I don't think any Avalanche player is more passionate about trying to help this team become a Stanley Cup contender again than Matt Duchene, who idolized Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic while growing up and bleeds -- figuratively speaking, of course -- burgundy and blue.
But I can understand why Roy was so critical of Duchene for celebrating with such gusto after tipping Mikkel Boedker's shot into the net with 4:14 to go Sunday for his first 30-goal season. The goal merely cut St. Louis' deficit to 4-1 in an eventual 5-1 rout. Boedker went out of his way to retrieve the puck for Duchene.
Interesting that Roy made the following post-game comments after answering a completely different question, so he obviously had an agenda.
"The thing I have a hard time is the reaction of Dutchy after he scores," Roy said. "It's a 4-0 (game) ... big cheer. Are you kidding me? What is that? I mean, it's not the (reaction) we want from our guys, not at all."
Here's the video of DUCHENE'S GOAL and celebration.
Asked about hitting the 30-goal mark after the game, Duchene said:
"I won’t enjoy it tonight. Maybe it’s something I’ll look back on after the season and enjoy it on a personal level, but you play and you try and score goals to make the playoffs. If you’re not in the playoffs, it doesn’t really mean as much as you want it to mean. No one remembers that, and no one cares.
"Everyone just cares about who’s in the playoffs, and that’s all we care about. That’s all I care about. Obviously, it’s a nice milestone, but I’m not thinking about it at all right now. I’m just very disappointed about this loss tonight.…
*****
Roy is frustrated and angry watching this team go down without much of a whimper, losing the past four home games by a combined score of 17-5. They were down 4-0 to Minnesota, 3-0 to Washington and 4-0 to St. Louis in the past three games at the Pepsi Center after blowing a 2-1 third-period lead to Philadelphia.
That 17-19-4 home record sure is embarrassing with one game to go, Saturday against Anaheim.
Roy is the head coach, so he has to take a good deal of the heat for what has been happening, just as he was given plenty of praise in his first season when the Avalanche overachieved (by a ton) and finished first in the Central Division with 112 points. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year.
Barring a miracle, the Avalanche will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row, but I have no doubt Roy will return. You can't just keep firing coaches every few years and expect to turn things around. But personnel and strategy changes are needed; the Avalanche continue to be a terrible puck-possession team, they spend way too much time in their own end, and force goalies Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard to face a ridiculous number of quality shots.
"We're giving way too many opportunities, giving them too much momentum and just really (having) brain cramps at the wrong time," Gabriel Landeskog said. "That's really been the case for the last month or so."
*****
The Avalanche will take a three-game losing streak into Tuesday's game in Nashville, and they've lost five of the past six games after winning five of the previous six March 7-20 when it looked like there would be postseason hockey in Denver.
The Wild keep opening the door for the Avalanche to at least make things interesting by losing their past three in a row, including a 5-1 drubbing Sunday in Winnipeg. But the Avalanche keep slamming it shut.
The Wild have a five-point lead (87-82) with two games to go, one fewer game than the Avalanche. The magic number for official elimination is two points; the Wild can clinch by defeating San Jose at home on Tuesday, or if the Avalanche lose to the Predators, or if the Wild lose in overtime while the Avalanche do the same.
*****
Roy also called out his "core" players Sunday, who I list as Duchene, Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson, Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, who has missed the past seven games with a knee injury, and Varlamov. It's safe to assume MacKinnon's season is over since he has yet to skate since getting hurt.
"I think we have some good leadership, maybe not enough from our core," Roy said. "Our core hasn't proved that they have the leadership to bring this team to another level. Eventually we have to admit it, isn't it?
"I love these guys, I think Landy is pretty much alone in that. I think EJ's trying, but we need more from these guys. These guys need to prove to us that they're capable of carrying this team. When Washington needs a goal, they turn around to (Alex) Ovechkin. When Pittsburgh needs a goal, they turn to (Sidney) Crosby.
"Our players are having a hard time to carry this team. It's the bottom line. I'm sorry, but I could look at myself in the mirror, we all can look at ourselves in the mirror, but at the end of the day the core has to be our best players."
Roy also said: "I think we need to learn how to win, we need to change the mindset. I think we have a losing mindset right now. I think we have to find ways to believe more in ourselves. Sometimes things are not going to go our way. We might give up one goal, we might give up two goals. Who cares? We need to play our game."
The Avalanche didn't practice Monday before traveling to Nashville, unfortunate because I would have liked to have gotten some responses from players. Roy does his postgame news conference after locker room access ends, but that's common practice throughout the league.