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New game plan: Fast, not loose

September 24, 2016, 5:23 PM ET [1 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
You're going to hear the word 'speed' quite a bit during training camp this fall. It's the kind of game first-year Avalanche coach Jared Bednar wants to play this season.

The Avalanche have been a poor puck possession team, spending far too much time in their own end while forcing goalies Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard to face too many quality shots and failing to take advantage of the team's fleet forwards.

Bednar is well aware of that, having watched plenty of videotape of last season's games. He's hopeful of changing that by playing a more north-south game with quick outlet passes.

"Everything is new to them right now, the systems and all the little details, so they are thinking a little bit," Bednar said. "As we get going we will get faster and faster. The execution, when it’s good, allows you to play fast. Getting faster and faster, that will be a year-long process for us to get where we want to be.”

Here's the TRAINING CAMP ROSTER.

Bednar changed things up a bit Saturday on the second day of training camp at the Family Sports Center after running fast-paced practices Friday, but quick breakouts and speed will remain critical parts of his system.

"Another good practice today," Bednar said. "I liked what we did out there as a group. Today was a little bit different because we got into neutral zone, forecheck and D-zone coverage, so there was a little bit more grinding than skating up and down the length of the ice. It was a good practice. They're paying attention and working hard.

"We broke it down and kind of did a build-up of our D-zone today. That was real important to us, it's something we'll touch on a lot during the season. It was good to lay down that foundation."

Defenseman Tyson Barrie is excited about the prospect of using his skating, passing and puckhandling skills more than he's been able to do in the past.

"It's going to be quick, it's going to be a fast hockey team," said Barrie, whose 13 goals last season matched his career high. "There's going to be no messing around with the puck, no playing around with it in the neutral zone. We're going to be trying to push the pace, getting it into the forwards' hands. They're either going to get a chance off the rush or we're going to have to make a smart dump and go forecheck. We're going to play fast and our D are going to be jumping.

"I like to skate and push the pace from the back end. If we can all be doing that I like to think it's going to benefit my game as well."

Top forwards Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog have yet to make a camp appearance because of their World Cup of Hockey commitments, but MacKinnon is expected to be on the ice Monday, along with defenseman Erik Johnson.

John Mitchell, who probably will center the fourth line but can play anywhere up front, said Bednar's system is "much more" aggressive than it was under Patrick Roy.

"It's very fast, it's north-south," Mitchell said. "There's not a lot of east-west in this system that we're going to play. Obviously there are going to be times when that has to happen, but you're going see guys like Dutchy and MacKinnon, they'll be flying. Hopefully they'll get plenty and plenty of chances to score and make plays. You want to get the puck to our most skilled players' hands, into our fastest players' hands. That's the No. 1 thing, especially on the breakout."

*****

The Avalanche will play their annual Burgundy and White Game on Sunday at the University of Denver's Magness Arena. Faceoff is 3 p.m.

"We'll have a lot of young guys play, mixed in with some of our veteran guys," Bednar said. "It gives us an opportunity to evaluate those young guys and some of the guys at training camp against NHL talent. We have some veteran guys who aren't going to play. It should be an exciting and competitive game. Our practices are getting competitive and physical. It's good to see."



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