Bet On NHL Hockey: Avs
The upstart Colorado Avalanche will be out of improve upon an impressive 2013-2014 campaign in which they won 12 of their first 13 games and eventually won the uber-tough Central Division.
NHL Predictions
Colorado Avalanche
Odds to win the 2015 Stanley Cup: 18/1
Odds to win the 2015 Western Conference: 10/1
Odds to Win the 2014 Central Division: 11/2
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The Avs obviously weren’t satisfied with being the surprise team of the NHL – they went out and made offseason moves that could keep them among the elite in the NHL’s Western Conference.
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Is Colorado due for a little step backward or is Patrick Roy’s team poised to avenge an early exit in last year’s playoffs?
Let’s take a look.
2014-2015 Colorado Avalanche Betting Preview:
The Colorado Avalanche added some pieces in the offseason – but they also lost some key guys from last year’s surprise squad.
In are Jarome Iginla, Daniel Briere and Brad Stuart and out are Paul Stastny, PA Parenteau and Andre Benoit.
Offense
Whether or not the shakeup makes Colorado a better team remains to be seen – a solid nucleus including Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Tanguay, and the newcomers looks pretty good on paper – as deep as any team in the league. Translation – offense shouldn’t be an issue for the Avs.
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Jan Hejda, Erik Johnson, Nick Holden, Tyson Barrie, Brad Stuart and Nate Guenin make up an Ok defensive corp. but one that that seems to fall short of the other units even within their own Division as we head into the year.
Defense
Defense could be a weakness for Colorado unless they keep getting quality goaltending from…
Seymon Varlamov was arguably the biggest surprise for Colorado last year – he held them in games and was in the running for the Vezina all season long.
He posted a .927 save percentage while facing the most shots in the league and he posted a respectable 2.41 GAA during his breakout campaign.
FREE Avalanche NHL Predictions 2014/2015
I like the Colorado Avalanche – don’t get me wrong but I can’t help but think that they overachieved last season.
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The departure of Paul Stastny will likely be a bigger deal than most think – Stastny was a huge part of the team. The fill-ins brought in by management likely won’t be able to make up for the loss of Stastny’s talents unfortunately.
I also don’t know about the Colorado defense or goaltending situation. Seymon Varlamov was terrific last year – I just need to see him excel for a second straight season before putting him in the elite class.
Colorado is a playoff team for sure – I just can’t see them winning the Central over Chicago and St. Louis and I can’t see them getting by the Blues, the Hawks or the Kings for the Western Conference crown.
Expect a slight correction this year as the Avs stay respectable but move out of that elite class of team.
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