Toward the end of the season, Colorado Avalanche head coach almost seemed to be speaking a mantra when he talked about all the injuries to the players. He stated outright in more than one press conference and on The Fan that the injuries were a large part of the reason the Avalanche had a disappointing season.
Pundits don’t always agree. They point out that other teams had a lot of injuries, too, and did fine. Indeed, this season the #3 team for man-games lost, behind only the Avalanche and the Columbus Blue Jackets, were the Pittsburgh Penguins. And they limped into the playoffs.