The Colorado Avalanche went from an afterthought in the Western Conference to a playoff team under first year head coach Patrick Roy a year ago, winning the Central division leaders. However, a slow start to the 2014-15 season has fans and experts alike debating whether last year’s turnaround was the start of something special or simply an aberration for a team that overachieved. Colorado isn’t the only playoff team from a year ago that has struggled early on this season. Here is a look at three playoff teams from a year ago that will be in tough to make the postseason.
Colorado Avalanche
Record: 6-8-5
Stanley Cup Odds: 40/1
One of the obvious reasons for the Avalanche decline is the obvious regression of their record in close games as opposed to a year ago. Colorado was the league’s best team in one-goal games last season with a ridiculous 24-4-8 record and there was very little chance they would be able to repeat that number again this season. Personnel change has also played a role as the Avalanche lost a key two-way centre in Paul Stastny to the rival St. Louis Blues while goaltender Semyon Varlamov has not been able to match last year’s outstanding level of play. Colorado still has a talented roster, led by Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and rising star Nate Mackinnon, but right now it’s just not coming together for them. The 2.37 goals per game they’re averaging is good for 27th in the NHL and is steep drop from when they finished fourth in that category last season (2.99 per game). Combined with the 3.11 they’re allowing per game (6th-worst in the NHL) and it’s easy to see why they’re struggling so much.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 6-11-1
Stanley Cup Odds: 75/1
The Blue Jackets appeared to be a team on the rise following last year’s return to the playoffs but injuries have played a devastating role in keeping Columbus from reaching its potential this year. Goaltender Sergei Bobrosvky spent most of the first month of the season on injured reserve along with Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Nathan Horton and James Wisniewski. There are few teams in the league that can keep on playing at a high level with so many key players injured. The loss of Bobrovsky really shows as this typically solid defensive team is allowing the most goals per game at 3.56.
The Blue Jackets are buried in the Eastern Conference standings with only 13 points. If they can get healthy, they might be able to turn this around but time is ticking on a franchise that entered the season with so much optimism.
San Jose Sharks
Record: 10-9-2
Stanley Cup Odds: 18/1
Don’t look now but the Sharks are barely holding on to a playoff spot in the Western Conference thanks to a rough start that has included a pair of losses to the lowly Buffalo Sabres and another to the Florida Panthers. San Jose has played 16 of its first 21 games away from home and the results haven’t been pretty to this point. The Sharks have too much talent to miss out on the playoffs and they should be able to make up some ground when they start playing home games.
