The sense disappeared from intimidating Colorado a long time ago, writes Urheilu’s NHL reporter Tommi Seppälä.
Tommi SeppääläNHL reporter
The tips of the tongues of the media and supporters in Denver are sharpened. The local Avalanche, the champion two years ago, looks anything but a champion candidate in the spring. The star match break at the turn of the month was supposed to be good for the team, but the ride has been cold in February. Seven out of ten matches have ended in defeat.
At the same time, criticism has started to rain. The popular DNVR Avalanche podcast gave a cool ride on Sunday, among other things Mikko Rantanen. Unquestionably, the Finn, who has been playing below his best level recently, was found to have been playing poorly and to have recently been lethargic and even indifferent.
– I’m tired of Mikko Rantanen’s situation, and I’m not going to talk about him until the situation changes, one of the presenters roared.
Criticism is certainly justified. At the same time, when the team should get a rising trend towards the spring, Colorado has plunged into its deepest bottom of the current season. Rantanen’s balance of 3+5 and -5 from ten previous matches is not what is expected.
But now, if ever, Denver is barking up the wrong tree. Rantanen should raise the level of his playing, the intensity and the result curve, but at the same time you can ask, how much can you ask from one player? Head coach by Jared Bednar Namely, the meaning of the game has disappeared quite a few days ago. Rantanen’s game undoubtedly shows the merciless load of years, but there is no mercy from the coaching.
Few players will complain about their playing time, but too much is too much.
Already in the previous season, Rantanen carried a terrible burden in Colorado due to injuries to several key players. Someone could say that this was already seen last fall, when Bednar drove Ranta to the box with an average of almost 23 minutes per match. As incredible as it sounds, after the turn of the year the belt has only been tightened.
In 2024, Rantanen has played almost one and a half minutes more per match (24.12) than in the fall season. The last time such ice times were played in the NHL was in the 2012-2013 season Ilja Kovaltshukin through the agency of.
If we look at the previous two seasons, Rantanen has played more than two hundred minutes of regular season ice hockey than any other forward in the NHL – and now we’re talking about equipment with over a hundred kilos of ice on it from Tittle. In the current season, Mikko Rantanen has played 1.45 more minutes per match than the light-built Connor McDavid.
How much does Bednar think he can still tighten the belt? In the spring, you should still be able to dig out one extra gear from the gearbox to win the championship. Mikko Rantanen’s box will not contain championship-level gear in the spring, and the club management and coaching are responsible for that.
Bednar’s cheating is even selfish. The Canadian pilot has a clock’s exact understanding of how business runs in the NHL.
Coaches’ jobs are delicate in the midst of fierce competition. The protection of one’s own place seems to come even before the collective, because yes the pilot has to understand what kind of load Rantanen is under and what kind of effect it has on the team’s playoff spring.
For example, in Sunday’s Toronto match, Colorado’s foursome Gogliano–Wagner–Stone beach got less than seven minutes of ice time.
Colorado is horribly out of balance. The men who play in Keula pay a heavy price for it. Rantanen has played sixteen matches of at least 25 minutes this season. McDavid has less than five 25-minute games, With Aleksander Barkov none.
Which of these does Jared Bednar think can play best in the spring playoffs?
It’s okay to criticize the beach when there’s a reason for it, but in this particular situation it’s good to keep the bigger picture in mind. Rantanen carried the whole team in a fantastic way in the middle of the injury crisis last winter and is again on pace for 40 goals and 100 points. Two years ago, under the leadership of Rantanen and other stars, the pitcher was raised.
After all, it is only humane if the big man’s machine beeps. Rantanen’s playing exudes exhaustion. With the gamification seen, the meter screams red at the end of the season.
This Colorado is going to go fast to the wall, and there’s nothing left for it to do.
Maybe the club management will learn something from this situation. GM Chris MacFarland has shot the team while piling up several huts. Especially the unreliable one acquired as a second center Ryan Johansen was an unthinkable purchase. If Colorado’s best acquisition since the championship era is Jonathan Drouinwe are really far from a championship-level balance in the players.
It’s pointless to embellish Rantanen’s weak episode, but when I was rooting for this turbulence in Colorado, I would turn my eyes away.