Colorado Avalanche Season: The Hope of the Playoffs
The Colorado Avalanche’s push through December and January made the playoffs seem like a possibility.
It would be easy to look at the Colorado Avalanche 2015-16 season as one big disappointment. After all, the team started out slow and went through a baffling collapse at the end of the season. However, in the middle of all that, the team of talented youngsters and experienced veterans made a push that made the playoffs seem possible.
As head coach Patrick Roy said more than once at the end of the season, in November the playoffs seemed a pipe dream. The Colorado Avalanche weren’t even playing 500 hockey yet. General wisdom states that, if you’re not on the bubble by the end of November, you have no chance at the playoffs.
The Colorado Avalanche put paid to that with a big run that lasted from December until the All Star Break at the end of January.
More from the Colorado Avalanche Season:
Related Story: Doom of a Slow Start
Related Story: Duchene's Historic November
Playoff Push Numbers
In 23 games through October and November, the Colorado Avalanche went 9-13-1. Those numbers are saved by a November that turned the team around — the team went 6-8-0 in November, which was a sight better than the 3-6-1 October. Yeah, just three wins in all of October had Avs Nation asking if it could be summer again.
However, in 27 games from the beginning of December through the end of January at the All Star Break, the Colorado Avalanche collected 36 points with a 17-8 record. A 17-8 record had us all asking, “Who is this Colorado Avalanche team, and where were they at the beginning of the season?”
Well, the core players were showing up. Matt Duchene had slowed down from his frenetic November pace, but he still earned 10 goals and eight assists in that span. Tyson Barrie also earned 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists). Nathan MacKinnon with 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) and Gabriel Landeskog with 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) were next on the team for scoring.
Interestingly, one player had them all beat out despite not being a core player. Carl Soderberg earned six goals and 13 assists for 19 points.
It also helped that Semyon Varlamov was back on his game, going 14-5-2 with a .935 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average.
Systems and Confidence
To return back to the question of where this team had been, the answer is that they had been there all along. It just took them time to trust in the systems and in themselves.
The systems were also always there. Coach Roy developed an offensive system based on his team’s strengths — speed and puck handling. Therefore, the system was built around forcing turnovers and going on the rush.
The defense was built on a horribly effective system — the trap. They implemented a version of it — the 1-3-1. Mile High Sticking Writer Will Radke explained how the trap worked:
Related Story: Avs Running a Trap
However, essentially the system is based on a forward staying up for the forecheck, three players going back across center ice to stop skaters, and a defenseman going deep in the D zone.
As often happens when you’re winning, you gain confidence. As the Colorado Avalanche overtook the Minnesota Wild and even the Nashville Predators in the race for the wild card playoff berths, they played with more swagger. And as they played with more swagger, they won.
The All Star Break occurred right in the middle of this push, over the weekend of January 30-31.
Analysis
The Colorado Avalanche had it in them to follow the Anaheim Ducks’ lead and crawl back from a horrendous start to playoff contention. By the All Star Break, the Colorado Avalanche were jostling for position in the wild card spots — they looked to have stolen one from the Wild.
They played the systems, and it worked. Here’s an example of how Colorado Avalanche hockey could stop even the mighty Patrick Kane’s scoring streak:
What’s more, the players were showing fortitude. As former Denver Post Avs beat writer Adrian Dater has remarked numerous times, the Avalanche have a tendency to get a couple victories and then follow up with a bad game. They didn’t do that during this run.
Unfortunately, the All Star Break interrupted their push. Goalie Semyon Varlamov also fell prey to legal problems. Because after the All Star Break the team just wasn’t the same anymore — we’ll explore that in our next post.
But for a glorious two months it looked like the Colorado Avalanche were heading to the playoffs.