| 15 April 2011
ABD's 3 Stars:
1. Matt Duchene - This is Matty's 3rd ABD 1st Star award and 2nd one this season. To be honest, if anyone else was anywhere close, I would have probably spread the wealth so to speak. Duchene was nearly a point a game player with 19 points in 21 games. This, despite playing a bunch of nights with an AHLer (Olver) and a career 3rd liner (Winnik), AND despite Stastny missing 6 games, which made it easier for teams to key in on shutting down Duchene.
2. Ryan O'Reilly - We all know O'Reilly can play a defensive game but the guy they call Factor proved he could be an offensive factor in the NHL. His 8 goals over these games was better than Duchene, Jones, Hejduk or anyone else who wore an Avs sweater and he played with a offensive swagger that we haven't ever seen before.
3. David Jones - Jonsey probably deserves this award for simply finishing the season healthy, but his 7 goals and 12 points were both good enough 2nd best on the team. Let's make this a habit, #54.
ABD's Goats:
1. Ryan Stoa - With all of the injuries and the trade of Chris Stewart, Ryan Stoa got his chance to show the Avalanche and the rest of the league that he belongs in the NHL. Instead, Stoa coasted through his 16 games and put up a whopping 2 assists. To put that in perspective, 4th liner Philippe Dupuis put up 4 points in less games.
2. Jonas Holos - During the first half of the year, when we watch the Cumiskey and / or Hunwick meltdown with horrible turnovers every night, the Avsblogosphere was up in arms over why Jonas Holos wasn't playing. I remember meeting Dater at the Roger Waters Wall show and he asked me if I agreed with the Avs playing Wilson over Holos. (I said yes because Wilson plays a physical game.) Well, maybe we found out why Holos wasn't playing. In his big audition, 20 games, 3 assists, -8 and a whole lot of unconfident play.
Most surprising thing:
Ryan O'Reilly's goal scoring. Entering the final 20 games, Factor only had 5 goals. He put the puck in the net 8 times ovet this stretch. Guess how many goals he had all of last year? You got it, 8.
Most expected thing:
Continuation of the losing. Given the last couple of drafts, Avs were probably more incentivized to lose than win. 'Nuff said.
Team Stats:
Record: 4-16-1
Standings: 4th in NW division, 14th in Western Conference
Points: 9 (of 42) (-3)
Average points per game: 0.43* (-0.23)
Final points total: 68 (-15)
*As a baseline – last year San Jose (1st in Western Conference) averaged 1.39 points a game and Colorado (8th in Western Conference) averaged 1.16 points a game – anything above 1.20 is going to get you into the playoffs.
Home record: 2-6-0
Points: 4 (of 16)
Average points per game: 0.50 (-0.17)
Road record: 2-10-1
Points: 5 (of 26)
Average points per game: 0.38 (-0.12)
Goal differential: -29 (Avs: 49 - Opponents: 78) (+9)
*includes goals awarded for winning a shootout
Special Teams:
Power Play: 18.5%, 11th in the NHL (-1 spot)
Penalty Kill: 76.1%, 28th in the NHL (-2 spots)
OT Record: 1-0
Shootout Record: 3-1
Individual Stats:
Points Leaders:
1. Matt Duchene - 19
2. David Jones - 12
3. Ryan O'Reilly - 10
Goal Leaders:
1. Ryan O'Reilly - 8
2. David Jones - 7
3. Matt Duchene - 6
Assists Leaders:
1. Matt Duchene - 13
3. John Michael Liles - 7
3. Erik Johnson - 7
Plus / Minus:
Plus leader: Koci, Stastny, Olver, Stoa (-1)
Minus leader: Matt Hunwick (-10)
Goalies:
Budaj - 12 games, 2-9-0, .901, 3.21
Elliott - 11 games, 2-7-1, .905, 3.71
Final Thought:
So what did we learn this season?
- Duchene is now the team's best player.
- Ryan Stoa is officially a bust.
- Sorry Hunwick: 5'11 190 is too small to play defense in the NHL.
- Sorry Cumiskey: 5'10 185 is really too small to play defense in the NHL.
- David Koci is a much better defenseman than an "enforcer". (Not that he is much of a defenseman.)
- It is in fact possible for David Jones to play hockey in April.
- We will be hanging up #52 and #21 next fall.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
