Colorado Avalanche: 5 Things That Need to Happen for Successful Season

Feb 8, 2015; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (4) celebrates with teammates after he scores during the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

Find Line Chemistry

This is one of the most important factors. In the 2014-15 season, coach Roy tried — and this is just a rough estimate — 483,000 different line combinations. Not because he’s a bad coach, but rather because nothing wanted to work the way it’s supposed to. He finally found something that worked: Ryan O’Reilly with Landeskog and MacKinnon or Tanguay. Well, that’s over now.

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Throughout training camp and preseason, Roy shuffled the lines around a lot. Then, suddenly, the opening night lineup is completely different from anything we’ve seen before. Comeau on the top line, MacKinnon at second-line center, Soderberg on the third with Rantanen and Rendulic. Well, after that preseason, something needed to change and Roy brought change. Now it just needs to work.

The goal would be to find lines that work and produce as soon as possible and keep those together. If you are Team Canada, you can pretty much shuffle the lines with your eyes closed and they will win a tournament. For a team that isn’t made up of 23 elite players, however, it is harder to find the right chemistry, and it is also much more important. Let’s hope the best for the Colorado Avalanche.

Next: Star Player Production