Current Avalanche Danger Level: High
On a weekly basis, we put the current Colorado Avalanche team chemistry and morale up against the North American Avalanche Danger Level Scale. This scale has five ratings: Extreme, High, Considerable, Moderate, Low. The higher the “Danger Level”, the better the team chemistry and morale is right now.
HighIt’s been over a week since we had this piece written about our Colorado Avalanche, but over that period of time, the Avs have been playing their best hockey of the season. Last time, the “Danger Level” was Considerable, as it could be felt that the Avs were just about to come on strong. Now, after two dominating victories this week over the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Seantors and with a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games, we are comfortable enough to raise the current Avalanche Danger Level to High.
Avs are playing with confidence in front of Varlamov
Ever since rookie Calvin Pickard sparked the Avs during Varlamov’s last injury stint, the team has played with confidence in front of their goaltender again. Semyon Varlamov is back to playing at the level that carried the Avalanche into the playoffs last season. His 54 save performance against Chicago on Tuesday is being touted as the best regular season goaltending performance in the past 60 years in the NHL. This type of play is catching eyes all over the hockey world, but most importantly it is giving the Avalanche players the confidence they need to make a run at this year’s playoffs.
After Thursday’s 5-2 victory over Ottawa, Jarome Iginla was quoted,
"“Varly’s been outstanding in net… Our PK has ben great, with Varly leading the way there. I think we’re starting to build up confidence like the group last year… It feels like we’re starting to build some momentum towards the second half.”"
It’s obvious that this team is staying positive about their play and realize that there is still time to build this confidence into a bigger snowball and roll it towards the postseason.
Milestones and career highs
During Thursday’s win over Ottawa, forward Alex Tanguay notched an assist for his 800th point, while defenseman Erik Johnson scored his 11th goal of the season, which is a new career high and also leads all NHL defenseman this season.
Said Tanguay after the game:
"“Tonight, we played good as a team, we played good on our line… and it’s nice to get the point. I wasn’t even thinking about this until they showed it up on the screen, … I knew it was close. But it’s been a fun ride and there’s still more to go. I want to bring more to this team, we’ve got half the season left. Now we’ve got to get ourselves in the playoff picture and that’s where my focus is at.”"
Erik Johnson:
"“To help any way that I can… As long as I keep helping the team win, that’s all that matters. Whether I hit 15 or 20 (goals), it doesn’t matter, as long as we keep winning.”"
The winning attitude is back for the Colorado Avalanche, and that is a great thing. The team is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, and if they keep up that pace they will make a great case of putting themselves in the playoff picture. After Thursday’s game, the Avs are only five points back of the two wild card spots currently held by the LA Kings and Winnipeg Jets.
More from Erik Johnson:
"“Any points we can get are crucial right now. We know the game on Saturday is a really big one against Dallas, that’s a four-point swing right there.”“Varly’s getting in the swings of things, getting in his grove, and we’re tough to beat when he’s playing like that.”"
Watch out NHL. There is a High level of danger for an Avalanche in your future.