With the 2021 regular season complete for the Colorado Eagles, one thing stands out as an overwhelming success heading into the postseason: special teams.
Unfortunately, in order to become such a monster on both the power play and special teams, it meant parting ways with a coach that had ties back to the franchise’s Central Hockey League days.
-
Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
It was originally reported on March 4 that Colorado would be mutually parting ways with assistant coach Ryan Tobler, who’s time with the organization dated back to 2003 and the Eagles’ first season of play in the CHL. Tobler also played and coached with Colorado in the ECHL before he and the club transitioned to the AHL for the 2018-19 season.
The Colorado Avalanche then sent their development coach and former defenseman Brett Clark up to Loveland to take Tobler’s place on the bench. That change was announced on March 15, just shy of two full weeks since Tobler’s departure.
A CHANGE WILL DO YA GOOD
Since joining the AHL three seasons ago, the Eagles have been all over the place when it comes to their special teams rates. Below is a table outlining the Eagles’ first three seasons in the AHL on both the power play and the penalty kill.
YEAR | GAMES PLAYED | POWER PLAY | LEAGUE RANK | PENALTY KILL | LEAGUE RANK |
2018-19 | 68 | 40/289 (13.8%) | 31st out of 31 | 49/308 (84.1%) | 6th out of 31 |
2019-20 | 56 | 44/250 (17.4%) | 17th out of 31 | 37/208 (82.2%) | 14th out of 31 |
2020-21 | 34 | 25/117 (21.4%) | 6th out of 28 | 18/144 (84.2%) | 6th out of 28 |
While the PK has remained in the top half of the league, the PP has improved each year, landing Colorado in the league’s top six in both categories to close out the 2021 regular season (The Belleville Senators have two games remaining on their regular season schedule. Being 5th on the PP and 7th on the PK, those placings could change for the Eagles after May 20).
The remarkable shift in the special teams numbers (especially the power play) is noticeable from Tobler’s time behind the bench to Clark taking over in mid-March. Here’s a breakdown as to how the Eagles performed during each “era” this season.
DATES | ASST. COACH | POWER PLAY | PENALTY KILL |
Feb. 13 to March 4 | Ryan Tobler | 2/34 (5.9%) | 24/29 (82.8%) |
March 5 to March 14 | N/A | 2/13 (15.4%) | 13/14 (92.9%) |
March 15 to May 15 | Brett Clark | 21/70 (30%) | 59/71 (83.1%) |
MASTERS OF THEIR OWN DESTINY?
Heading into the final three games of the season, the Eagles had to defeat San Diego in just two of three in order to lock up the fourth seed in the Pacific. However, Colorado only won against the Gulls on Wednesday night, losing both match-ups on Friday and Saturday. This left the Eagles and the San Jose Barracuda at an even .500 points percentage, with San Jose earning the higher seed due to more regulation wins (15) than Colorado (13).
LIMPING INTO THE POSTSEASON
In regards to both win-loss ratio and special teams, the Eagles find themselves slumping into the play-in round. Since hosting Ontario for a three-game set starting April 28, Colorado has gone 2-5-1 with just a 3-for-25 power play conversion rate (12%) and 19-for-25 on the penalty kill rate (76%). With the taxi squad replaced with an expanded roster for the playoff-bound Avalanche, the Eagles will need to rely on the leadership & playmaking ability of T.J. Tynan, the youth movement of Jean-Luc Foudy & Sampo Ranta, and the netminding of Hunter Miska in order to advance in the postseason.
Fifth seed Colorado will take on the sixth seed Ontario Reign this Tuesday, May 18, at 7:30pm PDT in Irvine, CA. The winner will face either San Jose or Tucson in the play-in round’s final on Wednesday, May 19 at 7:00pm PDT.
-
Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
-
Ep 56: Leafs, Oilers, Eastern Conference Preview
by Full Press Coverage on May 16, 2023 at 12:21 am
Jim and Producer Ian discuss the Leafs and Oilers early exits and they […]
-
Eastern Conference and Western Final Previews and More NHL Talk
by Full Press Coverage on May 18, 2023 at 11:00 pm
Full Press NHL Podcast with Jim Biringer and Vox Media AM/FM NHL Analyst […]
-
Taking a Trip Around the NHL as Changes Fill The Air
by Full Press Coverage on May 17, 2023 at 5:10 pm
Jim is back once again joined by Russ Cohen of Sportsology and Buffalo […]
-
Ep 83: Stanley Cup Playoffs Are Here; Can Bruins Keep Up Pace?
by Full Press Coverage on April 17, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Ian and Chris are back to give their thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, […]
-
Ep 82: Bruins Set Wins Record, Pasta Hits 60, Playoffs Around The Corner
by Full Press Coverage on April 10, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Ian and Chris react to the Bruins 63rd win of the season, David Pastrnak's […]
-
The Hockey World Revolves Around Toronto
by Jim Biringer on May 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Jim is back for a fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey as he is […]
-
S4Ep28 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Final Preview
by Jim Biringer on May 16, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Jim is back for the fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey previewing […]
-
Stars at Golden Knights
by Broken Controller Media on May 27, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 25, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Hurricanes at Panthers
by Broken Controller Media on May 24, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 23, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
-
Episode #141: Tend The Goal
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The 2023 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs have reached its final four teams, and […]
-
Episode #140: Stone Cold's 4th Line
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 1:41 pm
And then, there were four. The 2023 AHL Division Finals have concluded, […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 766
by Charlie Saunier on May 28, 2023 at 7:01 am
Ep 766 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 2 Preview Game 3 Milwaukee […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 765
by Charlie Saunier on May 26, 2023 at 11:23 pm
Ep 765 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 1 Preview Game 2 Milwaukee […]
-
Full Press Hurricanes - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 4:00 pm
The Carolina Hurricanes are eliminated in four games in the Eastern […]
-
Full Press Kraken - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Taking a look at Vince Dunn’s season Learn more about your ad choices. […]
-
Full Press Blackhawks - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 1:15 pm
What team blueprint should the Blackhawks follow and what is will the […]
-
Renegades Of Puck Ep 764
by Charlie Saunier on May 24, 2023 at 5:19 am
Ep 764 The Renegades Of Puck Preview AHL WCF Milwaukee Admirals Vs […]
-
5/26 - Celtics Force Game 6; Mahomes QB List
by Full Press Coverage on May 26, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Ian and John discuss the Celtics big Game 5 win the Top 5 quarterbacks of […]
-
5/25 - Panthers Advance To Stanley Cup Finals; Celtics/Heat
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Ian and John discuss the Celtics and the Heat and welcome in Jim Bringer […]
-
5/24 - Lakers Eliminated, Celtics Force Game 5
by Full Press Coverage on May 24, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Ian and John discuss the Lakers loss to the Nuggets in the Western […]
-
5/22 - Celtics, Lakers Face 0-3 Deficit
by Full Press Coverage on May 22, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Ian and John react to the Celtics and Lakers being down 0-3 in their […]
Comments 1