The Colorado Avalanche’s goalie tandem of MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood is ranked 10th among all 32 NHL teams. The ranking published in The Athletic looked at all 32 teams’ goalie tandems. Unsurprisingly, the Winnipeg Jets topped the list as Connor Hellebuyck is in the midst of an other-worldly season.
But firmly in the 10th spot is the Colorado Avalanche’s alpine-themed tandem. Now, it might seem somewhat disappointing to be ranked 10th, considering Blackwood’s play since joining the Avs from the San Jose Sharks.
That’s the point, however. Blackwood didn’t start the season in Colorado. He was acquired roughly two months into the season and inherited the crease while the club was still in a flux due to the ridiculously high number of injuries.
Since the Avs have returned to full strength, the club has moved into third in the Central Division. The nightmarish 0-4 start to the season is nothing more than a distant memory, as the Avalanche look to secure their playoff ticket.
The Athletic rightly points out that some questions linger regarding the Avalanche’s goalie tandem as they have limited playoff experience. Wedgewood has played all of three playoff games while Blackwood has yet to make a postseason appearance.
This situation would be a major concern if the Avalanche were a young and overall inexperienced team. They are not, however, and boast a core that can compete with the best in the league. So, it’s a safe assessment to say that Blackwood and Wedgewood will do just fine come playoff time.
Looking at former Colorado Avalanche goalies from this season
Let’s now look at the painful part of the equation. The Colorado Avalanche’s goalie tandem to start the season was Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen. At the outset of the season, I was one of the most vocal members at MHS calling for Annunen to inherit the crease from Georgiev.
Annunen got his chance but couldn’t convince anyone that he was the guy. That situation led the Avalanche to part ways with Annunen. He was sent to the Nashville Predators in what was essentially a swap of backup goalies.
Since hitting Music City, Annunen is 8-5 with an .897 SV% to go with a hefty 3.09 GAA. He hasn’t been bad, but he hasn’t been good. Perhaps it’s just that Nashville has been terrible this season. To his defense, starter Juuse Saros hasn’t been much better, either. So, we’ll give Annunen a pass based solely on this year’s disappointing showing by the Preds.
That brings up to Georgiev. The default San Jose Sharks starter is 4-15-1 with an .875 SV% and 3.84 GAA. Those are absolutely atrocious numbers. But then again, they should be taken with a grain of salt. Georgiev is manning the pipes for the worst team in the league.
The Sharks are ranked 29th, considering that Georgiev’s tandem partner, Vitek Vanacek, was moved at the trade deadline to the Florida Panthers. That left top goaltending prospect and heir apparent Yaroslav Askarov to play with Georgiev.
Askarov hasn’t fared much better. But I suspect that has more to do with the overall rough shape San Jose is in, than the poor play of Askarov.
In the end, it seems that Chris MacFarland and the Colorado Avalanche brass successfully engineered an unusual in-season goalie turnover. In my estimation, it will be a long time before another team can pull something like that off again.