After an excruciating exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Colorado Avalanche hockey fans may be forgiven for looking away from the ice. But the American Hockey League affiliate Colorado Eagles are still alive, if barely. They currently trail in their third-round series 2-1 against the Vancouver affiliate club, the Abbotsford Canucks.
For readers less familiar with AHL formatting, here is a quick rundown of how the Calder Cup Playoffs work: the first round is essentially a wildcard that the Colorado Eagles earned a bye for this season. Those series are best-of-three. Rounds two and three are both best-of-five. Finally, both the Conference Finals and Championship are best-of-seven series.
The gradual ratcheting-up of tension can really make for some exciting hockey in my opinion. The Colorado Eagles won their first series against the San Jose Barracuda in tidy fashion, winning 3-1. But the Abbotsford Canucks have proven to be a tough opponent. The Canucks are fresh off eliminating the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who have represented the Western Conference in each of the last two Finals.
Both times however, Coachella Valley has been beaten by the Hershey Bears. The Bears were actually swept out of Round Two Wednesday night, so we are guaranteed to have a new AHL champ in 2025. Longtime Avalanche fans might remember the Hershey Bears, as they were Colorado's first AHL affiliate from 1996-2005.
With Colorado's back against the wall, they will need to win the next two in a row to advance to the Western Finals. If they get there, it will be more high drama as they could very well face the Texas Stars who currently lead their series with the Milwaukee Admirals 2-1. I know it's a long way off yet, but I would love a chance at some AHL revenge.
The series so far
Abbotsford took the series opener 2-0. This was a clear indicator that Canucks goalie Arturs Silvos is a major factor in their success. If that name sounds familiar, that's because Silvos was a pleasant surprise of the playoffs last year when both Vancouver goalies, Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith, suffered injuries in the postseason.
Silvos preformed very well for a rookie and went 5-5 in the playoffs, helping Vancouver beat Nashville, before falling to the eventual West champs, the Edmonton Oilers. The young netminder may have gained some clutch confidence playing with the big club.
Colorado seemed to solve Silvos in Game 2, which they won relatively comfortably 5-3. But Abbotsford's goalie was on his game again on Wednesday, stopping 35 of 37 shots by the Eagles. The Eagles did a good job creating chances in Game 3. In fact they jumped out to a quick lead less than five minutes into the opening frame.
Defenseman John Ludvig scored a fast tally from left side as Colorado came out strong. An equalizer came from Canucks blueliner Victor Mancini just past the midway mark of the period. It was a bit chaotic in the slot and Colorado goaltender Trent Miner spread out for a save before the puck sailed in.
Colorado seemed a step ahead for most of the game, outpacing the opposition on shots and good looks. It was the Eagles Jake Wise, who broke the 1-1 tie with just 59 seconds remaining in the middle period. Wise had previously whiffed on a great power play opportunity, so it was fantastic to see him get some measure of redemption.
Still, the failures on the power play did come back to haunt the Eagles. The team went 0-3 on the man advantage Wednesday. Sadly, the power outage gave me flashbacks of the Avalanche playoff woes in the same department. That is the last place the Eagles want to replicate the Avalanche play this season.
Thus far in three games the Eagles have seen three shockingly similar numbers on the power play. They are 0-3 in all three contests and 0-9 overall. Huge credit to Silvos but that kind of result can't continue if Colorado wants to move on in these playoffs.
Veteran leadership is the key to success
The Colorado Eagles are an AHL club that is built to win at their level. So much is made of the Avalanche system lacking young exciting prospects, and that's not unwarranted. Especially after the team went all-in at the trade deadline.
While the Eagles cannot rely miracle vibes from improbable magic like Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog's return to juice their lineup, they are certainly not without weapons. Just prior to the regular season closing, I wrote about the record-setting year for Jacob MacDonald.
JMac hasn't quite re-established his record pace scoring goals since his injury late in the campaign. He hasn't lit the lamp once these playoffs after 31 goals in the regular season. I'm not selling my personal stock in MacDonald however. It's definitely time for him to get things going.
Jayson Megna is another wily vet who has been playing hard. Megna, who has been producing a point a game these playoffs has 4 goals and 3 assists. Megna who is sometimes called Liquid-Hot by Eagles Country, was inches away from scoring a few on Wednesday. The center, just like his defensemen teammates MacDonald and Calle Rosen, is on his second stint with Colorado.
In fact, in a feel-good story, all three players were re-acquired by the Avalanche orgainzation in the offseason. I think it speaks to a less talked about strategy by Chris MacFarland and Joe Sakic. The Avalanche know they have less top-tier prospects than other clubs. Instead of dwelling on that fact, they built an AHL contender that can win.
Many observers might discount what it means to win at the lower levels of professional hockey, but I love the attitude that prioritizes winning. Obviously if you make the playoffs consistently and are willing to trade draft capital and prospects, it leads to less exciting offseasons. But winning culture isn't just a buzzword for talking heads.
If the limited number of promising prospects in a pipeline like Ilya Nabokov, Taylor Makar, and Sean Behrens see an organization that competes at every level might they be even more motivated to make the most of their chances?
The Colorado Eagles might be on the cusp of elimination heading into Game 4 on Friday, but they are also just two wins shy of the Western Conference Finals.