The Avalanche has been babied for too long.
It’s time for this franchise to grow up and act like winning is all that really matters. When is somebody going to be held accountable for a decade of bad hockey? As we wince in fear of Colorado missing the NHL playoffs for seventh time in 10 years, who’s the leader of this team?
“You can’t just keep missing the playoffs. You’re just taking steps backwards,” center Matt Duchene said Tuesday, as Colorado prepared to embark on a three-game road trip through Canada against foes so wretched that if the Avs don’t come home with at least four points, it will feel as if their postseason dreams are done like dinner.
How essential is it for the Avalanche to make the playoffs?
Avs Mailbag:
“We have to make it this year. That will push us forward. And whether we win (the Stanley Cup) this year or not, it’s going to push us forward going forward,” Duchene said. “If we don’t make it, it’s a step backwards. There’s that old saying: You either getting better or you’re getting worse, you’re never staying the same. And that’s so true in hockey.”
Props to Dutchy. Somebody had to say it. This franchise has been issued a hall pass for too long.
Denver deserves more than another tired plea for wait-until-next-year patience. Since 2007, the lowly Colorado Rockies have won exactly two postseason series in baseball, and are regularly bashed for their ineptitude. Since 2007, how many postseason hockey series have the Avs won? One. Yes, only one. So where’s the outrage?
A truly great, passionate hockey town would demand more than the occasional exhibition game at a baseball park in LoDo, where Peter Forsberg and our graying heroes skate around at half speed against some middle-aged dudes who used to be the dreaded Red Wings. But the Avs act as if it’s sufficient to send paying customers home happy, asking: How long until the Broncos report to training camp?
Yes, we all love Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic. But, as coach and general manager, they aren’t leading the Avs anywhere on the ice. Roy cannot make a save from behind the bench. Sakic cannot score the game-winning goal in overtime from his desk.
Whose team in this, anyway?
I walked up to goalie Semyon Varlamov in the locker room and asked him how much responsibility he felt for the Avalanche’s success during the stretch run?
“I don’t want to put the pressure on myself on this team,” said Varlamov, drenched in sweat after practice. “We all know what we have to do. At the same time, we need to enjoy the game. It’s all about having fun.”
Sorry, but that’s not good enough. When Roy was a goalie, did his responsibility to the Avs end at having fun?
My apologies to the fans that chant Varly’s name in the Pepsi Center. But before he can prove his worth as a big-game goalie capable of winning the Cup, Varlamov must show he can overcome well-documented weaknesses at the blue line merely to get Colorado in the playoffs. The next 12 games should be a referendum on whether the Avalanche has the right man between the pipes.
This group of players is developing a nasty habit of playing its worst hockey at the worst time, when the game is on the line in the third period. You know the tired story: Avs blow third-period lead to the Penguins, the Coyotes, the Jets. Yada, yada, yada. Enough already. Why does Colorado stink in the third period?
“I feel like we just back off a little bit,” Duchene said. “We don’t trust each other as much as we should. And we don’t trust ourselves, I think, is the biggest thing. It’s like you get somewhere, and then all of sudden you’re like ‘Oh, my god’ and you’re trying to preserve it rather than finishing the job confidently. A team, Chicago, that team has got kill on their mind all the time. And they just go for the kill every game.”
“We’ve showed that we’re capable of being that team that can make the playoffs and compete. But now it’s time to follow through on it.”
Good for Dutchy. Somebody had to say it. This hockey club has been babied for too long.
There seems to me only two ways for the Avalanche to go from here:
1) Rip it up during the last 12 games on the regular-season schedule, push past Minnesota for a wild-card berth and gain the meaningful growth that can only be achieved through the pressure inherit in best-of-seven playoff hockey.
2) Acknowledge something has got to change in a major way within the Avalanche locker room. With the exception of 20-year-old Nathan MacKinnon, these players are not kids any longer. It’s time for them to stand up and lead. Or get out.
Mark Kiszla: , mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla
