Why The Colorado Avalanche Are WAY BETTER Than You Think

Why The Colorado Avalanche Are WAY BETTER Than You Think

We are witnessing what could be a historic season for the Colorado Avalanche. Parody has been the talk of the town basically since the start of the NHL season. Essentially, leaguewide, every team is either a point or two back from one another or at least keeping up just enough to stay in playoff range, making this one of the most interesting regular seasons we’ve seen in the NHL for quite some time. By now, if you’re a hockey fan, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “American Thanksgiving is the deadline to be in the playoff picture.” And nine times out of 10, if you have a postseason spot at that point in the year, then you’re very likely to be in the postseason come the springtime. Well, this year for a lot of different teams, I’m not quite sure that this statement is going to hold up as true as it has in the past. But one team that feels almost guaranteed to abide by this saying is the Colorado Avalanche. by a mile the best team in the NHL this year. After what was seen as a disappointing playoff exit to a division rival last year in a season filled with both drama and retooling, the ABS entered this season with a few question marks on their roster and still a lot left to prove. But what has really propelled the Colorado Avalanche to dominance once again? And why are they having so much success through the first two months of hockey? Well, today let’s not only break down this unbelievable start for the Avalanche organization, but also talk about how this team could go on to be historically great. What’s up everyone? Welcome back to the channel. I hope you guys all had a fantastic holiday and Thanksgiving. It’s a great time of year to show some gratitude and feel blessed for the things that we have in our life. And I can confidently say that you guys are one of the biggest things that I’m proud of in my life. Uh you guys have gotten this channel now to 30,000 subscribers. That’s crazy to me. I never thought we would even reach a thousand here on this channel. So to everyone who has ever clicked on one of my videos, interacted with me in any way, or has partaken in this community at all, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love each and every one of you, and I’m so excited for what the future is going to hold on this channel. But with all the sappy stuff out of the way, I’m sure you guys are very excited for this week’s breakdown, especially since we didn’t have a recap video last week. So, I’m going to keep this intro short and sweet. If you guys are enjoying the content, toss this one a thumbs up, subscribe now, and let’s talk about the Colorado Avalanche. All right, so like I mentioned at the top of the video, the Colorado Avalanche haven’t just been good this year. They’ve actually been historically great. So, let’s look at some of their underlying stats and their advanced analytics a bit since you guys really liked that in my last upload. At the time of this recording, Colorado leads the NHL in goals for per game at 4.11 on the season. And a bulk of their goals are being scored during 5v5 with their power play struggling a bit through the first two months, sitting at 24th with a success rate of 16.3%. Digging a little bit deeper with their advanced statistics, offensively the Avalanche are first in expected goals for at 69.18. Their first and expected goal differential at 19.75. And in terms of high danger shots created, they are also leading the NHL with 79 through this hot stretch. Now, when you have players like Nathan McKinnon and Kale Mar, two once in a-lifetime type of players, it’s pretty easy to assume that your offense is going to be elite and that you’re going to be in a good position even when you are going through some struggles. But the Avalanche really haven’t hit any rough patches. And I think that these two are the ones that you can really thank for that because they have been playing maybe the best season of their careers. Nathan McKinnon is tied for league lead in goals and leads the league in points. Clearly being the front runner for the heart trophy once again. He has been a machine at five on five totaling an expected goal share of 58.33% ranking 14th among Avalanche skaters which is something we’re going to get into a little bit later. The Avalanche are averaging 3.51 expected goals per 60 minutes with McKinnon on the ice. And with his elite ability to drive play and alleviate some of the pressure from other players on the ice, this is why we’re seeing such a high production rate not only from McKinnon himself, but from the rest of the team. And despite him ranking 14th in that advanced analytic we went through earlier, it doesn’t mean that he’s not playing well, it just means that he is elevating the rest of this team to play well above what we were all expecting. And the same amount of respect that’s being given towards Nathan McKinnon needs to be given towards Kale Mar, which is why they’re such a tough team to play against. Looking at Kale Mar’s stats right now, he leads all defenseman in points and is just shy of leading all defenseman in goals behind Jacob Chitrim. And when on the ice together, Nathan McKinnon and Kale Mar have the best combined goals four percentage at 76% leaguewide. And I don’t expect this to regress at all given how talented these two guys are and how consistent they have been in their careers. But hockey isn’t an individual sport. And while these two players have contributed a lot, this has really been a team effort for the Colorado Avalanche. And their depth and overall roster construction is really what has impressed me so far. And I think that Chris McFarland deserves a lot of credit for how this team has been built. Here on this channel, we have talked about the Rantin saga a lot, so I’m definitely not going to rehash that. However, it is worth mentioning that acquiring Martin Nes, a polarizing move at the time, has actually proven to be a very successful decision for Colorado. In terms of contract and point value, Nas is making less than Rantin on a yearly contract and arguably feels like a better fit given the speed at which he plays. Let’s not forget that Nature’s was putting up career numbers in Carolina before the trade went down. And naturally, when entering a new system, it can be challenging to immediately impact on the stat sheet. So, there was a little bit of grace being given towards Marty for the second half of last season. Now, however, with a full training camp and off season under his belt, he has proven that he is more than capable of filling that moose-sized hole that existed when Rantin left. And in fact, he has been just as impactful as Kale Mar and Nathan McKinnon this year with his goal scoring and playmaking being at a very elite level as well. But the credit shouldn’t stop there for McFarland because he’s made a few other decisions that have really worked out nicely for this organization. And yes, there have been some bad moves. The Casey Middle staff for Bowen Byum trade in hindsight maybe wasn’t the best, but I think some of the other decisions that he made after that has really put him back in a positive light for this fan base. Remember last year Colorado was in a very bad situation with their goalending. Alexander Gueorgv was a shell of himself and was overworked a lot during his tenure with the Avalanche. And with no stable backup behind him, Colorado was consistently behind the eightball. And it didn’t matter how great their offense was playing, they just couldn’t keep up with how bad their goalending was. Well, McFarland managed to do something that we all thought would be impossible. trading for not one but two goalies who needed to change their scenery and really did bounce back under the right coaching staff. That doesn’t always work out, but with some established guys, if you take a risk, sometimes it can be a huge benefit for your team. So, while Gorgiev bounced around in San Jose and Buffalo until ultimately leaving the NHL for the KHL this year, Blackwood and Wedgewood have become the best goalie tandem in the NHL this year. The two have combined for a goals against average of 2.08 08 and a save percentage of.921. Both leading the league. And with Scott Wedgewood playing well above expected, ranking third in both save percentage and goals against average. I think it’s safe to say that this might be one of the best goalending retools we have ever seen. And you think that the glaze of McFarland would end there, but I’m actually not done. Going back to their offense, they made a big swing last year to acquire one of the top trade targets in Brock Nelson at the deadline, hoping to fill that second line center void that has existed since they lost Cadri. And of course, since the middle stat debacle didn’t really work out. Well, it’s been up and down, but it seems like Nelson finally has settled into his role and is producing like a highquality second line center, being a reliable two-way player as well with a plus 14 on the season if you believe in that stat. But it doesn’t end there because there’s been a few other big pickups and big-time players that have really stepped up and contributed for this team. Brent Burns was a sneaky ad in the offseason. He’s playing well offensively with 12 points on the year and has provided this blue line with a bit more depth. Olivesson is having a good start with 16 points. Lechin is on pace to shatter his careerhigh in points. And after dealing with a very long injury battle and sticking with their captain, the Avalanche are getting the payoff and have started to see some contributions from Gabe Landiskog, who has given them help not only in their top six, but has allowed some other players to join that bottom six and give them more consistent scoring throughout their lineup. And I think McFarland, despite receiving a lot of hate for the whole rantin debacle last year, is looking like one of the smartest GMs in the National Hockey League for his aggressive approach and savvy reconstruction of a roster that desperately needed some retooling. Well, that’s why the Avalanche are a very good team. But why are they historically great? Well, remember back in the 2022 23 season when the Boston Bruins broke the all-time wins and points record? Well, in that season, the Bruins finished with a record of 6512 and five for a total of 135 points. This season, the Colorado Avalanche hold a record of 181 and six through their first 25 games and have only lost one game in regulation to, funny enough, the Boston Bruins. So, what I’m getting at is that the Avalanche are not only on a really good pace, but if they keep up their winning ways, they have a chance to break the Boston Bruins historic record. Yes, they already have more OT losses than the Bruins did that entire season, but their regulation losses are still at one, which through 25 games is very impressive. And I’m not saying that they’re going to be able to keep this up all season long, but given the talent that they have, the cap flexibility, and just the amount of chemistry I’m seeing from this group, I think there’s a real chance that we could see this being a very historic Colorado Avalanche team, and maybe one of the most historic teams of NHL history. But that’s all I got on the Colorado Avalanche today. I want to hear from you guys though. How are you feeling about the ABS through their hot start? And do you think that maybe they could go on to break the Boston Bruins historic record? Let me know in the comments below. And as always, if you enjoyed this video, toss it a thumbs up, subscribe now. I also have a few other pieces of content for you guys to check out here on the screen. Again, thank you guys so much for watching and supporting this channel. I will see you in the next upload.

The Colorado Avalanche are the hottest team in the NHL, and there seems to be no signs of slowing down anytime soon. After a disappointing ending to a drama filled year in Colorado, the Avalanche have bounced back in a big way holding a league leading NHL record and looking like the most dominant team through the first quarter of the season. So today let’s breakdown what is working for The Colorado Avalanche and why this team is not just great but potentially historic.. Subscribe to Jimmy Hockey for more NHL News and Breakdowns.

TikTok:

@jimmyhockeyy

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jimmyhockeyy/

#nhl #hockey #stanleycupplayoffs #icehockey #hockeyhighlights #montrealcanadiens #hockeyvideos #goldenknights #edmontonoilers #nhlplayoffs #nhlhockey #connorbedard #chicagoblackhawks #vancouvercanucks #nhltradedeadline #mikkorantanen #bradmarchand #bostonbruins #edmontonoilers #connormcdavid #coloradoavalanche