Colorado Avalanche Road Trip: 5 Keys to Success

Shooting Gallery

Oct 21, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (30) makes a last second stick save on a shot attempt by Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) in the third period at Pepsi Center. The Hurricanes defeated the Avalanche in overtime 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Ok, please pick up the record player needle put it in the first groove and hear the same refrain over and over: Shoot the puck.

Currently the Colorado Avalanche rank 24th in shots per games played with 28.4. As Wayne Gretzky famously said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Combined with that is the need to crash the net — that’s coach Roy’s own personal broken record. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen rebounds go wasted because no Avalanche player was in the slot.

Some fans feel a rushing game doesn’t suit Colorado’s talent — they think the team needs to be based more on speed to exploit talent. However, only four players are really known for their speed — Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, of course, as well as Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie. Two of those four (MacKinnon and, especially, Johnson) aren’t afraid to get physical.

Otherwise the team has some power forwards and hard-hitting defensemen. Plus Cody McLeod.

In short, Colorado Avalanche hockey is now about speed mixed with physicality, and that suits a rush style just fine.

Next: Brick Wall