Improve the Avalanche in 3 easy steps

1 - Score some damn goals. The Goal tending is there, but now we can't score a damn goal.

Milan Hejduk is 63rd in the league in shots on goal. He has scored 8 of 51 and played great defense for a forward from game 1. Hejduk is playing great hockey. But, we can't survive on Hejduk alone and that number should be 90 SOG by now. Problem = no one feeding him the puck.
NHL reference stats

Wojtek Wolski is 2nd in the league with 3 shootout goals. Wow! Seems cool but where the hell is the game time scoring? WW needs to attack that damn net or play the role of Hejduk feeder. Set Hejduk up... he'll shoot.
NHL reference stats

It's a sure sign that we have a weak transition game.

2- Keep the Defense just the way it is. No really! True, our D fails at times in really stupid ways, but there seems to be a great moral building and the chemistry among our blue liners is there no matter what the parring is.

3 - Hit! We are not the most talented team in the league anymore. Not by a long shot. The Av's have a tendency to get outplayed by faster, younger and more talented players. So, how do you stop talent.. you SMASH IT. You must finish checks and punish the other teams players for staying in the pocket long enough to make those pretty passes. Piss someone off with a BIG CLEAN HIT. Use the energy to create chances.

There are 600+ players in the league and the Av's have 3 players in the top 100 for hits?Not bad some of you might think. But lets face facts. We cannot dominate on talent these days. We are not a power house like we used to be so we have to do something to offset the amazing talent we face. HIT! McLeod is the only guy on our energy/crash line in the top 100. Followed by Tucker and Salei? Is this really enough?

Our top hitters:
54th in hits - Cody McLeod COL (energy/crash line)
78th in hits - Darcy Tucker COL (2nd or 3rd line role player)
95th in hits - Ruslan Salei COL (at home D man)

"Take another sip of your Hater-aide..."

You haters! Old Joe is taking his lumps in the press and the world of blogs these days. "Super Slow Joe" is one of my favorites so far and hey, you cannot deny that Joe seems to be a half step behind lately. The Joe of 2 years a go would probably have 15 points thus far and be first on the team in scoring. But, this season the best he can do is 12 points and 3rd on the team.. 3rd on the team by a point. Seriously people? In a more perfect world Joe would become a sniper of a role player instead of playing the minutes he does covering for the other forwards on the defensive side of the red line. But to imply that he is not earning his spot on the roster is a little over the top. Give the man a supporting cast and you will see him morph into the pure scorer you so badly want him to be. Why are we not talking about the bottom of the pile? Look here and tell me how Marek Svatos has fewer points than 2 of our D-men. How does Cody McLeod have more points than David Jones and Tyler Arnason? Why is T.J. Hensik just now being called up? I am not sure what else the management has to salvage right now but it seems like a great time to shake it up. Drop some under performers to the farm teams, send a message and make a real effort to get better. Take another sip of your Hater-aide and keep trashing Joe. The problems are bigger than #19.. and #21 won't fix them either.

Wurd!