I’m writing this blog in response of those who claim that the Avs are tanking just to get a shot at drafting John Tavares.
To the players, this insinuation is off-base, outlandish and outrageous.
No team EVER wants to lose, let alone on purpose and to make that suggestion is plain insulting to all the players. Now, given there are a few games that the team hasn’t come out with the effort it wanted, they have by no means “thrown” games. They have played hard every night, with no reward.
No, the problem with the Avs is not effort; it’s consistency, talent, youth and bad management decisions.
Consistency
Consistency has been a year-long problem. In the first six weeks, the Avs had a three game losing streak, a season-long five game winning streak, a five game losing streak and a three game winning streak.
This is how the first three months of the season went, with the Avs hovering right near the .500 mark. They’ve had problems with consistent scoring, defense and, of course, goaltending. This problem was exacerbated when Paul Stastny went down.
When Stastny went down, the Avs were forced to rely on three people: Tyler Arnason, T.J. Hensick and Wojtek Wolski. Arnason, I don’t have to talk about because everyone knows what I would say. Hensick is just a little too young to get that much responsibility. Wolski is the reason the Avs’ consistency problem became worse
Wolski is incredibly inconsistent. He got six points (4G/2A) in the first three games that he was moved to center. However, he goes through stretches where he disappears. Stretches that you don’t see him hit anyone, score on anyone or even take a penalty. Simply put, the Avs are 11-15 without Stastny in the lineup. They are a much better club, in both ends of the ice.
If you watch the Avs games, you can tell the Avs are putting in a solid effort every night. However, they fall asleep for a 10 minute stretch, or sometimes a complete period and suddenly a goal goes in against. Since this has been a tough year on all the players, you can see their spirit falter for a few minutes. Suddenly, they're now down 2, 3, sometimes 4 goals. It isn't them purposely tanking, its their spirit breaking. There's a huge difference and it's exacerbated by the Avs' lack of talent.
Talent
Consistency isn’t the only problem for the Avs, they also have a problem of talent. The only Avalanche players that are in the prime of their careers are Milan Hejduk, Ryan Smyth, John-Michael Liles, Ian Laperriere and (to an extent) Paul Stastny. The rest of the team is either still learning the game or on the backside of their careers.
Recently, the Avs have been using their farm system, giving a lot of kids chances to prove themselves. It’s actually been nice to see some of the kids play. If not for some injuries and the terrible season, we wouldn’t know the kind of talent in the likes of Chris Stewart, T.J. Galiardi or Michael Vernace. It’s also really nice to watch the kids work their hardest to keep a roster spot. The one area that the Avs really lack talent, is goaltending
Goaltending
There’s no dodging the issue, we have crap goaltending. Coming into the season, it was known that goaltending was a major question mark. It is no longer a question mark so much as it is a period to put at the end of this season. Both goalies are bottom five in the league and have shown the fans no sign of it getting better before the season’s end. If things weren’t bad already, the Avs don’t have a prospect that’s really wowing anyone.
Trevor Cann is doing well for the London Knights but that’s a really stacked team. He’s played well in the OHL thus far but I won’t expect him to be in the NHL anytime in the next two years. Who else is there? Weiman? Bacashihua? Neither of those names inspire much hope. I’m hoping we either make a trade for a goalie or sign a free agent to help. Or both. When it all comes down to it though, this mess all lands at the feet of management.
Management
This season, and its results, should be put right at the feet of Francois Giguere. Quite simply, it is his fault. He hired (rehired?) a second-rate coach in Tony Granato when better options were still out there. He let Andrew Brunette walk and signed Tucker. He let Jose Theodore and rolled the dice on Peter Budaj being a starting goaltender. If you track Francois Giguere’s tenure, he’s only done three things to really help this team: Signing Ryan Smyth and Peter Forsberg and trading for Adam Foote. Some will say the Scott Hannan signing was good but right now, he’s just $4 million in wasted roster space. I can’t think of another thing that Francois Giguere has done to help this team, especially in the last nine months.
So, in conclusion, the players aren’t purposefully losing games to get a better draft pick, they just don’t have enough talent, especially between the pipes, to be competitive in the NHL. As much as I’d love to get Tavares, I won’t for a second believe that players are TRYING to lose. Not on the Avs, not on any team.
Musick notes
Why did we call up Wes O’Neill again? He’s slow, he’s bad defensively and can’t get into offensive areas quick enough. He just looks lost. Yet another bad management/coaching decision.
As bad as the season’s going, it is nice that we don’t have a problem like the Denver Broncos do with Jay Cutler. Memo for whoever helms the rebuild, don’t do something like this with Paul Stastny (or anyone), I just can’t take it anymore.
A big part of me would love to see us get Tavares but it’s an internal battle between who I want, Tavares or Victor Hedman. Either would serve us very well in the foreseeable future. If the scenario comes that we lose out on both, I’m still okay because I’d love to draft Evander Kane.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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