from Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

So what's the problem with Stan Kroenke's hockey team?

- Mismanagement. Former GM Greg Sherman made a bunch of mistakes, such as dealing elite offensive defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the Blues for Erik Johnson. The Blues also got Chris Stewart in that deal and Stewie proved handy for a while, any way. Joe Sakic hasn't done much better since gaining control of the hockey operation, losing key forwards Paul Stastny (free agency to the Blues) and Ryan O'Reilly (trade with Buffalo) and overspending on former Blues prospect Carl Soderberg in free agency. Also, Colorado is paying spare defenseman Brad Stuart $3.6 million as the seventh defenseman this season -- and his contract runs through 2017.

- Willful ignorance. Sakic and coach Patrick Roy cling to their old-school ways. They refuse to put much stock in the newfangled analytics. So they missed all the warnings that their 112-point team was due for a comedown due to poor puck possession numbers and high shooting percentages that were not sustainable.

- Lousy coaching. Roy favors a go-go offensive style, which leads to lots of entertaining losses in the brutally competitive Central Division. He has remained eerily upbeat while his team started terribly for the second season in a row. Sakic has had to assure the public that Roy really IS paying attention and realizes that the 'Lanche have been a mess.

read on plus more hockey topics...