The NHL is an imitation league, so teams watching the Stanley Cup final from home will take notes on Colorado Avelanche in hopes of repeating their success.
What exactly should the teams try to learn from this year’s champions in their playoffs? Let’s dive into some of the conclusions from winning the Stanley Cup in Colorado.
Trust a qualified core
It seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But teams can become impatient and begin to destroy the foundation they have built when things don’t work out. Obviously, changes in lineup may be needed: consider trading with Nazem Kadri to attract center for defender Tyson Barry or later in the deal with Matt Duchenne. But the cornerstones of this team – Nathan McKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Miko Rantanen, Cale McCarthy and even Eric Johnson – were essential to this victory.
And it wasn’t a matter of happy bounces along the way, it was one of the best teams in the regular season and carrying it to the playoffs. See their game five on five; Colorado finished in the top two in the expected goal generation thanks to their offensive creation and had results that matched. And it was the best team in limiting the quality chances back. Team strategies are key here (and we’ll get there in a second), but also the strength of the team that this team has built over the years.
Accentuate the list of key acquisitions, use the context to understand potential matches
Adhering to building a list, along with a skilled core, the team needs strong support figures. How Colorado started adding these pieces is quite important.
First, this is how they take advantage of the misfortunes of other teams. Valery Nichushkin and Devon Tows are the two key figures that surround this. The Islanders collided with a crunch for a hat and made the defender, who was moving with puck, a victim of it. It was a mistake at the time that only got worse over time, given how important he was to this run. Teams must give priority to which pieces to invest in, and this should be an elite defender.
With Nichushkin, the Stars gave up a player who, while not an offensive gem, which they probably hoped would be strong in defense when chosen early. With Avalanche, where he signed after the buyout, his two-way game grew even without a draw – and in 2021-22 he finally showed the finishing touches to match his facilitating games, such as puck extraction.
Acquisitions of the deadline this year can also serve as key lessons. That’s the fact that Colorado knew when to invest in its playoff chances. And the organization that uses data in its analysis has probably found ways to isolate players’ strengths to determine how they would meet their needs, setting aside the quality of the game around them.
This may have helped them recognize Arthur Lekonen’s flexibility for their midfield, Josh Manson’s defensive efforts such as the blue line defense, which would go well with Sam Girard, and Andrew Coliano’s kick back to his own end and his ability to kills a penalty.
Spread skills, add flexibility to the composition
In previous years, it was the Landeskog-McKinnon-Rantanen combination that was leading. This year they managed to distribute the wealth more. Players like Nichushkin helped make this happen by adding a two-way player who could keep up with the best offensive talents and support their games. Lehkonen’s addition also did, thanks to his pre-screening and his ability to win live puck battles.
The universality of this composition was even more important. Colorado had the options to make changes and create new combinations when needed. When Rantanen did not live up to expectations, he was moved to the second line. This brought together the Landeskog-McKinnon-Nichushkin combination at the top, which won 62.8% of the expected goal percentage. When Kadri was out of the lineup or Andre Burakowski, they found other options to rely on as JT Compher, and managed to mix and match. This was something that this team prepared for in the regular season.
A team can win without an elite goalkeeper
It is true that in some cases a team can be as good as just its goalkeeper. A look around the league shows how goalkeeping can create or break a team. Rangers are a great example of how elite networking can help a team reach heights that few expect. Lack of online play can send a team right to the bottom of the standings.
But if the list is built correctly, with strengths up and down in the team, they can do without the best goalkeeper in the world (even when facing one of the best in Andrei Vassilevsky).
Darcy Kumper had a strong regular season, but slipped into the postseason. With a workload of 32.8 expected goals against, which was eased by the Colorado defense, he still conceded more than five goals more than expected. He did not give his team the best chance to win many times and yet Avalanche succeeded. This is proof of the team built in front of the blue paint, and shows where more emphasis should be placed in the composition of the list above all.
Play on the strengths of the postseason
Finally, to team strategies. Colorado deserves a lot of credit here. Teams can fall into the trap of turning to a heavier style in the postseason and moving away from the strengths in their game that have led them so far. The Panthers, although well protected by the Capitals and Lightning, did not look like the regular season team that won the President’s Trophy.
Avalanche have withdrawn from the game only a few times this postseason. There have been several cases against the Blues and the Lightning, thanks to the defensive efforts of their opponents and perhaps an instinct to play it safe. Game 5 against St. Louis stands out with this, as does Game 5 against Tampa Bay.
Overall, however, Colorado adheres to the style of play that made them so successful throughout the year – a fast-paced game that relies on dominance over the opponent and generating attack waves. At 5-on-5, Avalanche finished the postseason with the highest percentage of generated goal chances (26.6 out of 60), finishing first in a rush attempt and second in a cycle chance (behind Pittsburgh). And they finished with the lowest percentage of re-attempts for a slot (15.9 out of 60).
And when it mattered most – the third period of game 6, while he was ahead with one goal – Avalanche also did not back down in a defensive shell. Rather, Colorado defended its lead in the most proactive way, pushing forward with an attack that forced Lightning to overcome this, even trying to gather its own quality chances.
Even with a few passes, the Avalanche were generally one of the best teams with equal strength, leading in matches on both sides of the ice because they did not sit and play safely most evenings.
Data via Sportlogiq
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