“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.”

– George Whitefield

“It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.”

– Thomas Fuller

It was pretty damned dark for your Colorado Avalanche 17 days ago, having just lost their third game in a row, and finding themselves on the wrong end of a 5-2 ass-whupping from the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The loss put Vegas up on the Avs by six points with nine games left in the season. Colorado stayed in second place in the West Division, but only barely, a point ahead of Minnesota. The loss left the Avs with 66 points, with seven other teams having better totals. There was a fair bit of worry and gnashing of teeth amongst the Avalanche faithful. But then…

Then there was a dawn. Or a dawning. Something dawnethed. Colorado took three of four from the San Jose Sharks, a pair from the Los Angeles Kings, and an away game in Vegas – a win they and the Golden Knights both desperately wanted. Then home for the final pair of games against the Kings, and pretty much disassembled them twice. That’s wins over eight of those last nine games, including a five-game road trip in which they won four.

With those heroics, Colorado improbably vaulted themselves to the top of the points pile via tiebreakers, and exit the regular season with the President’s Trophy. That’s particularly important to success in this postseason as every round will re-seed, making sure home ice stays with Colorado throughout. Having altitude and change advantages gives the Avs an extra edge they could have used in near misses over their last few postseason outcomes.

Even more happily, the heroics have been coming from across the lineup in different games. Different multi-goal scorers on different nights, goalies standing on their heads, and key defensive stops on even- and odd-man situations have set this team on a torrid pace over 56 games, one that might have landed them at 120 points in a usual-length season. While they finished the season hot, Colorado was impressively solid throughout. The fact that they’ve won in so many different ways has given their usual superstars a moment to take a deep breath and get ready to take aim at a different sort of a trophy. Something a little more cup-shaped.

The President’s Trophy is certainly no guarantee of winning the Stanley Cup. Less than a quarter of the teams who have won the former since it was instituted in 1986 have also picked up the latter. But the last time the Avalanche won the regular season just so happened to be one of the same. Twenty years ago, an exceptional “16W” Avs squad from top to bottom ran over the rest of the league on the way to one of the more emotionally inspiring championship runs in league history.

Can the 20-21 Avs keep this momentum rolling to their ultimate prize? There’s every reason to think so, as they are healthy, productive, and cohesive at exactly the right moment. The team that brought Colorado their first championship looks well primed to notch another. The trophy? That’s really nice. The Cup? The Cup is the chief concern.

Hail to these Chiefs. The 2020-21 Colorado Avalanche have taken another step forward, and look to be ready to see Cup number three.