I highly doubt that anybody has spoken the words “Don’t count the Avalanche out; they’ve got a great young defense,” in the last few years. And through the first three games this season, I wonder if people even realized they had a defense at all.
In those three games, the Avalanche gave up an average of 4.7 goals, only remaining competitive thanks to an equally explosive offense. But since that time, something seems to have changed. Suddenly, it’s been Colorado’s defense that is keeping the Avalanche in games, only giving up three goals in total.
Now the question becomes: Who are the Colorado Avalanche? Are they an explosive team with an excess of offensive talent, or are they a tough-minded, defensive organization that’s going to win games the hard way?
Wait … that sounds familiar. Did we just start talking about the Denver Broncos?
Well, according to Patrick Roy, maybe it’s time the Avalanche start taking pointers from the football team on the other side of town.
“I’m not saying we copy on the Broncos,” Roy said, “but look how well they’re playing defensively. They’re defense is winning games for them — not game, games — and our defense can win some games for us. It’d be great for us on a night where it’s harder for us to score a goal. That doesn’t mean we have to lose that hockey game; we can win a different way, and a different way is being impeccable defensively.”
But could the Avalanche really turn themselves into an elite defensive team?
I have my doubts. While the Avs admittedly played very well against the Hurricanes on Wednesday, allowing just 19 shots on goal, Carolina is one of the worst teams in hockey; that should be expected. And though limiting the Ducks and Kings to a total of two goals is impressive, the Avs still gave up 35 and 40 shots on net, respectively. In reality, those scores were more indicative of Reto Berra’s play in net than they were of the defense in front of him.
Now, to be fair, the Avalanche continue to be at the top of the league in penalty kills and blocked shots, and they really did look impressive on Wednesday against the Canes. For me, though, I’m going to take a wait-and-see mentality.
