Is Colorado for a rare trick in the NHL? According to Ville Nieminen, champion favorites are now required to perform on the button

will show two NHL playoff games on Sunday, April 23. The match New York Islanders – Carolina can be watched on TV2 and Areena starting at 20:00. After that, we move on to the Florida–Boston match (around 10:30 p.m.).

Renewing the championship has always been difficult in the modern NHL. It is especially difficult in the salary cap era. In the last 30 years, only Pittsburgh has reached the double twice (1991 and 1992 and 2016 and 2017), Detroit (1996 and 1997) and Tampa Bay (2020 and 2021).

Now, Colorado, one of the greatest of our time, aims to renew the championship.

Colorado is such an exceptional team that as recently as last summer, many people strongly voted for the double – and the betting agencies’ odds are not very high on this date either.

However, a lot has happened during the regular season that ended.

Colorado is still a championship contender, but a battered one. This part of the story goes all the way back to last season. The corona pandemic still affected the match schedule so that the last final match was not played until June 26.

After all the partying and rest, the summer was really short for many champions.

It was visible again in the current season. Colorado has pushed through heavy injury cycles so that in the end just Mikko Rantanen, JT Compher, Logan O’Connor and Alex Newhook got together a full 82 game regular season.

And the situation before the first playoff game is still not the best possible. Captain by Gabriel Landeskog the season is a package without a single game. Also, the number one defender Cale Makaria until the end of the season, there are several players, albeit with milder injuries.

– For the players who had injuries, the summer was short. A short summer helps when it comes to pre-season training, which helps you stay strong throughout the regular season. Then when players drop out, it starts to burden other players and it again takes its toll on them, Colorado pilot Jared Bednar stated to The Athletic earlier this week.

– We still hope for a healthy team, because we still don’t have it.

If anyone has paid the price for a broken season, it’s Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen, who played a sensational 55-goal and 105-point season, practically single-handedly tore apart the stone rickshaw behind him, especially at the end of the year.

Among the attackers, only Edmonton Connor McDavid has played Rantas more this season.

Rantanen has found himself in a situation in addition to the injury because Colorado’s player material behind the hard edge is not at last year’s level. Away from the champion team are the second center Nazem Kadri mixed Andrey Burakovsky. When you add to this the captain Landeskog, who was sidelined the whole season, 80 goals and more than 200 power points have disappeared from the roster.

The resulting deficit has been patched up by promoting the improved JT Compher as the second center, acquiring a moderately successful Evan Rodrigues and Washington, which has sunk far from the level of its peak years Lars Eller. The whole is not up to the level of the championship season.

Last season, seven 20-goal players were found in Colorado, now there are three: Nathan MacKinnonRantanen and Artturi Lehkonen.

And nothing has been said yet about the huge leadership gap left by captain Landeskog in the team.

– I don’t think it matters that much. Who wouldn’t want the captain to be there, but Tampa also won the 2020 championship practically without their captain Steven Stamkosa former NHL player Ville Nieminen resemble.

Of course, the slightly weaker level of the Western Conference gives Colorado a lead.

– It is true. If Colorado played in the East, we would have a completely different discussion, Nieminen, who represented Colorado in his NHL career and won the Stanley Cup with one club, admits.

The better side of the coin

When it comes to Colorado’s championship dreams, there is naturally another side to the coin. The most important consideration is related to the condition of the day.

In March-April, of all the teams, only Edmonton collected more points than Colorado, i.e. 37. The Avalanche won 17 of their 24 games and, like Boston, collected 36 points, which gives the budding promise of a good spring.

Colorado won a lot of games after the winter of heart, made the power game work and especially MacKinnon was in a terrible blow in the last weeks of the regular season.

– After a good start, everyday life, recovery and injuries hit them, but they fought well through it. They have had a nice tailwind in the spring. You have to give a lot of value to how Rantanen has, at his best, pulled that group after him and how they have survived the difficulties. The final push was quite hard, Nieminen praises.

So there is no doubt that Colorado is still among the NHL’s most elite, but will the spring surge be enough for a second consecutive championship?

At the top, through MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makari, there is a “three-headed monster”, which is practically impossible to stop and Alexander Georgiev even the goalkeeper’s game doesn’t catch anything. Ultimately, it’s about whether the team stays healthy and whether there is enough goal-scoring power in the background.

Compher, O’Connor, Newhook, Lehkonen, Rodrigues and Nitshushkin are important players when it comes to scoring behind the tip. They need to be able to emerge from time to time.

Nieminen still believes in Colorado’s chances to repeat the championship.

– They know what it takes and against all the difficulties they have overcome, they must still be considered the biggest favorite in the Western Conference. They now have a very open window for the championship and I believe that they will be the number one horse in the West for another couple of years, Nieminen sees.

– Of course, the championship requires a hit in the bull’s eye, Nieminen, who currently works as JYP’s assistant coach, reminds.

Corrected on Tuesday at 20:40: corrected Colorado’s win balance from March-April.