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Colorado Avalanche Aren't As Good As You Think They Are

By Iain MacMillan

The Colorado Avalanche are sitting firmly in the top spot in the NHL's Western Conference.
The Colorado Avalanche are sitting firmly in the top spot in the NHL's Western Conference. / Dustin Bradford/GettyImages
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It's tough writing this article the morning after the Colorado Avalanche locked up a road win against the second best team in the Western Conference, but someone has to be brave enough to say it:

The Colorado Avalanche aren't as good as you think they are.

Before I dive into why that's the case, I want to make one thing clear. As much as I love calling out teams as frauds, the Avalanche aren't that. They are certainly one of the best teams in the NHL, and will likely be a contender come time for the playoffs.

But with that being said, people who are already crowning them Stanley Cup champions, are foolish. WynnBET has them listed as +350 favorites to win it all, and I wouldn't touch that bet with a 10-foot pole.

Avalanche Aren't the Best Team in the NHL

The Avalanche are the first team in the NHL to reach 100 points, and they have a massive 12-point lead in the Western Conference. With that being said, I'm of the firm belief that their record is largely a product of playing in a much weaker conference than the East, who has teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and others. Outside of the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames, the rest of the Western Conference is severely lacking.

As I usually do, I can use statistics to back up this claim. Here's where they rank in several key areas this season:

  • CORSI% - 6th
  • FENWICK% - 9th
  • Expected goals per 60 min. - 10th
  • Expected goals against per 60 min. - 10th
  • High danger scoring chances - 14th
  • High danger scoring chances against - 18th
  • Shooting percentage - 6th
  • Save percentage - 6th

I'll repeat what I said above. I'm not calling the Avalanche frauds or a bad hockey team, but if you look at the above statistics and still think that they're the best team in the NHL, then you just don't believe stats mean anything, which is insane.

Are they good? Yes. Can they win the Cup? Yes. But I would highly recommend staying away from betting on them at their current price.

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