Sorry for the delay in responding the Anaheim Ducks 6-1 shellacking at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, but I have been busy at work this week. It was probably better that way because what I saw form the Ducks in that first game was bad...on all levels.
Thankfully the Ducks have a couple of days in between games to regroup and give me some time to post my thoughts on what was essentially a disappointing and embarrassing way to start a hockey season.
Let's forget the score. It was brutal and the Ducks have nobody to blame but themselves. Although the Avalanche deserve a good amount of credit. Semyon Varlamov was exceptional in net for Colorado. Anaheim threw 36 shots at him and he was there to close the door each and every time.
-Varlamov is the real deal and with good goaltending and a lively offense this team has the makings of an excellent hockey club and one that could give the Ducks trouble all season. The Avalanche are young, hungry, fast and they have the potential to be a very dangerous team now and in the foreseeable future.
-Of the Anaheim's 36 shots, 15 of them came from defensemen with Cam Fowler, Ben Lovejoy and Bryan Allen each collecting four. The Ducks did a good job last season of generating shots from the point and turning those rebounds into goals. It didn't happen on Wednesday night but looks like that is the same plan this season.
-Matt Belsekey and Kyle Palmieri led the forwards with four shots. Jakob Silfverberg, the Ducks lone goal scorer, had three. He is going to be a good one. Teemu Selanne also had three shots in the first game of his final NHL season.
-Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf were shut down the entire night. The two shots they mustered between them won't cut it on any night. I saw a lot of the Getzlaf from two seasons ago and not the beast from last season. The game did have a dubious feel to it with the Dustin Penner scratch. That might of affected Perry and Getz in some way or I'm just making an excuse for them. You decide.
Let's be honest, it was not the offense that lost this game,
(and it is only one game) it was the terrible defense and some really soft goals allowed by Viktor Fasth.
-I thought Cam Fowler and Francois Beauchemin had a horrendous game. Ryan O'Reilly's goal was a product of lazy passing between Fowler and Beauchemin. It almost looked like they had completely forgotten they were playing in a regular season NHL game. It was so nonchalant and careless. It set the tone for the rest of the game.
-In general the D was just bad. All night long the Avs had players swarming Fasth with multiple whacks at loose pucks. Cam and Beauch each finished a team worst minus-3 for the game.
Is this season already shaping up to be more of the same from Cam Fowler?
-Fasth himself had a bad game. Fasth has to absorb some of the blame too.He finished the night with 23 saves on only 29 shots. That's a .793 save percentage. Colorado's third goal was softer than a roll of Charmin.
All in all it was a rough night and a forgettable one at that. I'm going to assume the players were simply paying homage to the bad Mighty Ducks teams of the mid to late 90's as part of the whole D20 theme.
Thankfully this nightmare will only be remembered at Patrick Roy's first head coaching win, oh and Patrick Roy's first meltdown as a head coach and of course, Patrick Roy's first fine as an NHL head coach.
Enough venting. The Minnesota Wild are next on the docket.
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