Colorado Avalanche: One Move Away from a Stanley Cup? w/ Jesse Montano

Colorado Avalanche: One Move Away from a Stanley Cup? w/ Jesse Montano

Jesse Montano covers the Colorado Avalanche for Guerilla Sports. Always a pleasure to have you back on the show, Jesse. And there are a lot of areas to talk about with this Colorado Avalanche team because there’s so many things going well for the ABS, but I want to start with the big dog, Nate McKinnon. Overtime winner over the weekend, odds on favorite to win the heart trophy, six-point lead in the scoring race. You got anything else you want to add on to the Nate McKinnon conversation here? >> Great to see you guys. Always great chatting with you. Um, you know, I was just joking on my pod earlier or last week. I’m running out of adjectives for him. Uh I mean like we you know it seems like every season he just takes it to another level and right when you think he he can’t possibly have another level, right? He does what he did in New York a couple night or a couple afternoons ago. Um no, I mean this is something special we’re seeing from Nate uh this season. um he showed up to camp this I mean he’s an intense guy to begin with uh but he showed up with just a different intensity a different sense of determination than even I’ve ever seen in you know almost 10 years covering him. Um I think that loss to Dallas really really stung him and he looks like he is just on a mission in a different way than even we’ve ever seen him. He he’s he’s just on another level right now. Yeah, it’s been unbelievable to watch, right? I think that whole team and where they’re at. And and you know, the breakdown for me is you start the season without your starting goalie, right? Mackenzie Blackwood injured. They they kind of slowly work him back in cuz Scott Wedgwood’s unbelievable. Then Scott Wedgewood goes down. You know, Mackenzie’s just been back at start of November. And the run that he has been on now, like having these two goals, you got two guys sharing, they both have a 920 save percentage. Team would kill for a 9005 in the NHL when you guys are getting 920. What’s there to say about that? because it’s easy to say the offense is creating, you know, solving all the problems, but this goalending is really setting the table as well. >> No, it’s it’s a great call out because there there’s so much of like yes, the ABS have looked dominant in a lot of games this season, but there have also been plenty of games along the way here through whatever it is 29 games where they’ve needed strong, you know, performances in net. So, what these guys have been able to give them has been huge. But um I want to talk about Mackenzie Blackwood a bit here because talking with him getting back. So he had a a procedure done right after the playoffs last year that actually kept him off the ice all summer. So when training camp opened and we saw him working, you know, slowly back with skills coach, some of the trainers like that was the first time he was getting on the ice since they got eliminated in the playoffs. So like it really took him a bit to get his timing right, to feel comfortable. you know, he was even just telling me like just, you know, locating guys on the ice at game speed, like that takes a bit for you to get back. So, having Scott Wedgewood playing the way he was was not only big for the ABS and obviously picking up points and winning games, but it allowed Mackenzie Blackwood to rehab back from that that that procedure over the summer at his pace, at a pace to make sure that he wasn’t, you know, overexerting himself or or coming back too early. And like McKenzie has told me like, yeah, that took a lot of pressure off of him. He was really feeling like, hey, I need to get ready. I need to get back. Uh, and and Scott Wedgewood doing what he did really kind of helped alleviate a lot of that. >> Yeah, it does. Right. And we’re seeing that firsthand with so many other teams, right, where they they lose one guy and the other guy can’t carry the bag, right? That’s important. You got to get there’s injuries that happen. Now, it’s never too early to talk trades, to talk depth. Where does this team go from here? Right. because they’re going to be in a very good situation, right? They’re building up a nice base. They have they have the lead in the division, but when trade deadline comes, you know, it’s going to be after the Olympic break. Where do they start to add in pieces to really, you know, make this team a cup contender to try to win it this year? >> Yep. You know, it’s a great question because when you’re rolling like this, it’s you sit there and you kind of balance like, well, how much do you want to shake things up? How much do you just want to, you know, stick with this group that’s that’s rolling? I really see two areas for this group right now um that I say yeah, you probably want to add there before you know the deadline comes and goes. Um and it and the big one is your third line center. Jack Drury has has performed there totally admirably. No no real complaints, but I think you know having seen a team that went four rounds, won a Stanley Cup just a few years ago, you you know that that their third and fourth line did a lot of heavy lifting for them in some of those playoff games. So, I think you’d want Jack Drury to slide probably back down to that fourth line and you’d want an upgrade there at 3C. And then truthfully, I I think you want a seventh D. Like you want one more guy that if you have an injury, you feel really comfortable that he go in there and eat up minutes. They’ve got Elia Solov in that role right now. And it’s pretty clear Jared Bednar doesn’t have a ton of trust for him. They haven’t played him in in in over a month. Um, so I think you want a third line center. I think you want a seventh D. And boy oh boy is that different than what we were talking about with this this team at the deadline the last couple years. >> Well, yeah. I mean, last year was just absolutely bonkers. But along those lines, like I mean, they don’t have a pick until Puck Pedia says they don’t have a pick till the fourth round this year in the draft. Like things are going so well. Two regulation losses on the year. I think I heard you say the other day that they’ve only lost by multiple goals like once this year. Like with all this stuff going right, isn’t this maybe a year for for Chris McFarland just be like, you know what, let’s save some futures. We traded Cal Richie. We traded a first round pick last year. Like this team is good enough. If they’re going to win, it’s going to be because of the guys we already have. Like, not to say you do nothing, but like they don’t need to make a big splash this year, per se. >> No, I I don’t think so. I mean, I I really do. I think you’re talking tweaking around the fringe. Uh, you know, who who can you get that that exact You’re exactly right. Who isn’t going to break the bank? Um, you know, you don’t have a ton of assets anyways. And, you know, credit to Chris McFarland. um you know he he understandably took a lot of heat last year like he made you know he had to completely turn over his goalending room. He traded a franchise cornerstone and right now uh obviously still a long way to go. You got to see how this season ends but like a lot of those moves are looking really good bringing Brock Nelson back um and suddenly he’s heating up and on pace for 30 goals uh again. Um, so you know, you just a lot of those moves that he took some big swings on last year look like they’re kind of panning out. So, no, it’s not a it’s not an unfair question of like does he just say, “Hey, you know, I’m I’m I’m going to cash out. I’m not going to keep going here.” Like things are going pretty well. Um, we’ll see. Like I said, I I think tweaking around the fringes. And then just real quick, I just want to give it again, Chris McFarland, for as few draft picks as the ABS have had, how many assets they’ve traded away. You’ve got Sam Alolinsky who’s, you know, quietly creeping up into like a second pairing conversation type of guy. And then Gavin Brinley, he’s out hurt right now. That’s a 20-year-old kid who made the roster out of camp and has had a real impact uh on this group. So, despite not having the the traditional ways of, you know, getting fresh blood into the lineup, you got two young players that are that are on the cheap, one of them on their ELC having an impact, and that’s huge for a group like this. Yeah, you mentioned everything McFarland went through last year, like the way the season ended with Rant and all of that. If any GM deserves to just have a breather of a season, it’s it’s probably him as well. Um, you mentioned Molinsky. I want to wrap on one more on the Blue Line. 40-year-old Brent Burns playing close to 20 minutes a night this year. First off, for you as a media guy, how much fun has it been to cover Brent Burns? And also, what’s his impact been like on that blue line? >> Yeah, no, he’s uh he’s been fun. This is a This is a locker room that’s got some characters in it and he definitely added to it. He’s uh he’s an interesting guy. He’s he’s different than anyone else I’ve ever covered or been around in one of those rooms. Like he’s great, but he’s great in a different way than than uh you know most most guys that you run into in a hockey locker room. But um you know he has he’s had a bigger impact on that back end than than I think people would think. not not only uh you know quietly 14 points from the back end um you know he’s he’s producing but he’s eating minutes that Kale Maren Devon Taves have had to eat in years past like the ABS haven’t had another guy that you can roll out there 20 plus minutes a night every night like Josh Manson’s a good defender Sam Gerard I I think is you know sneakily underrated around the league but those aren’t you know minute munchers Brent Burns is out there killing penalties He’s playing on the power play. They Jared Bednar trusts him late in situations. Uh ozone starts, Dzone starts. He’s made Kale Mar’s life easier. And you know, I think we’ve we’re seeing, you know, how the the not that Kale Mar had a bad year last year, but he just looks again another guy who looks to be, you know, more fresh, a little bit on a different level. Um the the that entire decor, they just love him. Uh he he’s had a really big impact not just with what he’s doing but what he’s allowing other guys to do if that if that makes sense. >> No, totally. The trickle down effect of that is is significant. Uh Jesse, great work as always. Appreciate you popping on. People watching, you can read his work at Guerilla Sports and we’ll chat again soon. >> Awesome. Always love chatting with you boys. Take it easy. >> Hey [music] hockey fans, if you enjoyed that video, then make sure you hit the subscribe button right here on the Daily Face Off YouTube. We have you covered for everything you need. Exclusive interviews on the sheet with Jeff Merrick. All the latest hockey news on Daily Face Off Live. And you can always get your morning started with Johnny Lazarus and Colobby Con on Morning Cup of Hockey. Don’t miss [music] a minute. Hit that subscribe button.

Jesse Montano joins to talk about he current season for the Colorado Avalanche.

We also talk about what the Avalanche could do at the Trade Deadline to make themselves even more competitive in the playoffs!

#colorado #Avalanche #Burns #MacKinnon #Makar #Playoffs #StanleyCup

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