Hardly anyone expected the Colorado Avalanche, who won the Stanley Cup in the summer, to play their best hockey right in October, but inside the team, we are particularly satisfied with the balance of the first nine games. The reigning champion has won only four of these matches – and the game is not particularly well balanced even behind the results.
Colorado will face the Columbus Blue Jackets twice in Finland. Coming into Tampere’s double, Colorado has won only two of its six previous matches. There is no need to panic around such a strong and seasoned team, but we should expect better from them.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen followed the team on the ground in New York for three games last week. Colorado beat the Rangers in New York, but then lost to the Devils in New Jersey and a day later to another New York club, the Islanders.
– So far, this has been a fairly typical process for the champion, when the group is even challenged in new ways. They must have learned a lot from nine games. It is still quite clear that from New York they were left with two points less than what should have been taken as a minimum, Lehkonen’s line.
– What I saw a little bit over there, a very angry team is coming to Tampere.
Lehkonen expects a strong rebellion from the weekend. Columbus played a completely classless match against New Jersey on Sunday, and Colorado hasn’t convinced either, rather the opposite.
– Colorado has no problem coming to Tampere to play or entertain. Now we have to get a hard result from the two matches. My expectations for both teams are absolutely dead, Lehkonen downloads.
Attack end narrow
If Colorado had depth in all positions of the lineup during the championship season, the situation has been very different this season. The second center headed to Calgary as a free agent Nazem Kadri left huge boots on the doorstep when he left, and so far no one has been found to fill them.
by Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen piloted by the top chain has been without support for the time being.
Of the other attackers, picked up from Pittsburgh in the summer Evan Rodrigues has scored four hits, but that’s all the support has left. If, in addition to Rodrigues, Ikköstykit MacKinnon, Rantanen, Valery Nitshushkin mixed Artturi Lehkonenthe other attackers have managed three hits.
Among the players thirsting for a place as a second center in the squad JT Compher has managed one assist in nine matches, Alex Newhook one goal.
The situation has not even been helped by the injuries of a few important attackers. Especially the captain Gabriel Landeskog and the bottom chain credit gambler By Darren Helm long sick leaves sand the road significantly. Russian star Nitshushkin was sidelined for the team’s previous two games. His playing in Tampere is uncertain.
The difficult situation could also be noticed from the playing. Colorado has practically been a three chain team so far.
After the ninth forward, the ice time of the bottom chain players is less than eight minutes, and the team has played with seven defenders and eleven forwards from time to time.
– After all, that team is narrower now and the chains have changed quite a lot for the reason that there have been guys from the front row on the sidelines. Of course it does. They have really good defenders, but it may even have made those chains a little more comfortable that the Packs bring and take care of this and that for the attackers, Lehkonen throws.
The five-on-five game coughs
The quality core of the champion team is still well assembled, but at the same time, the role of the new team is badly unfinished and it shows. When there is no balance behind the first chain, playing against Colorado is a little easier. If the first chain stops, the entire ship stops at the moment.
Colorado’s playing has not yet been in the best balance with 5-on-5. The team’s superior game operates with a high power of almost 40 percent, but five-on-five it is found in the 25th place in the statistics measuring the ratio of expected goals. The same is the ranking in the statistics calculating the ratio of dangerous goal posts.
The dangerous scoring positions of the previous two games Colorado lost a total of 16-34.
– This is often like this against champion teams. The gangs are not going to challenge Colorado by attacking. For example, Seattle closed the hatches quite outrageously and with that Colorado got a finger in the mouth. New Jersey played excellently against Colorado’s strengths. With this, the master has lacked patience. Credit also goes to the opponents.
– Now Colorado just has to keep grinding these scoring games. If the game is 1-1 going into the third period, then so be it. The spirit of the game now is that the enemy doesn’t give anything for free. On the other hand, it’s human that the tension doesn’t always last, because Colorado won’t change their game either, Lehkonen sees.
Artturi Lehkonen’s role more defensive?
So far, Colorado’s best asset, along with the dominance game, has been the orchestration of a mobile and skilled defense on the puck. Cale Makar, Bowen Byram, Devon Toews mixed Samuel Girard form an unimaginably hard top four. The operation of this quartet creates the basis for all playing.
On the other hand, things to be developed in the future include, among other things, a really weak underpowered game and stopping the opponent’s top players. Colorado still lacks – partly due to injuries – a clear braking chain, as well as clear working forward pairs from the underpowered game.
At this point, the eyes turn to Artturi Lehkone, who excelled in precisely these areas earlier in Montreal. In Denver, Lehkonen’s role has been screwed in a more attacking direction, but now there may be a return at least a little back to dirtier jobs. In the three previous games, Lehkonen played underpowered most of the forwards.
With the factory Takuu, Lehkonen can create both an underpowered game and darkening the opponent’s top chain. However, the compositions are still being searched.
– For “Ars”, that underpowered thing will definitely click. It has good players, but Helmi’s absence can be seen, for example, in the starts. Who can tear them, Arttur’s father Ismo Lehkonen asks.
From Tampere, Colorado is looking for a new start to its season, as it were. So far, it has played a lot on away ice, but after the Tampere arena, it will go home for a week and a half. The Avalanche are still a top-quality team and one of the strong championship contenders in the spring, but they still have a big process to do – which is normal in November.
– After all, this start has gone downhill, but I’m not worried, and I don’t think they are either. Strict video conferences have been held there and the process is being developed quite calmly. They just have to be patient with their playing, expert Lehkonen reminds us at the end.