Over half the season has gone and if this slump continues, the Avs will miss the playoffs for the second time in three years. Winning conceals a lot of flaws, but our PK has been pretty awful all year, the PP has not been bad at all, although it is trending downward at the moment.

Special teams win games. This is no secret to anyone who follows hockey. Why, then, is the PK so godawful and why isn't that being addressed?

Since Sacco has taken on the job of coach, special teams have been pretty poor. Last year, it was the PP:

2009/10 PP - 18.1%

2009/10 PK - 80.2%

This year it is the PK

2010/11 PP - 19.6%

2010/11 PK - 76.9%

Is there such a thing as a Special Teams coach? Or is that normally the head coach's responsibility? If it is, I would suggest that either the coach take advice from someone about special teams, or, consider signing a PK specialist to prop up the special teams.

O'Reilly and Winnik are awesome, but something is askew here and when you are playing .500 hockey, you need to look for any advantage to get you into the playoffs.

Is it the coach, or is it the players who don't execute Sacco's tactics?