Colorado Avalanche: 5 Biggest Frustrations from 2014-15 Season

Colorado Avalanche Injuries

Dec 23, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) during the game against the St. Louis Blues at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche won 5-0. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

By now you know the statistic — the Colorado Avalanche lost the most man games in its history. The Avalanche’s 495 man games lost was second only to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 508 for the 2014-15 season.

Injuries were significant, too. Starting goalie Semyon Varlamov missed 15 of the first 30 games with an injured groin. Center Jesse Winchester never suited up in the regular season. Both winger Jamie McGinn and defenseman Ryan Wilson had their seasons cut shot thanks to injuries.

For me, the most frustrating injury of all was to cornerstone defenseman Erik Johnson. He had arthroscopic knee surgery on January 26, and he was supposed to miss only 3 to 8 weeks. Two weeks after his surgery he was in Philadelphia with renowned trainer Bill Knowles doing reconditioning. (Reconditioning trains the muscles and the athlete to work around an injury without putting further strain on the muscles.) Two weeks later he was done and… nothing.

According to head coach Patrick Roy he didn’t even skate until two weeks after his reconditioning. He participated in a couple practices, but never fully. Erik Johnson missed the entire second half of the season — 34 games (plus one earlier in the season after a scary hit by Arizona Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal).

Then there was center Nathan MacKinnon‘s broken foot… All the injuries for the Avalanche were very frustrating.