Colorado is widely considered a viable candidate to win the Stanley Cup in the North American NHL.
The champion from two years ago has mainly lived on a few of its top players and rose to the top of the middle division under their leadership. But is Colorado really, as a whole, at the level it takes to win a championship?
This question came to the surface again on Saturday night, when the team lost 0-7 to Winnipeg on their home ice. The last time the league’s best home team lost at home by seven goals was in 2011.
We challenged ‘s hockey expert around this question Ismo Lehkonenwhose son Artturi Lehkonen plays in a team. It’s no secret that a father watches every game of his son and the team he represents with a magnifying glass.
We presented arguments to Ismo Lehkonen regarding the situation in Colorado
I would argue that Colorado is in a mini-crisis. It has lost in April to miserable Columbus and almost collapsed in handling the top teams of the Western Conference, Edmonton, Dallas and Winnipeg. In three matches, the own net was fouled 20 times.
– If these kinds of lickers have to come, then it’s worth taking them in the regular season. It just wakes up the group in a completely different way, says Lehkonen.
The first goalkeeper Alexandar Georgiev’s game is not at the level required to win the championship?
– In the regular season, it’s just about getting to the playoffs. He has won games quite well, as far as I remember, the most in the league. Still, it’s clear that he needs to play better. Can’t help but thank Winnipeg for clearing the table yesterday and showing what’s to come. A nice challenge is coming, when the best goalkeeper in the series will be on the other end in the playoffs Connor Hellebuyck.
Georgiev’s situation is a real problem, because the torch cannot be passed to the inexperienced Justus Annus a week before the playoffs. If the coaching staff did that, there would be no return to the Russian. In addition, there would be an immediate goalkeeper conflict in the media and in the stands as a distraction for the team. Georgiev has to go to embers or clay.
– Yes, definitely. This has been asked continuously for a month by the head coach From Jared Bednar. He already answered once that don’t start again.
In the public debate, too much is poured on the goalkeeper’s neck. Colorado’s defense has been far from championship-level for a long time, starting with the top players. For example, in April, only against San Jose and Columbus, according to Evolving-Hockey, more goals have been created than Colorado. I argue that Colorado, as a collective, cannot operate on the basis of values that would enable them to win a championship. And it doesn’t have the player material that would enable it to succeed in the current world of values.
– However, there’s a pretty good coach there and he’s got it right. Now they saw how Winnipeg defends, fights and works for every loose puck. A 0-7 loss humbles any guy to do basic things very well. On an individual level, every guy knows what we’re going to do now. I don’t doubt it at all.
I claim that the brilliance of a couple of top players creates an illusion and a bubble around Colorado, which hides the truth about the collective’s shortcomings. This Colorado is not master material.
– You don’t win championships in the regular season. The regular season is one season, the first playoff series is one season. Here is half of the team that won the championship (2022) and the other half of new players. Everyone understands that there has to be a clear push from the new department compared to playing in the regular season. The group has to grow into a team.
– I don’t think that there are delusions for anyone, that playing the regular season will make it difficult for anyone in the spring. I would argue that coaching in Colorado thanks Winnipeg for the kind of teaching they provided.
Saturday wasn’t the first time Colorado collapsed this season. In the winter, it suffered a 0-7 loss in Vegas. Moments after the Vegas loss, St. Louis seeded it 8-2. Now in April, my own head has leaked against top teams like a net bag. As a champion candidate, Colorado’s backbone breaks too easily.
– Yes and no. I’ll keep repeating that they are still going to the playoffs, and it’s no coincidence that they haven’t collected that many points. With that winning offensive style of play, it’s just been that when there’s been a rumble in our own team, there’s been a real rumble there, says Lehkonen.
Colorado lost six of its last seven regular season games in the championship season (2022), but this team is nowhere near the level of the spring of 2022.
– That also has an effect, when key players have been absent continuously over the course of the season, who for whatever reason. It is now interesting to see how coaching builds the two top chains and how the bottom chains are built. Yesterday Mittelstadt (Rantanen, Nitshushkin) chain took minus three. MacKinnon’s (Lehkonen, Drouin) took minus two. That’s a total of five frosts for the top chains. They have the blocks there.
I’d argue that Colorado is already in deep trouble with Winnipeg in the opening round. Colorado is the best home team in the series, but now it will probably have to start with the visitors. As a visiting team, Colorado has been the second weakest of the playoff teams in the West.
– This is a great challenge for Colorado and now they enter the series as a challenger. It is not unclear that that team would be humbled to play the hockey that the coaching asks. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of chains Colorado builds that can match Winnipeg’s four output chains. The challenge is really tough, but even one away win changes the situation significantly.
I argue that Colorado is not among the championship favorites to be taken seriously this season.
– That’s actually a good throw, when you look at how the best teams in the NHL operate. Let’s look at Dallas and Winnipeg, for example. At the right time for the end of the regular season, they have a crystal clear game identity. Colorado doesn’t have it and they are still discussing what kind of formations they should play with, thinks Lehkonen.
STATS: NHL.com, Evolving-Hockey