The stats don't lie. Nuke makes the Avs better across the board. When he's not in the lineup, they do not do well. It doesn't matter if he scores or not. His presence on the ice makes the team better, period. IMO, he's a top-five player on the Avs.
Nuke has worked so hard on his game since he came to Colorado. I can still remember how people hated on him for his "stone hands". Now he can score in every way imaginable. Relentless on the puck, getting to the right places... He's become a complete player (Landy lite?)
Regular season metrics dont mean much but grabbing that home ice advantage could prove to be crucial for dallas in this round. Even though they drew vegas for the first round for their efforts having to travel to colorado after an evening game while fitting in a practice would have been difficult. At least they are at home and comfortable to the point i really dont believe the rest will serve the avs much of an advantage if at all. Personally i always felt teams with rest are generally pretty soft until the second period when they wake up . Every once in a while teams will show up, but in a series like the rangers and carolina hurricanes i feel like they both kind of got their rest it wasnt that much of a difference imo. A couple things colorado needs to watch out for are faceoffs and special teams. People sleep on faceoffs but man that shit wins games consistently, whether they be close games or blowouts, winning in the circle is a recipe for success, and dallas is #1 in that area.
if series ends in 5 (or max 6), Avs will advance, but with 7, sorry to say, but the Stars. Winnipeg's D was really hot, #1 in the league. and they melted. hope it will be a great series and Avs will go to the WCF. around .900 from Georgie might be enough. he should not allow easy goals, not just because the score but also his confidence.
Avalanche in 6 Team is rested and will win 1 of 2 in Dallas Avs win both home games to go 3-1 Dallas wins at home then Avs take the series at Ball All close games . . . generally 3-2 scores Power play will be crucial
It's night and day when he plays. 15-10-3 without him....35-15-4 with. As good as the lineup is, that x-facor is Nuke (and Lehky). Last season it was even more pronounced as they had a losing record when he missed games (12-16-1).
In round 1 he is absolutely the mvp. But very closely followed by Arturi Lehkonen. It's good to have him back with his head clear. I hope he keeps it up!
We also need to note the role Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantenan take to help elevate these guys. If they don't focus on making things happen, then they don't happen. But Lehky and big Val make it happen at both ends and it shows. What amazing talent the Avs have this season.
I was a little mad that he asked for such a high contract after only one good season, thinking he would revert back to his production in the past. But he's just gotten better and better, to the point that contract looks like a bargain now
The whole lineup is capable of MVP. It starts with the defense and the quick break out. When you have guys like Makar, Toews, Girard all exceptional skaters and puck moving d men it makes it easy for forwards like Mac, Moose, Lecky, Val, Drouin etc to execute their skill, speed and ability to make big plays. The Avs are a scary team this playoff season and seem to only look better every game.
God damn we got some talent this year!!!! And most of the top is locked in. I still believe we find a way to keep Drouin. If he’d take 4-5m I think we find a way. In the open market? Well he’s only getting better. Might lock a 6-7m deal… Val is one of my favorite players. Has been ever sense he joined the team. He’s just gotten better every 20-30 games. Slowly but surely finding a top roll on the team. He and lehky are irreplaceable imo. And lehky only making 4.5m yr. He’s so damn insane this time of year. He’s worth twice that in the playoffs. Not sure why he’s so damn good now but I won’t complain.. just looked up PO stats sense joining Avs. Hes a ppg player. And is scoring 20-25% of his shots. Insane
The answer is no. Mac is still their best player and everything revolves around him - including all attention given by the opposing team. Val just benefits from being on the best line, period.
I’m a Manitoban and I gotta say that guy is one hell of a hockey player. The Avs have a sixth gear that the Jets couldn’t match. The way they dominated our team leads me to believe the Colorado Avalanche are going to win the Stanley Cup.
Two things: 1. Who would you rather see the Av’s play. Vegas or Dallas? We would have home ice against Vegas. 2. We need a much better nickname for Nichuskin(misspelled). The Cho Cho train? He is not a four year old. It’s hockey so maybe something bloody like “The Choskinator.” Something?
If rather see Dallas. I think Vegas’s physical play would hurt us pretty bad. I’d also agree that Val’s nickname is not the greatest. Not really sure what to go with tho
WE like it just fine hes the choo choo train cause he chugs along every game and is a steam engine , if u dont like it fu ck off it aint changing ,and yea we would want vegas for home ice and they have to fly right into the altitude and we can wear em down quick .
Both Val and Lehky are the X-Factors IMO. Top line will always be rolling and when those guys hit their peak playoff mode, Avs are such a tough team to play against. Sprinkle in playoff Cale and whammo.
Bringing in Mittlestadt and Walker have really made a huge impact. If this team continues to roll they will be a force to be reckoned with. Lecky is clutch and his chemistry with Val is impressive. Go Avs Go!
Great video my friend! I think only time will tell if he can keep this momentum (which I hope he does). He really proved to everyone in the Winnipeg series that he can have HUGE impact. Love this video and I hope we win the cup this year. We are looking so so SO good!
The Avs line depth is going to be a huge problem to every team in this playoff series. They have outscored their occasionally poor defense plenty of times this season, and if they can put 25+ goals past the Jets who had the best defense in the league, then everyone is going to have a very tough time playing them.
I think the game 1 loss had a massive role in this as well, the fact that it was a playoff game and not regular season probably gave them a major slap in the face. There was some press where the guys were talking about how much they trust and respect Georgiev after that game 1 loss, and Bednar was vocally unhappy with his performance. You could see him mentally break after the first few goals and most of his previous coaches said this has always been his biggest shortcoming. I think something happened in the team that improved his confidence, because it wasn't only on the defense for that loss. Something clicked and the boys got it together in impressive fashion. I also think the Jets fans taunting Georgiev for two games was some motivation for him as well. The "pull the goalie" chants for the last half of game 1 and the "Georgiev" chants at the start of game 2.
If Juice would have been available after game 1....Georgie would have been DONE in Colorado. I don't know how that would have gone, but there is no way he would have started game 2 if Juice had been healthy. That said....Georgie surprised me (and a lot of people) by settling down. I'm still not super confident in him. The rest of the team though....yeah....they've got it going.
After watching that 7-0 loss during the end of the season. I was truly convinced that the Avs had no chance of beating the Jets in the playoffs. Seriously one of the the most unpredictable turnarounds I've ever seen.
I saw this coming a mile away and especially after game 1. Bowness isnt the greatest coach in the post season and coincidently at some point every team he has ever gone to the post season with eventually has an offense that dries tf up. Imagine that. At that point you are depending on your goalie to steal some games, too bad Hellybuck, vezina or not, sucks when it matters most. Im thoroughly shocked people counted the avs out of this one.
