Avs fail to show up, drop 4-0 to the Flyers

‘Twas the night before the trade deadline and all the fans could think about is what will happen in the next handful of hours at the trade deadline. It's clear the players felt this way too as the majority of Colorado Avalanche decided to skip this game and fell 4-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers. The boys in burgundy didn't have much chance after nearly surrendering a natural hat trick to Wayne Simmonds in the first 10 minutes of the first period. Simmonds got on the board at 4:04 with a shorthanded tally, then again at 8:07 on the power play and finally at 10:35 before it was determined Francois Beauchemin actually tipped the puck past Jeremy Smith and the goal was awarded to Jakub Voracek after the hats had already rained down.

In the second period Jordan Weal, one of those pesky former third round picks that seem to work out for other teams, scored his first NHL goal at 7:16 because why not. The Avs managed to show signs of life and outshoot the Flyers 11-7 in the second period (32-26 overall) but the only excitement was a penalty shot awarded to Mikko Rantanen, which he proceeded to let the puck roll off his stick before it could challenge Steve Mason. The third period was spent mostly gliding around playing alibi hockey and waiting for the bus to the airport to warm up.

Three Questions

The question on everyone’s mind is who has just played their last game for Colorado or even worse, who hasn't? While there's still ample time to make deals, the clock is ticking as the 11th hour approaches. With the apparent difficulty to get even mid round picks back in exchange for pending UFAs, it becomes even more distressing just how easy it seems those types of assets have been flowing out of the organization in the past several years.

Does anyone in the organization understand the mess they've created? Over half of the players dressed in this contest were acquired on or after July 1, 2015. And while the great majority of these misses are either pending UFAs or have one year term left on their contract, the seeming rock bottom or negative value they currently hold is a disturbing concern.

When will the misery end? Holding out dwindling hope that the much anticipated youth movement is still coming is akin to waiting for the Easter Bunny to arrive. There should be some clarity in the next 24 hours but if not, the promise of tomorrow stepping in and making a difference in this disaster will eternally keep the fanbase going.

Up Next

The Avs travel to Ottawa with most likely the same collection of fools for a 5:30pm MT match with the Senators on Thursday.