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Pepsi Center in Denver, Colrado (Photo by Macrofarm - Flickr)
Whew! After a road trip long enough to inspire a country music song, the Avalanche finally get back to Pepsi Center. Friday night sees the Avalanche return home after a 7 game, 3 week road trip that was the longest in the franchise’s Colorado tenure. The Avs ended the trip with a 4-1-2 record. Before the season, most Avs observers would’ve been happy with a 2-4-1 record on that stretch.The trip saw the Avs get 10 of 14 possible points. They suffered only one regulation loss, to the Nashville Predators in the first game of the trip. They had 3 games go to shootouts (losses to Chicago and Minnesota, a victory in Detroit) and they won 3 games outright (Boston, Toronto and Montreal).
After 9 games, the Avs 6-1-2 record leads the Western Conference by 1 point over Calgary. They are tied with the New York Rangers for 2nd overall behind Pittsburgh.`.
The NHL schedule maker did Colorado no favors in the early season.The Avalanche make a quick return to Denver to play back-to-back home games for the only time this year.They host Carolina Friday and once/future rival Detroit Saturday.After that brief, two game home stand, they head out for another road trip, this time 4 games. From the season opener October 1st to the November 1st game in Vancouver, the Avs will have played 4 games at home and 11 on the road.
A big reason for the early success of the Avs is their hard work on power plays and penalty kills.. Special teams play was a major problem in 2008-09, but new coach Joe Sacco has changed that As of October 22nd Colorado was tied with Calgary for 2nd in the NHL in power play effectiveness with at 28.6 %. Their penalty kill percentage of 82.9% is in the top third of the league.
One weak spot from 08-09 remains: face offs. The Avalanche face-off percentage is 44.8, lowest in the league.
NOTES FROM THE BALCONY
-The Avalanche announced that neither of their 18 year old rookies, Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly, would be returned to their junior teams at the 10 game deadline.
-Kyle Quincey continues to be a major bonus for the Avs. He is tied with Wojtek Wolski for the team lead in scoring, and he has been arguably Colorado’s best defenseman during the trip. His solid play takes pressure off holdovers Adam Foote, John-Michael Liles and Brett Clark.
-Speaking of Wolski, he remains an enigma. He leads the team in scoring and goals, yet was benched twice on the road trip. :Last year Wolski scored on 10 out of 12 shoot out attempts. This year, he is 0-2 and did not appear in the shootout against Detroit.
-T.J. Galiardi’s play is being noticed.. He easily sacrifices his body to make a play, whether digging for the puck on the boards or making open ice checks.
–Future Avs captain Paul Stastny’s play is standing out for, well, not standing out. He is tied for 5th is scoring but has only 1 goal and in several games he seemed to be invisible. While the play of other Avs has helped fill in for Stastny’s lack of goal scoring, the Avs are going to need him to score 30 to 40 goals to be successful this season.
-Cody McLeod took an accidental stick to the eye in the Minnesota game. In true hockey player fashion, he stayed on the ice and finished the play, which led to an Avalanche goal. He then went to the bench and was taken to the hospital. McLeod returned to Denver with the team and his status is unknown at this time.
-Peter Budaj is scheduled for his first start of the season Friday against Carolina.
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