ANAvsCOL Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/anavscol/ Chicago Blackhawks and NHL Salary Cap Information Sat, 14 Sep 2024 02:03:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://i0.wp.com/www.the-rink.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cropped-FavIcon_v3.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 ANAvsCOL Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/anavscol/ 32 32 136660061 Key Takeaways as Avalanche Lose First Game of Rookie Face-off https://www.the-rink.com/key-takeaways-as-avalanche-lose-first-game-of-rookie-face-off/ https://www.the-rink.com/key-takeaways-as-avalanche-lose-first-game-of-rookie-face-off/#respond Sat, 14 Sep 2024 02:00:39 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=31616 The Rookie Avalanche fall 4–3 to The Rookie Ducks Hockey is back on the menu! With the regular season less than a month out, the Rookie Face-off tournament is here... Read more »

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]]> The Rookie Avalanche fall 4–3 to The Rookie Ducks

Hockey is back on the menu! With the regular season less than a month out, the Rookie Face-off tournament is here to showcase the future of the Colorado Avalanche. Friday night saw the baby Avalanche taking on the Anaheim Ducks rookie squad in the first of three games.

A largely even rookie game saw the Avalanche fall short 4–3 as Ducks rookie Cutter Gauthier torched the baby burgundy and blue. Callie Clang held the young Avalanche off the board through the first period and much of the second. Despite a valiant comeback effort spearheaded by Calum Ritchie (more on him below), the Avalanche rookies fell just short. Below are the important points from an exciting and fast-paced first game broken down via the frame presented in classic cinema: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good

Calum Ritchie: All eyes were on the young Oshawa Generals star drafted 21st overall by the Avalanche in last year’s entry selection. He did anything but disappoint. All three Avalanche goals saw assists from Ritchie, with the first two being primary assists.

His first assist saw him possess the puck on the power play down low, drawing in three Ducks defenders, and then wiring a gorgeous apple to Jason Polin for the easy tap-in.

Ritchie’s second primary assist saw a set-play where Ritchie won the face-off (music to Colorado fans ears) directly to Oskar Olausson for a rocket into the back of the net.

Overall Ritchie’s line controlled play, back checked well (zero goals against), and looked like the only line in Colorado’s 21st ranked prospect pool that could compete with Anaheim’s first ranked squad.

Sean Behrens: Behrens is the only defender on the rookie roster most Avalanche fans will be familiar with by name, and he showed why. Behrens ran the power play and did a fantastic Cale Makar impression of the job with an assist. He was consistently noticeable with the puck on his stick and controlled the defensive zone well. Behrens seemed like the only Avalanche rookie defender really able to process odd-man rushes at speed and broke-up three such chances. The one blemish on Behren’s first game might sit for the final 1:49 of the game in the penalty box for a trip. That said, it seems like Cutter Gauthier is inflated with helium in the minds of the official who made that call, so I feel confident putting him here.

The Bad

Defenders not named Sean: The other five defenders on the ice for Colorado looked positively over matched by the speedy rookies in Anaheim’s class. The speedy rookies in Anaheim’s class repeatedly hemmed in the third pairing of Mitch Young and Connor Mayer, resulting in both of them allowing ugly goals against. There was a disastrous sequence where second pairing defenseman Garrett Pyke were caught standing still at the blue line when the puck had already been chipped past center ice. This left his partner Bryan Yoon alone in a two on one break and Yoon looked like a deer in the headlights. Instead of protecting his netminder by taking out either man, Yoon skated backwards slowly and then half-dove to prevent the cross-crease pass that had already been made. Marek Howell had the best day, but was almost invisible save for the penalty he committed. Not good.

Rilen Kovacevic: The fourth line right-wing for the rookie Avalanche sure had himself a night. Kovacevic found himself wide open on a breakaway early, only to wire it directly into Callie Clang’s pad. Gauthier burned him multiple times and he couldn’t get back in time to help the defense. He finished his night by taking two bad penalties, both of which were provoked by Anaheim players whom Rilen was jawing with all night. It’s rookie season, and this was certainly an immature performance.

The Ugly

The third goal against: Gauthier was very good. Rookie goalie for the Avalanche Vinny Duplessis was well on his way to making “the good” until the third goal happened. Gauthier came into the corner just beneath the goal line and sent the puck to the net, hoping for a crashing teammate. Instead, the puck hit the inside of Duplessis’ skate and deflected right into the back of the net. Rookie goaltending at its purest.

That’s a wrap for day one of the Rookie Face-off. Tomorrow the rookies face-off against the Seattle Kraken rookies at 4:00 P.M. MDT. You can stream the entire rookie tournament for free on Coloradoavalanche.com.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/key-takeaways-as-avalanche-lose-first-game-of-rookie-face-off/feed/ 0 31616 Avalanche back on track, but lose Byram in victory over Anaheim https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-back-on-track-but-lose-byram-in-victory-over-anaheim/ https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-back-on-track-but-lose-byram-in-victory-over-anaheim/#respond Wed, 06 Dec 2023 16:15:26 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=27829 The Colorado Avalanche have now played the Anaheim Ducks for the third time since Nov. 15. The Avalanche now have wrapped up the season series against the Ducks with a... Read more »

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]]> The Colorado Avalanche have now played the Anaheim Ducks for the third time since Nov. 15. The Avalanche now have wrapped up the season series against the Ducks with a 2–0–1 record. Former Colorado Eagles head coach Greg Cronin held his own in all the games and took one to a shootout. Cale Makar missed his second consecutive game along with Valeri Nichushkin. But the key here is that defenseman Bowen Byram did not complete the game because of an injury. Head coach Jared Bednar said after the game that it was an upper-body injury, but not head related. Here are the takeaways from the 3–2 win against Anaheim.

Takeaways

— Through three games so far in an Avalanche sweater, Sam Malinski looks excellent. With an average of just over 15 minutes of ice time in all three games, he has a plus-1 rating. In the second period, the puck bounced over his stick and he could chase down the player and pin them in the corner. He prevented any possibility of a shot on the play. He even blocked three shots on net. The kid will be something special soon.

— Kurtis MacDermid opened the scoring with an amazing foot to stick goal. His hard work over the summer continues to show, as he is shooting 66.7%. The last two games he has played in, he has scored. He does not shoot often, but when he does, look out.

— The hit on Byram, although clean, may be a worrisome thing for the young defenseman. He has a history of concussions (missing 56 games last season), and has yet to play a full season in the NHL. Max Jones put a shoulder square into Byram’s chest as he sent the puck into the zone. Logan O’Connor did not agree with the hit and jumped Jones right away. Neither Jones or Byram played any shifts in the third period.

— The mixup of the forward lines is just what the Avalanche needed. Having O’Connor jump from the fourth to the first line is a move that I like. He has a lot of speed, can forecheck and has great vision to make a play.

Conclusion

After a challenging road trip, Colorado returned home and needed to regain focus. This game was the one to do it. They have four more at home and have already earned two out of 10 points. The replacements in Malinski, Caleb Jones and Oskar Olausson have done an outstanding job so far with the next-man-up mentality. Thursday night’s match against the Winnipeg Jets will be a genuine test for the Avalanche. The Jets sit only four points behind Colorado in the standings and are 7–3–0 in their last 10 games.

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-back-on-track-but-lose-byram-in-victory-over-anaheim/feed/ 0 27829 Avalanche have their groove back https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-have-their-groove-back/ https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-have-their-groove-back/#respond Thu, 16 Nov 2023 15:53:21 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=27523 The Colorado Avalanche looked like they were getting their groove back in Seattle with their 5–1 win on Monday. If anyone was unsure about them having their groove, the Avalanche... Read more »

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]]> The Colorado Avalanche looked like they were getting their groove back in Seattle with their 5–1 win on Monday. If anyone was unsure about them having their groove, the Avalanche dismantled the Anaheim Ducks in a 8–2 victory on Wednesday night. Greg Cronin, former head coach of the Colorado Eagles, coached against his former organization for the first time. Following a successful Monday night with a win, Cronin hoped to carry the momentum into Denver.

Let’s analyze the Avalanche’s success on Wednesday night.

Bottom six

I have been stressing the need for the bottom six to score. On a night that they started showing up on the score sheet with nine total points between the six forwards, the team dominated. There were four goals and five assists among that group, not to mention the forechecking that caused some plays were outstanding. If they all continue to play like this, they will not struggle.

Cale Makar

The young Norris Trophy defenseman was on another level on Wednesday. He had three assists, one of which was during the power play and was +3 for the night. Cale Makar would also tie Valeri Nichushkin for the team high with five shots on goal. At some points in the game, Makar made getting away from an opponent look easy with the pressure bearing down on him.

Valeri Nichushkin

Rather than running the rails toward the goal, Nichushkin found a new way to score some goals. Having his first multi-goal game since Oct. 12, 2022, against Chicago and his 10th overall, Nichushkin placed himself right in front of the goal and waited. He would redirect shots from both Devon Toews and Makar to help lead the Avalanche to the win. Typically, this would be Gabriel Landeskog’s job in front of the net, but I have seen Nichushkin at practices working on his redirects.

Analysis

Not much went wrong for Colorado on Wednesday night. They were very aggressive on the forecheck and backcheck and on zone exits. The Avalanche found their identity in Seattle and kept to it at home against the Ducks. They should have no issues if they keep playing like this. They will play again on Saturday against the dreaded division rival, the Dallas Stars, at the American Airlines Center.

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