Man, I was just about to post this. Nikola Jokic said something very interesting in an interview after losing the Minnesota series (and he doesn't talk much). He said "matchups matter". Meaning very, very good teams can get beat if they get a bad matchup in the playoffs and don't play their best. If the Nuggets play differently down the stretch, they play Dallas in the playoffs instead of Minny. The Nuggets would beat Dallas. The Nuggets are also better than Boston - who is going to the Finals. But Minnesota is just built in a way that gives the Nuggets fits. They pack the middle with bigs, frustrate Jokic and make the Nuggets eat clock and make outside shots. And if the Nugs shooters have off nights . . . adios Denver. Matchups. They matter.
The Avs/Dallas series was a mirror image of Nuggets/Minnesota. Dallas doesn't - and didn't - play any differently than they have a gazillion times before against the Avs. Dallas just plays in a way that's designed to give teams like the Avs fits. Like Minnesota, they clog the middle and force everything outside. Bednar isn't dumb - he knows how to beat a system like that. He has: Winnipeg runs (tried to run) the same defensive system as Dallas and the Avs took it apart. The Avs are better, but the difference was . . .
. . . Dallas played about a perfect and disciplined 3-4 game stretch of defensive system hockey as anybody has ever seen. I watched a couple of the early Dallas/Avs games with my neighbor who's a former college hockey coach, and he just shook his head in awe. Dallas/DeBoer runs a structure/system/cyborg style and if they are healthy, locked in and perfect . . . it's very, very tough to beat them. Not impossible. Just really hard. The Avs were distracted by the Nuke thing, Mac/Mikko were frustrated, Toews gets hurt . . . rough.
But this is why Dallas won't beat Edmonton and DeBoer will never win a Cup: it's impossible to play perfect, defensive, counterpunch, rope-a-dope system hockey every night for 16 games. The Dallas team playing Edmonton now is not the same team that beat the Avs. They are tired and banged up. Their age is showing. Tanev is on 1 leg. And systems tend to fall apart under those conditions. When you're tired, hurt, old . . . and playing a team like Edmonton, you're not going to be perfect and you're going to get beat.
As Jokic said, match-ups matter. If the Avs play the LA Kings/Nashville/Vancouver in any combination over 2 series . . . they are playing in the Western Finals. Maybe against a banged up Dallas team. Maybe against the Oilers. And they have a shot against either. But Edmonton drew that combination and they get to play a gassed, disjointed, injured imperfect Dallas team.
The Avs will continue to make the playoffs and will be Cup contenders for the next several years. The core is too good. But this year it's the Panthers - that team is loaded. LOADED. They are taking the Rangers apart 5X5. But the Panthers will pay the piper in a month - they're gonna lose a bunch of players to FA and since Florida trades/traded all of their draft picks . . well, their window is very short. The Panthers should just sit the next few drafts out altogether. But this year . . . well, they look a lot like the 2022 Avalanche - if the Avalanche also played dirty. Yikes.
Just tired of the "boy do the Avs suck/boy is Bednar a shitty coach/boy is MacFarland a moron" stuff - I realize self flagellation is part of the theme for this board but jeezus. Enough. Talent, matchups, health and luck all factor in the SC runs. The Avs had all of those things in 2022. Those combinations just haven't fallen together the last 2 years. There are about 20-25 teams that would trade for the Avalanche position right now, as is - even with all the Nuke/Landy/cap issues.
Didn't read, too long.
The problem is the Avs just suck, Bednar needs to go and MacFarland is trash. Deboer owns Bedsy.
