What is there left to say about the Colorado Avalanche season?
If your Mother taught you “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, then you’ve got nothing!
Okay, so maybe that’s a drastic take, but even the most optimistic fan of the Colorado Avalanche has to scrape for positives right now.
But, we’re going to take that challenge, and do our best.
Mikko Rantanen doesn’t suck
As a matter of fact, he’s really good. He sees the ice well, makes great passes and has a pretty wicked wrist shot. Also, his opportunities for improvement are obvious and glaring. The guy needs to work on his balance and strength on the puck. I have never seen a player with his skill have such a hard time staying on his skates. I don’t really even know how he falls down sometimes… and I’ve begun to hypothesize that it’s a defensive mechanism he’s subconsciously developed to keep from getting hurt. When he feels contact, he goes limp to keep from absorbing too much of the blow. Just think of him as a fainting goat.
Gabriel Landeskog has grit
Landy has had the weight of the Avalanche on his shoulders from the day he was handed the C. He’s had some very average teams to lead and some very, very bad teams to try and lead. He’s young (probably too young when he got the C) and while everything is falling apart around him, he’s keeping it real and answering failure grit. Landy is a good player, tough when he needs to be and in my eyes, a lot like Mark Messier… in the sense that he’s not the best talent on the ice, but he’s really good, tough and can lead a team. For my money, I hope he doesn’t get traded. I think he still has a huge upside that only get’s better as the team does.
Varly finally deals with his demons
What demons you ask? Not his ex-girlfriend, not a legal battle… and not just losing streak. Varly is finally going under the knife to get his groin/hip taken care of. This could be what it takes for Varly to rebound both mentally and physically. The time off from a horrible losing season won’t hurt and if he’s healthy, I have to think that makes him more consistent and less in-his-head about things. By the time Varly hits the ice again, we should see a new young and refreshed team with hunger and hopefully the ability to play a team game.
Iggy found a better sunset
You don’t have to be happy with what Iggy brought to the Colorado Avalanche to appreciate the player that he is. If you have a heart and a love for this game it won’t be hard to be happy for him and his chance to compete for the playoffs and who knows, the cup, just once more. Iggy and the LA Kings… might just be the cast of a redemption movie with a great story about an aging vet that got one more shot at the championship. But, don’t put money on that. Do be happy he’s walking off into a more optimistic sunset.
Matt Duchene hasn’t gone awol (yet)
But, be honest, if he had, could you really blame him? He get’s the least support of any Colorado Avalanche player from line-mates, takes the brunt of the blame on many nights for the Avs skinny offense, and is in trade rumors every year. The fact that Matt Duchene hasn’t jumped ship is a testament to his hunger and drive to be great. He may never do that with the Avs, as a trade seems imminent, but he’s always shown up for the Avs and tried. That’s more than you can say for a number of the guys on the roster right now.
Marty got a new forever home
Maybe not a forever, forever home but it’s a new home with a team that is really good and loves his size and ability to use it. Marty was always a fringe player with the Colorado Avalanche and kind of out of place on a team with an identity crisis, but he had moments that show you what he can be to a team that has their shit together. He can bring the big hits, high energy and even drop the mitts when it’s time to chuck knuckles.
JT Compher got an all expenses paid vacation to the shit show
You wouldn’t think that getting a ticket to the shit show would be a positive. But, it is because it means that the youth movement has begun. It means that an oldie-moldy has been replaced by a young and hungrier hockey player. Let’s just hope this is the beginning of a trend with the Colorado Avalanche. I think the damage of bringing young guys up now might be less than the damage to our top players if we leave them with Beauchemin and Comeau type players to end the season.
Okay now, here’s a list of let-downs from the 2016-2017 year.
Just kidding, that’s a long list and deserves a podcast of its own.
For those of you that always look on the bright side of hockey. We love you. For those of you who are pissed and want to blow it all up. We love you too, just not as much.
Stay awesome.
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