Happy B Day Andrew Ladd

If Andrew Ladd was enjoying the same production as he was last season he would be in serious discussion for Team Canada in Sochi. Of course that production was a career high in regards of point per game production so it unrealistic to bet on that again. That being said, his 22 points in 32 games is still good production and 8 goals are second best on the team. There happens to be 5 players tied with 7 goals though so if he wants to keep that spot he needs to heat up. Ladd is the captain and unquestionably the leader of this team, they need him to take the team by the throat soon or the playoffs will be a pipe dream. 

 

Tonight features another key division match up as Colorado limps into Winnipeg after losing two straight. The Avs have come back to earth a bit after their torrid start, but that was to be expected. Coincidently (or maybe not) the slide has coincided with the legal trouble faced by starting goalie Semyon Varlamov who was lights out to start the season. Colorado are loaded upfront with an immense amount of young talented forwards. They boast six forwards with 17+ points featuring young captain Gabriel Landeskog and rookie Nathan MacKinnon. 

 

The Avs don't feature many "household names" on defence, and they recently lost Jan Hejda, one of their pillars. The key to beating the Avs is not to get into a track meet while at the same time getting the puck low and working their D. It will be up to Ondrej Pavelec to match Varlamov save for save tonight. 

 

Winnipeg enters the game tonight 8 points behind Colorado for the final playoff spot, and unfortunately have played three more games. A win tonight in regulation is vital for the season. To fall 10 points behind and still have played three more games is a bad place to be... Some of the Jets walking wounded are starting to skate again but do not seem to be close to returning soon. The Jets will need to remain competitive and try to stay in the race so once players like Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian there is still something to play for.

 

This has nothing to do with tonight's game, but everything to do with it...