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Watching playoffs frustrating trend |
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Rick Sadowski
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Tyson Barrie said he was looking forward to "enjoying the action" of the Stanley Cup playoffs as the Avalanche's dismal season was coming to a close.
He'd much rather be playing in them, of course.
"Obviously we'd like to be a part of it," Barrie said.
Unfortunately for Barrie, he's only managed to play in two full playoff games in parts of his six seasons with the Avalanche, who have been relegated to postseason observers for the third year in a row following their 30th-place finish in 2016-17.
Barrie's lone NHL playoff experience came in 2014 when the Avalanche met Minnesota in the first round. He played in the first two games, both Colorado wins, and sustained a knee injury in the second period of Game 3 on a hit by Matt Cooke, turning him into a spectator for the final four games.
The Avalanche lost the last two and were eliminated in Game 7.
The Avalanche were in the hunt for a wild card spot in 2015-16 before losing eight of the final nine games, and they were virtually out of it by Christmas this past season.
"A huge disappointment," Barrie said. "Quite frankly, it was an embarrassing season to see where we were in the standings, to see the points we put up."
The Avalanche finished 22-56-4 for 48 points -- 20 fewer than the previous worst non-lockout season since arriving in Denver in 1995; the 2010-11 team had 30 wins and 68 points.
"It kind of slid away from us," Barrie said. "It was just really tough to win a hockey game. That's not the culture we want around here, not the atmosphere we need. We have to fix that, not allow that losing atmosphere to creep in."
Barrie, in the first year of a four-year, $22 million contract, had 38 points (seven goals, 31 assists) in 74 games while averaging a team-high 23:18 in ice time. He and Matt Duchene tied for the worst plus/minus figure in the league at minus-34.
"I know I could have played better this year," Barrie said. "A lot of our top guys could have performed better. Who knows if that would have gotten us in or not. It's definitely an eye opener, a good opportunity for guys to go and work on their game this summer -- get stronger, get better, and come back and prove that this was not our team, kind of a fluke season.
"Any time you finish where we did in the standings ... it's tough to have team success when you know you're not going personally, and it's tough to have personal success when the team's not going. It was a disappointing season for me. Hopefully, it will be one I can put behind me and build from here."
In the meantime, like the rest of the Avalanche, all Barrie can do now is watch the playoffs from afar and resolve not to have to do so in the future.
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Barrie, Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Calvin Pickard will play for Team Canada in the upcoming IIHF World Championships. Four other Avalanche players have been selected to play in the tournament: Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg (Sweden), J.T. Compher (USA) and Mikko Rantanen (Finland).
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Don't expect Francois Beauchemin to waive his no-movement clause unless the Avalanche cut a deal in which the Vegas Golden Knights agree not to take the veteran defenseman in the expansion draft.
Chances are they wouldn't select Beauchemin, who turns 37 in June and has one year left on his three-year, $13.5 million contract, but it isn't a chance he would take.
"I have one more year on my contract," he said as the season was coming to a close. "Obviously, this is where I want to be. I'm not going to move my kids for one year of hockey. I expect next year to be a lot better than this year."
All players with no-movement clauses must be protected, and the Avalanche could lose a player they'd like to keep if Beauchemin doesn't budge.
Each team will protect either seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie or eight skaters and one goalie. Players with two years or less of NHL/AHL service time are automatically exempt from the draft.
Vegas must pick at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. At least 20 players must be under contract for the 2017-18 season. The total salary cap hit of players selected must be between $43.8 million and $73 million.
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