Denver columnist puts another licking on the Avs

Never one to pull punches, the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater wrote quite the passionate column following Colorado’s 3-0 loss last night in Vancouver.

As in the past, Dater’s biggest issue is with, in his words, “the tone-deaf upper management that tries to rule by fear and denial.”

Look, this is the deal with the Avalanche: coaches and all other personnel are instructed to keep it positive. Don’t criticize the brand, spin it as positive as you can, don’t get negative, have a “Nothing to see here, move on” persona whenever the S hits the fan on or off the ice. This is what anyone who works for the Avalanche in any capacity is instructed to do, or else consider yourself on the next plane out of town if you don’t.

Dater notes the less-than-disparaging post-game comments of head coach Joe Sacco after losing to the Canucks as evidence of the organization’s PR strategy.

Anyway, it’s worth a read.

To be fair to the Avs, they’re missing some key players. Gabriel Landeskog and Steve Downie are both injured, and Ryan O’Reilly is still in a contract dispute with the club.

But if they don’t turn it around soon, they’re going to miss the playoffs for the third time in a row, and the fifth time in the last seven seasons.