As Colorado Avalanche forward Tyson Jost grows into his NHL confidence, he’ll become the goal-scorer the team needs him to be.
Colorado Avalanche forward Tyson Jost scores from a place of confidence.
Maybe the same can be said of any player. However, for Jost, I feel like scoring gives him self-assurance, and lack of scoring hits his confidence. I believe he’s cut in the Matt Duchene mold in that way.
You see it in how he scored when he was in the prestigious hockey program at the University of North Dakota:
You see it in how he moves, completely sure of himself. For instance, in the first goal on the video, he effects the spin-o-rama, drives to the net, outworks the goalie, and scores. Easy peasy, fresh and breezy.
Oh, and his celebration is just extra. But he probably needs that adrenaline rush.
Watch in the next sequence, too, how he has the guts to effect not one but two spin-o-ramas. In the next sequence, he drives right to the net again and just beats the goalie.
Ok, acknowledged, that’s college hockey. Let’s look at Jost’s first NHL goal:
Now, naturally, he’s not the adrenaline-fueled hockey monster he was at NoDak. He was just three games into his NHL career.
The similarity I see here is how he likes to drive the net. I guess a lot of Avs fans — and AJ Haefele over at BSN — like to beat him up about his skating. However, what I see in this sequence is a player coming in behind the scenes, being completely ignored by the defenders, and making an opportunistic goal.
Fast forward to Jost’s last goal of the 2017-18 season. He actually scored twice against the Anaheim Ducks, once in the power play, and this goal:
Ok, I’ll give you a little chugging in his skating. He addressed that, per Jared Bednar’s orders, in the offseason.
However, more importantly, I see a player who got the puck on his stick, which he was feeling that night, who then powered his way up the ice. He then scored on the return pass. You could just tell he was in the zone.
Jost doesn’t just like to score on the rush, but it does seem to be a preferred method for him. That said, he’s not afraid to get into the dirty areas and work hard for his goals. Here’s an example:
This goal represents the fifth goal of a 5-1 beating of the (hated) Minnesota Wild.
One thing I noticed that season was the Tyson often felt comfortable scoring extra goals. In other words, when the score was already clearly in the Colorado Avalanche’s favor, he kept at the task. I like that about his game — he has no give-up in his play.
Back on to the confidence. I promised I would stop bashing Bednar if he gave Jost a proper chance. Well, the old coach finally did, and when it mattered most — in the second round of the playoffs. And what happened, you ask. Well let me tell you: Young Jost scored a goal each in the last three playoff games.
In fact, he scored the final goal of the Colorado Avalanche’s 2018-19 season.
Let’s look at the first goal of that streak, which was, in fact, Jost’s first-ever playoff goal.
This is another example of an opportunistic goal. In fact, you find similarities to his moves in this goal to some of the ones he scored while at NoDak.
After that goal, which was the first of the game for Colorado (for either team, actually) you see that self-assurance returning. His confidence had taken quite a beating that season, but you see shades of his over-the-top self from his days at NoDak.
This goal is also similar to the one he scored against Anaheim in that he’d skated the puck into the zone, passed it off, and ultimately ended up scoring himself.
Let’s look at Jost’s second goal of the playoffs, again one that puts Colorado on the board first:
I see similarities in this goal to his first NHL goal. This time, another player is skating the puck into the zone. However, Jost is coming in on the rush, he gets into position, and, bam, he beats the goalie.
And, again, you’re seeing that over-the-top celly. When Jost is feeling it, good things happen.
And now, finally, a Tyson Jost special. I wish I could see we saw the return of the spin-o-rama, but at the NHL level, Jost seems to prefer the rush from behind the scenes.
I love this goal. I love how Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson are working down low. I love how Kerfoot actually puts a shot on net. I love how Jost is just coming onto the ice, and he gets down in that characteristic skating crouch of his and chugs to the net. He cuts in just as the goalie gives up the rebound on Kerfoot’s shot and whacks it in.
And I love the ferocity of his celebration afterward.
Tyson Jost is a goal-scorer, including at the NHL level — mark my words. I have confidence he’ll come back from his summer training session having worked on everything the staff told him to.
And I believe, as hockey expert Pierre McGuire does, that Jost will have a breakout season for the Colorado Avalanche.