| 26 February 2011
ABD's 3 Stars:
1. (Not Awarded) - While its doubtful at best that anyone else holds the ABD 1st star award with any prestige, I do. The bottom line was no one was good enough to earn this award. As cheesy as it sounds, I felt that if I awarded it, I would diminish the accomplishments of former winners of this award.
2. Milan Hejduk - It wasn't an amazing performance by any means, but on a team that was playing so poorly, "Old Man" Milan still found a way to play decent hockey and have a respectable 20 games. Hedgie led the team in goals (8) and points (14) over this stretch.
3. David Jones - 7 goals including 2 game winners (on a team that won a whopping 5 games) for Dr. Jones over these 20. Also, his minus 1 was 2nd best on the team of players who played in more than 5 games; there were 6 players (O'Bryne, Liles, Shattenkirk, Hejduk, Stewart, Wilson) who finished minus 8 or worse.
ABD's Goats:
1. John Michael Liles - A shockingly bad minus 17 for JML over these 20, including a minus 6 night in an embarrassing 9-1 home loss to the Flames. That was far and away the worst on the team. The next closest Avs was Ryan Wilson at minus 11.
2. Ryan O'Reilly - One point in 12 games for O'Reilly. I know that Factor's game isn't going to burn up the stat sheet, but he should scoring 5-10 points every 20 games. Defensively, he also needed to be better - he was a minus 6.
Most surprising thing:
The complete scoring collapse. Over the first half of the season, the Avs averaged 3.3 goals for a game. Over these 20, they averaged 2.1. To put that in perspective, right now Vancouver is the NHL leader in G/G with 3.3 and New Jersey is the NHL's worst with, you guessed it, 2.1.
Most expected thing:
Defensive needs addressed. While the players that were moved and acquired may have been surprising, the fact that the Avs made a move to address their blueline and penalty kill woes had to be expected, given how large the needs were.
Caution: The statistics below contain information that Avalanche fans may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.
Team Stats:
Record: 5-13-2
Standings: 4th in NW division, 14th in Western Conference
Points: 12 (of 40) (-10 pts)
Average points per game: 0.60* (-0.44)
Projected points total: 83 (-11)
*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: 3-7-2
Points: 8 (of 24)
Average points per game: 0.67 (-0.42)
Road record: 2-6-0
Points: 4 (of 16)
Average points per game: 0.50 (-0.5)
Goal differential: -38 (Avs: 42 - Opponents: 80) (-30)
*includes goals awarded for winning a shootout
Special Teams:
Power Play: 18.8%, 10th in the NHL (-2 spots)
Penalty Kill: 76.6%, 28th in the NHL (-3 spots)
OT Record: 1-2
Shootout Record: 0-0
Individual Stats:
Points Leaders:
1. Milan Hejduk - 14
2. Paul Stastny - 12
3. David Jones - 10
Goal Leaders:
1. Milan Hejduk - 8
2. David Jones - 7
3. Matt Duchene - 5
Assists Leaders:
1. Paul Stastny - 9
2. John Michael Liles - 8
3. Milan Hejduk - 6
Plus / Minus:
Plus leader: Cody McLeod (+1)
Minus leader: John Michael Liles (-17)
Goalies:
Budaj - 13 games, 3-6-1, .902, 3.49
Anderson - 10 games, 2-6-1, .837, 3.94
Elliott - 1 game, 0-1, .839, 5.00
Final Thought:
I never want to have to live through a stretch of games this bad again. However, in the end, this stretch end up being key to a much more solid 2011-12 (and beyond) Colorado Avalanche lineup, depending on how well Erik Johnson plays and how the 2011 Entry Draft goes. Here is to better days, Avs fans.
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