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Theres been exhaustive talk about the inevitable regression facing the Colorado Avalanche - a team that more or less rode the percentages to an improbable playoff berth last season. We no longer approach teams like last years Avalanche club with questions about whether their strategy at even strength - which at least last year, was get out-shot and win regularly - is sustainable for the long-term. The real question is whether teams in these precarious situations can do enough with their current roster to improve on last years performances and hope to mitigate the expected drop-off in point production. Colorados a particularly interesting case for this. The Avalanche may have been treated as a paper tiger all through last year despite their winning ways, but there are legitimate questions about whether player development can stave off some of the expected regression. Optimists point to the collection of young, near-prime talent on the roster which includes Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and Ryan OReilly. They are three of the leagues better forwards and the team has certainly found their starting goaltender in Semyon Varlamov. Perhaps the most intriguing name on the roster is wunderkind Nathan MacKinnon, who is coming off a brilliant rookie year. The 2013 No. 1 overall pick is an unbelievable combination of speed and versatility and scored at a comparable rate to that of Chicagos Marian Hossa and Philadelphias Claude Giroux last season. Colorado will only rely on him more and his average ice time - which was 17:21 last year - should go up this season. And MacKinnons underlying numbers from his Calder Trophy-winning campaign are fascinating. A good chunk of statistical oddity is tied up in his home and road splits, which were night and day. Like most other players (and teams) around the league, MacKinnon saw a drop-off in his performance on the road. But MacKinnons slide was particularly steep - enough that it should warrant investigation by a team looking to immediately improve their 5-on-5 play next season. To quickly capture MacKinnons drop-off, consider this - no skater that logged more than 500 minutes over the last two seasons saw road depreciation quite like his: MacKinnons Corsi percentage was 18 per cent worse on the road. That was well above the league average, which was about four per cent worse for the same collection of regular skaters. So yes, that drop is a bit out of the norm. Now lets look at a table of some of the other pertinent underlying data for MacKinnon from last season: Im going to touch on most of these metrics individually, but the numbers that should immediately stand out are his team-relative numbers: Relative Corsi Percentage (or the difference in Corsi Percentage a team experiences when a player is on the ice versus off) and Relative Goal Percentage (or the difference in Goal Percentage a team experiences when a player is on the ice versus off). At home, MacKinnon was a positive possession player (3.0 per cent) and significant plus-goal player relative to teammates (9.4 per cent). On the road, MacKinnon was a negative possession player (-3.3 per cent) and floated around the team average in the goal department (0.5 per cent). The raw Corsi For and Corsi Against totals show what kind of trouble MacKinnon ran into on the road. The reality is that MacKinnon and his linemates spent way too much time defending the play. At home, Colorado was +10.8 shot attempts per 60 minutes with MacKinnon on the ice. On the road, that number spiraled to -10.4. The main reason for this insane shot-differential swing is tied up in MacKinnons road Corsi Against per 60 – a number so high, only three forwards (Torontos James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, and Buffalos Tyler Ennis) finished worse. Those ugly road shot differentials led to even uglier goal differentials, as noted in the Goals For/Goals Against rows. For every 60 minutes played at home with MacKinnon on the ice, Colorado was +0.7 in the goal column. For every 60 minutes played on the road with MacKinnon on the ice, Colorado was -0.6 in the goal column. Its for those reasons that I found MacKinnons zone start numbers in the initial table interesting. While MacKinnon enjoyed some favorable zone start situations on home ice, he was in more of a defensive role on the road. His raw offensive zone start percentages dropped 5.52 per cent and the percentage of offensive-zone draws he took relative to his teammates actually swung into the negatives. The drop in offensive zone starts meant less offensive opportunity immediately following the restart of play for MacKinnon. I was curious about whether MacKinnon was getting burned by a particular aspect of the zone starts beyond just opening more in the defensive zone last year. So I decided to pull out his Corsi Percentage data in the 30-second window following every draw he was on the ice for last year, then splitting by the outcome of that draw (i.e. win/loss) and venue (i.e. home/road). Was it possible that MacKinnons underlying numbers were getting dinged by something immediately off of the draw? Theres not much difference there. I think its safe to say that MacKinnons raw drop in zone starts – combined with a slight uptick in competition, team effects, and the assortment of subtleties that make road hockey difficult for all (e.g. long change, general risk aversion) – were the contributors behind his slide, as opposed to a singular aspect of the game where MacKinnon really deteriorated. The mere fact MacKinnon was able to have such an explosive season as an 18-year-old is enormously impressive; most players his age are shielded altogether from NHL competition and the few who do get minutes generally sink before they swim. MacKinnon may have looked like a boy amongst men at times on the road last season, but the opposite was true at the Pepsi Center. That part shouldnt be ignored. But for now, the MacKinnon question is an avenue worthy of further investigation. Adidas NMD China Wholesale . Paul, MN (SportsNetwork. Adidas NMD 2018 Online . Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Wild team that has a nice mix of proven veterans along with young, inexpensive talent on the rise. When the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, making a big splash in the summer of 2012, it set the franchise on a path to being more competitive, but a big reason that they have been so competitive is the contributions of young players who still have more to give. http://www.cheapadidasnmd.com/. -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon. Cheap Adidas NMD China . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night. Cheap Wholesale Adidas NMD . The 23-year-old Poland international is back as first choice at Arsenal after losing his regular spot in the team on occasions over the last three seasons.Veteran skip Kevin Koe already has one world title and two national titles on his resume. His next mission is to qualify for the Winter Olympics and hes assembling a new team to try to make it happen. Koe plans to leave the rink he guided to victory at the Tim Hortons Brier for a new lineup that will include Marc Kennedy at third, Ben Hebert at lead and Brent Laing at second. Its an experienced all-star crew that will have its eye on qualification for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "It was not an easy decision," Koe told The Canadian Press from Calgary. "But I felt the timing was good personally for me -- just with the next Olympic cycle coming up -- to make a change." News of the change broke last month before the team departed for the world championship in China. The moves werent formally announced until the Canadian Curling Association issued a news release Tuesday. Koe and his Calgary-based team of third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen settled for a disappointing fourth-place finish last weekend in Beijing. Theyll play their last event together as a foursome at the April 15-20 Grand Slam Players Championship in Summerside, P.E.I. Koe discussed his plans with his teammates last month after they won the Brier in Kamloops, B.C. He admitted it was a "difficult conversation," but doesnt think it affected their play overseas. "I think the guys would say the same thing," Koe said. "If anything, we wanted to win a world championship for each other that much more." The period right after an Olympic Games is always an interesting one on the curling scene. Not everyone is necessarily keen to make another four-year commitment for a variety of factors, including age, jobs and family commitments. Some teams are locked in and ready for the next quadrennial while other players need to move quickly to position themselves before potential vacancies are filled. Qualification events for the 2017 Canadian Curling Trials wont be far off once the new season begins so teams will want to find their rhythm as soon as possible. "I thiink its more a function of just the way curling has gone," Koe said.dddddddddddd"Most years curling changes happen now after an Olympic year. Thats just the nature of the beast I guess. Teams get together to make that big run. "It was no disrespect to the guys. I dont think teams can stay together forever. Our team wasnt going to be staying together with Carter slowing down. So those are just some of the reasons that went into my decision." Rycroft, whose wife is pregnant, had originally planned to take time next season off. However, Thiessen said that plan would be modified so they can enter the 2014 Canada Cup, the 2015 World Financial Group Continental Cup and be the first Team Canada in the history of the Brier. Simmons, Rycroft and Thiessen will name their new skip at a later date. "Teams just kind of run their course," Thiessen said from Edmonton. "We probably -- even though we won the Brier this year -- we were starting to get towards the line of maybe running its course. Kevin had a great opportunity. Thats a great team that hes setting up. "Everyones got to do whats best for them and thats what he did. He went and (will) play with those guys and I mean, who wouldnt? Its three great players that he went to play with." Koe won his other national title and lone world title in 2010 with Rycroft, Thiessen and Blake MacDonald. Simmons later replaced MacDonald but the core of the team spent eight years together. The team members said they will remain good friends, adding next weeks competition will be emotional for all involved. Kennedy and Hebert won Olympic gold at the 2010 Games in Vancouver with skip Kevin Martin, who supported the lineup change. Martin has said he plans to decide on his curling future by the end of June. Laing won world titles with veteran Ontario skip Glenn Howard in 2007 and 2012. "At the end of day with everything else considered, it was just too great of an opportunity to turn down for me," Laing said from Barrie, Ont. Howard wasnt available for comment. Hes expected to name Laings replacement in the coming weeks. ' ' '