Defenseman, Dan Boyle, to score on his own net in over-time lifting the Avalanche for the win.

Avalanche need offense, end of story. The stone-wall, Adam Foote lead boys have not produced anything near a shadow of their former point-producing selves. They have done half the job already, held the Sharks to very few goals.  Now to really bring the hammer down Duchene, Stastny, Yip, and Stewart need to bring on the dynamite and start to explode. Win or lose, one thing is for certain: these last two or three match-ups will be some for the ages.  No matter the result, Colorado’s Frozen Force has really set a high tone for themselves to match next season.  Lets go boys!

Artwork by Rebecca Holt

With only 16 games left on their schedule, it should be about the time where the Avs start thinking about how to finish close to if not on top. With an exact 50-50 split for home and away ice in the upcoming contests the boys should look forward to facing adversity both at home and on the road. Several roster moves, large and small, should begin to show their impact here very soon.

One roster move to note is the trade of Left Wing Wojtek Wolski, a proven scorer, to Phoenix for Center Peter Mueller and prospect Kevin Porter. Mueller is three years younger than Wolski and has already broken the ice here in Colorado posting two goals and four assists in only four games thus far. Returning to the roster after an eight-year absence, Center Stephane Yelle at 35 years adds more depth and veteran experience to the primarily young Avalanche team. Though he has never really amounted to much of anything, questions rise as to why the team decided to bring back a player whose hottest streak was in his first season 15 years ago with the Avalanche in 1995.

Colorado, 37-23-6, should give most of the credit to incredibly good rookie sensation Matt Duchene. Currently leading in points, goals, and assists.

Let me quell any rumors here: there is a very slim chance the home team will be bringing the cup back to Colorado this season, though it is certainly within reach in the near future. Though being 6th in the Western Conference and on a two-game winning streak is certainly converting a lot of non-believers to think otherwise.

Their remaining schedule certainly was not so heavily outfitted that the Avs won’t make a strong playoff run either. Victorious over both the Florida Panthers and the sub-par Dallas Stars, both played at home, the Avs will bounce back and forth from the road to home-stands for the remainder of the season. Don’t get too excited yet though, the Avs will be no more short of work than the next guy facing opponents with the caliber of: the Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, and the division rival Vancouver Canucks.

Matt Duchene should also be prepping to bring home the Calder Trophy, for Rookie of the Year, with 47 points overall, 23 goals and 24 assists, leading rookies in two out of four statistics. Though he is currently over-shadowed by Buffalo’s Tyler Myers (first in the league with assists with 26), when the time comes the judges will ultimately know who is better: Matt Duchene.

With the time for playoffs at hand, the competition is heating up. And again, as it was heading into the Olympic break, the Avalanche will be a problem needing to be solved by any team they face in the playoffs. Making it to the Cup Finals will be difficult, but if the Avalanche pull it off I would certainly not be one to count them out as favorites.

Artwork bt Rebecca Holt

Although boasting one of the youngest teams in the NHL, the Avs still seem to be going very strong hitting the midway point of the season. They have earned their spot as third in the western conference with 34 wins, only 19 losses and six overtime victories. And rookie sensation Matt Duchene is certainly living up to the hype, leading the league in points with 40, goals with 18, and second in the league with assists behind Buffalo’s stellar Tyler Myers. Not to mention being fourth on his team in points overall. Most teams that boast such a young average age would be excited heading into the Olympic break, but do the Avs, on a three-game winning streak right now, really need that break?

Something in this new playbook, coaching style, team, or general way of playing, seems to provide the team’s an easy way to solve almost any problem. Their longest losing streak capping at three, only half of their longest winning streak at six. They have even managed to solve previous seasons’ foes, the Red Wings, by beating them two times out of three thus far this season. Coming off of their most recent win, a 4-3 nail-biter win nine seconds into overtime, Avalanche defenseman, Kyle Cumiskey, set a record for quickest win in overtime in franchise history. On his game-winning, record-setting goal Cumiskey said in the Denver Post, “I saw an opening so I jumped in there and it worked out. I don’t know what came over me; I just took what they gave me pretty much and it worked out.” Why was the win so important? Cumiskey said, “It was a huge win for us, we’re back in first place. We showed a lot of heart I think, coming from behind from two goals here in the third. It feels really good, it’s really exciting right now.” Two points in front of the strong Vancouver Canucks, the Avalanche really look to hold their lead by defeating the surprising Phoenix Coyotes at the Pepsi Center this Friday. A three game winning streak at home can easily be transformed into four and an even bigger lead on the northwest division race.

I would certainly hate to be the guy who jinxed the whole thing, but I am certainly excited to see a clean road to the post-season paved for the Avalanche this year. I can clearly remember in previous seasons the end of the season panic to reach the playoffs.  This season it is looking to be a shoe-in for the young franchise. The most recent surprise, for me, that will help in their post-season push is rookie forward Brandon Yip, who has continued to post surprising numbers. With eighteen points collectively in his twenty-three games played, the Avalanche seem to be developing quite the trio of rookie players to lead them far into the future, and with that I can have absolutely no qualms anymore. Veteran and team captain Adam Foote was reactivated only this past month on the 29th, after missing seven games with a sprained ankle, and during that span the team went 6 and 1, losing only to division rivals the Minnesota Wild. Heading into their last home game tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes the Avalanche look to extend their home streak to 3 and 0 heading cross-country to the stalwart Los Angeles Kings ice on Saturday night.

Even after the 3-0 shut-out loss to LA, Colorado will certainly still be one of the teams talked about in locker-rooms across the league. And after the break, Colorado will look to hit the ground running by, once again, shutting down the previously challenging Detroit Red Wings, Colorado’s long time rival. This would give them their third victory over the wings out of four chances this season. What’s more, it would give them exactly what they want: more momentum heading towards the playoff stretch.

Artwork by Rebecca Holt

In any major sport a victory is sweet, but nothing can match the taste of shutting your opponent out in a victory. The Avalanche must be feeling this now, coming off of a shutout victory against offensively stacked Tampa Bay. Colorado actually posted relatively low numbers in the shots on goal column with only 29, in comparison to Tampa’s 33. Following this lovely night, the Avs once again find themselves on the stingy side with a 4-0 shutout over the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis.

Craig Anderson seems to have found his ability again after quite the slump, standing strong in the crease for one more evening in his win column. Anderson has faltered in his ability of late it seems. Though, it is looking as if he is trying to climb his way back into the good graces of Colorado’s fans.

Enough about Craig Anderson: he has had his moment; the real star of the night goes to rookie phenom, Matt Duchene, scoring two goals to lead his team to the 3-0 shutout win. The third pick of the first round for the Avs boasts four goals and seven total points over his last seven games; these points accounting for half of his total fourteen on the season thus far. “An 18-year old that went to the net and got two goals,” Tampa Bay Coach Rick Tocchet put it bluntly enough. Duchene scored also in the Blues match-up, topping off his 4 goal, 2 assist performance for the week, earning him third-star honors.

Oddly enough though, most of the attention of the evening, and following days for that matter, was given to Washington Capitals infamous Alexander Ovechkin, after suffering a knee-to-knee collision with Carolina’s d-man, Tim Gleason. Not too far into the first period as it was, the Capitals without their leading scorer still managed to pull out the victory 3-2 over the very quiet Carolina Hurricane storm. Ovechkin will not be suspended, considering the review of the hit seemed to deem it as intentional. I say, let him play; he is one of the most exciting players in the NHL, and if Duchene has to compete for the spotlight as a rookie, I say good for him. It will only build that character he needs to be even more of a consistent player in the future.

As the Avalanche enter December, they still stand shaky in their abilities. They have the potential to fight through another winning month, but the odds are leaning more towards something of mediocrity. Starting off the twelfth month with a road-stand against the Florida Panthers, the Pittsburgh Penguins(so far their only losses), the boys have been heating up with two road wins to bounce back,iIncluding one stellar shutout against an always-difficult St. Louis Blues squad, following a win in Columbus against Rick Nash’s Blue Jackets.

The next opponent on the Avalanche’s list is the Minnesota Wild. In their last match-up, in St. Paul, Colorado found themselves falling just short in a shootout loss to the average Wild. We can hope they are reflecting on that loss now, as they prepare to extend their win-streak further into the chilly December month. The Avs don’t look to just start a hot-streak, they look to start an Avalanche, and the rest of us are looking for that right now, too.

Artwork by Rebecca Holt

October – in recent years known as Rocktober – has now taken its turn as Avstober, bringing down such stellar opponents as the Red Wings, the Canucks, the Sharks, and the Flames; something most of us honestly thought would not happen for at least a few more seasons.

The Avs last in the Western conference last season, are rebounding back strong this season to lead the league in points at the end of October, tied only with the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins. The surprise here is that they have done all of this under the leadership of a new-old veteran captain, Adam Foote, who was welcomed to the Captain’s chair so-to-speak, replacing long time favorite, Joe Sakic.

Foote has helped the team toward posting the greatest start to a season since the 2000-2001 Stanley Cup Avalanche team. Headed by of course, Sakic, Forsberg, and the all-important Roy. The team today seems to be finding themselves in a similar pattern with Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stastny, and Milan Hejduk starting off relatively strong. Not forgetting, of course, the rookies, Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene, who have provided the youthful energy expected of them thus far. Let it also be noted that these two are the first 18-year olds to ever suit up and play for the Avalanche.

Yet, even bigger news comes with Craig Anderson, the so-far stellar goaltender, achieving first star honors for the month of October overall. “Anderson has played amazing and he’s deserved to get all the starts he has — and we’ve been winning games, so it’s all good,” Last year’s starting goalie, Budaj told the Denver Post. “I just want to be able to contribute to the team any way I can and hopefully I can get some wins.” And we are all hoping he does just that, win. Building off of Anderson’s play, after a record-setting career performance in October. That also tied him for the team wins in a month record with, Budaj (March 2007) and Dan Bouchard (February 1981).

Just a week into the hopeful best second-month of the Avalanche’s record-breaking season, they face a loss to the so far shoddy at best, Edmonton Oilers. The loss, coming at home, broke the Avalanche’s intimidating undefeated home record, the last team to stand so in the entire league. Though the loss is but a small bump in the entire span of the season, it was still very disappointing.

Heading in to the game, the Avs boasted an 86.1% penalty kill success rate, the second best mark in the league. It seemed as though the Avalanche penalty kill decided to head to Disneyland early as the Oilers went 4-for-7 on scoring for their power-play opportunities. As shameful as it looked on the ice, it looked even worse on paper, as it dropped the Avalanche 7 whole spots in the penalty kill percentage team standings. And it was not as if the Avalanche did not have their chances to recover their losses. They also went 0-for-4 on their power play chances and are performing at a 1-for-25 rate in only their last eight games. This stellar mark posts them at 16th in the league at power play percentage with a 19.4 %, trailing the mediocre Detroit rival by a whole 0.6 %.

If there is one thing I can take out of this loss, it is only a hope…a hope that this does not reflect on any post-season mishaps that will be occurring in our beloved Avalanche team’s future. Lastly, but as always very far from the least, the Avalanche keep rolling, and headed into their third match-up against Chicago this past Wednesday looking to add to their stellar start. And even with playmakers like Milan Hejduk, Darcy Tucker, and Tom Preissing looking to have made a strong return for the match-up, the Avs did not play so strongly as they have so far. Through a hard-fought struggle though, the Avs lost to the Blackhawks in the third period, 3 – 2. Yes it is only November, but it is never too early for a home team fan like myself to start rooting for the boys to bring back another Cup. Keep it up team, and Colorado will have only one more thing to brag