Deen’s Daily: Soaring Jets; Avalanche Win Again; Vitek… Vanacek?

It took six games for the Avalanche to get their first regulation win. I would’ve never predicted that a month ago, but here we are.

I think this team struggled out of the gate for many reasons. The obvious ones are, of course, the injury issues and the lack of competent goaltending. But I often think back to my 1-on-1 with Logan O’Connor last Friday morning — hours before the Avs defeated Anaheim and won their first game. In the most respectful LOC way possible, the veteran forward broke down all the things he felt his team could do better. When I sat down to write that article, which is available for CHN+ subscribers, it served as a reminder for me that Colorado has dealt with injuries like this before and didn’t struggle in this way. At least not defensively.

Perhaps it was more than just the injuries and goaltending that led to the tough start. But, it’s nice to see them winning again. And thankfully for the Avs, their schedule isn’t terrible for the rest of the month.

You can catch my recap of the game here, which highlights the Good & Bad from the 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

Around The NHL

San Jose Sharks: Tough night for the Sharks, and for whoever’s in charge of stitching nameplates on the game-used sweaters. The Sharks are the only team without a win through six games (Nashville is 0-5) and are already missing No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini. Their performance against the Avs on Sunday was a reminder that this team has a long way to go — even with a healthy Celebrini. You can catch the Sharks angle of Sunday’s showdown from Sheng Peng here.

I’m not one to throw my arms up about simple mistakes, like misspelling a name on a sweater. But it’s fascinating that this stuff happens in the NHL and other pro sports leagues. There’s a long history of this (including once with Wayne Gretzky).

Whoops 😬. Vitek Vanecek’s name is spelled wrong on his jersey tonight. #SJSharks Photo credit: INDTV USA pic.twitter.com/oYJfzdAf3F

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) October 21, 2024

Winnipeg Jets: The NHL’s best team is in the Central Division. And it’s Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets, who defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Sunday to improve to 5-0-0 on the season. Their 24 goals in five games is the best goals-per-game clip in the NHL. And they’re also allowing the least goals in the league, too, with just eight goals against. What an incredible start for Scott Arniel as…