The top two lines should have no problem racking up points, but the third and fourth lines are looking a bit weak in that department. If Tucker and Arnason—potentially this year’s odd couple—can find some sort of chemistry, it could alleviate my worries.
Per Ledin will be this year’s Jaroslav Hlinka. Hlinka was much heralded at the start of training camp, and during preseason he appeared to be worth the hype. However, as last season wore on, Hlinka seemed to lose his scoring touch.
Fortunately for the Avalanche, it appears if Ledin isn’t scoring. he’ll be pestering the opposition—which when done in a non-Sean Avery style is always fun to watch.
The squad has scorers and it has bangers, but I worry the banging-to-scoring ratio is tilted towards banging. I shall now strike the word “banging” from my dictionary due to overuse.
Playoff Bound
With Sakic back in the mix, I’m comfortable in calling the Avalanche a playoff-bound team. They’ve even got a shot at winning the division, as do all the teams in the Northwest—Vancouver notwithstanding.
There you have it—a few different looks at how the Avalanche could end up this season in the Northwest division.
Stay tuned for the next Northwest team tomorrow!
Until then...
Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader here on Bleacher Report. If you'd like to get in contact with him, you can do so through his profile, while you can check out his previous work in his archives.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Colorado Avalanche articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
9 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete