UTAvsCOL Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/utavscol/ Chicago Blackhawks and NHL Salary Cap Information Sun, 06 Oct 2024 05:27:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://i0.wp.com/www.the-rink.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cropped-FavIcon_v3.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 UTAvsCOL Archives - The Rink https://www.the-rink.com/tag/utavscol/ 32 32 136660061 Avalanche lose final preseason game 2–1 to Utah HC https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-lose-final-preseason-game-2-1-to-utah-hc/ https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-lose-final-preseason-game-2-1-to-utah-hc/#respond Sun, 06 Oct 2024 02:32:48 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=31834 It’s almost that most glorious time of year: hockey season. The final pre-season game still saw several big roster spots up for grabs. A slow-paced, feisty game in Utah at... Read more »

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]]> It’s almost that most glorious time of year: hockey season. The final pre-season game still saw several big roster spots up for grabs. A slow-paced, feisty game in Utah at Maverick Arena (home of Colorado’s ECHL affiliate Utah Grizzlies) ultimately ended 2–1 in favor of the unnamed hockey club of Utah. The Colorado Avalanche ended the preseason with just one win to five losses.

We all know pre-season results aren’t important. What matters is which players made a case for cracking the lineup on October ninth in Vegas for the season opener. We are going to look at the biggest risers and fallers with the preseason finally behind us and speculate on the last few tough choices the Avalanche need to make.

Risers

Ivan Ivan

Calum Ritchie and Nikolai Kovalenko will grab the lion’s share of attention as Avalanche rookie phenoms, but Ivan Ivan has been the most consistent NHL caliber rookie this preseason. Ivan’s forecheck causes turnovers, crashes, grabs rebounds, and produces in a very Logan O’Connor kind of way. I think Ivan is an obvious choice for fourth-line center starting the year, if coach Jared Bednar will trust a rookie in that spot.

Ivan scored from Joel Kiviranta’s rebound in the first period for the lone tally of the night. There were four other solid goal scoring chances for Ivan by my count. He was very noticeable all over the ice. The young forward did everything you could ask to prove he belongs in the bottom-six for this team.

Sam Malinski

Being penciled in alongside Calvin de Haan as the third pairing defender is exactly where Sam Malinski has earned. Malinski’s stellar preseason finished in a solid, if less flashy, effort that showed why the pairing from tonight will probably draw in for opening night.

Fallers

Alexandar Georgiev

Alexandar Georgiev found his stride for stretches of the second period, but that first period goal is the stuff of nightmares. Rust is definitely still the reason as it is Georgiev’s second start of preseason, but letting in very soft early goals was a trend all last season and in the playoffs. This goal:

Is about as soft of a five-hole as you will see from an NHL starter. With Justus Annunen showing out in his last pre-season game the questions about whose net this should be will start early for the Avalanche.

Chris Wagner

It feels a bit like salting an open wound, but Chris Wagner was struggling in this game. Already waived with reassignment orders to the Colorado Eagles, Wagner drew into the lineup, seemingly to give  Nathan MacKinnon a night off. Seeing Wagner playing with Kelly and Ivan solidified his position in the organization. Wagner isn’t ready for this NHL roster, but should injury strike, he is a less desirable version of some other bottom-six players they kept instead of him. Wagner has a dominant presence and will be valuable to the Eagles this year.

The top-six bubble: Nikolai Kovalenko vs. Calum Ritchie

The toughest decision to make when assessing the young talents on display for Colorado is which talented rookie will chase Calder glory in the Avalanche top-six.

Neither really pulled away in what was a very slow and physical game against Utah. That leaves the comparison the same as it has been. The more physical Kovalenko to replace Valeri Nichuskin’s forechecking? Or the electric puck movement of Ritchie to replace Gabriel Landeskog’s power play and offensive production? The answer likely will be a mix of both. Don’t expect to see a winner before the season. The Avalanche will have a nine-game trial period with Ritchie’s entry-level contract before they have to decide whether to keep him in the NHL or send him to juniors in Oshawa. Based on what we have seen from Ritchie so far, I expect he will get that nine game sample to show he belongs before they make that choice.

The time for preseason is now, finally, over. On Wednesday, October 9, at 8:00pm MT. The Avalanche open the season in Vegas to face the Vegas Golden Knights, nationally broadcast on TNT with streaming on MAX.

 

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]]> https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-lose-final-preseason-game-2-1-to-utah-hc/feed/ 0 31834 Avalanche suffer third straight loss in preseason https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-suffer-third-straight-loss-in-preseason/ https://www.the-rink.com/avalanche-suffer-third-straight-loss-in-preseason/#respond Mon, 30 Sep 2024 02:54:08 +0000 https://www.the-rink.com/?p=31725 The Colorado Avalanche have now lost three straight preseason games to open up the year. This may concern some, but looking at the AHL heavy roster they have been using... Read more »

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]]> The Colorado Avalanche have now lost three straight preseason games to open up the year. This may concern some, but looking at the AHL heavy roster they have been using it should not raise alarms. Tonight was the first ever game against the Utah Hockey Club (formally the Arizona Coyotes). A team which the Avalanche have struggled with in the past. Even though this was not a game that counted to the regular season record, some players stood out. Here are the standout players in Colorado’s third straight loss.

Ivan Ivan

Ivan Ivan is a player that I have watched grow into a stronger skater and shooter in the past year. At first last season with the Colorado Eagles he was kind of timid and now with the confidence, he has become aggressive. Ivan will come to the play a lot more now and steal the puck in the offensive zone, creating more chances. Ivan showed he will get below the net on the power play and keep the plays going. The progression in one year has been unbelievable and we could expect possibly a late year call-up for Ivan at this rate.

Justus Annunen

Justus Annunen did a great job in first preseason performance, giving up only one goal in 15 shots. Tonight was a different story. Annunen stayed in the entire game despite seeing a rough second period and shaky defense. He saved 32 out of 37 shots on goal for a .865 save percentage. Two out of the three goals that he allowed in the second looked as though they were complete flukes. Annunen may have lost sight of the puck, which is troubling since the goalies work on puck tracking every morning. Goalies have poor games indeed, but this looked like a man out of the zone completely.

Oliver Kylington

Oliver Kylington may be the odd-man out on defense at this point. With Sam Malinski performing so well during the preseason, this may leave no room for Kylington on the opening roster. He has performed well, but has not stood out as much as Erik Brännström or Malinski. The Avalanche do not want to put Malinski on waivers and risk losing him. They could not take that risk. There was a play in which Kylington shut down an odd-man rush, but other than that, he has not popped out to me.

Conclusion

Do not overreact to the losing streak. I cannot say that enough. These are a mix of NHL, AHL and junior players that have had little time to play together. These games do not count and we have not really seen any of the top-six forwards play. I am not the least bit concerned over the 6–3 loss and the losing streak. I love getting extra looks at the AHL players and prospects though. We can probably expect more NHL level players to roll into the lineup next game. The Avalanche will be back at it on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights in Denver at 7:30 PM. The game will air on TNT.

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