DENVER, CO – Believe in believe.

I get it. The Colorado Avalanche of recent years have set a bar, and the honest reality currently is that nothing has changed. For the fans…panic is normal, so is frustration. Understandable emotions when a team so revered and loaded with talent, potential, and promise starts a season with a 4 game slide…rebounds…and slips again. For the team and staff, none of those aforementioned feelings apply or factor in. And the reason being could simply be chalked up to good old fashioned rough luck. In all my years covering hockey, I cannot recall a time when so many setbacks have plagued a club in such a short time period.

Injuries are part of the game. Inevitable. But for them to come in such close succession targeting the Avalanche’s mainstays, and to be to the extreme they are after already starting a season in the hole is quite frankly…laughable.

Survival, perseverance, and belief is the only option at this point. And that is without question the thread being sewn through the fabric of the Avalanche organization. I’ll save the blow by blow tonight. It’s in opinion irrelevant at this junction.

The Avalanche faced a formidable opponent in the Tampa Bay Lightning and showed up to an O.K. Corral gunfight with nothing but knives to no fault of their own. And guess what? They almost won, and more importantly stayed in the fight and were never out of it.

The first period, actually the first 10 minutes handicapped Colorado. Kaapo Kahkonen made his debut after a conditioning stint with the Eagles of the AHL where he stopped 57 of 62 faced. Bad bounces, some mis-communication and just plain bad luck had the hopeful home team down 3-0 five minutes in. Ivan Ivan on the power play made things optimistic as the Avalanche escaped the opening twenty down 2.

In the second, just when the Avalanche seemed to be pushing and hope was blossoming, Jake Guentzel got Tampa back up by three. At some point the ability to come from behind becomes more of a struggle than a group is capable of. Tonight was that night for Colorado.

The Avalanche defended well collectively, the six men on the blue line collectively did their job top to bottom. And at the end of the day it will be those six pillars that inevitably keep the house holding strong in what is seemingly hurricane strength winds. But whether it is fair or not, Colorado needed more offensively from its horses. The responsibility and pressure isn’t quite fair, but thats part of the job. A goal here. A save there. Bounces and chances more in the favor of Colorado could have drastically changed this outcome. But the hockey God’s are fickle.

Colorado faced one of the top tenders in the game and did all they could to penetrate Andre Vasilevskiy. But the veteran showed up and made saves on 33 of 35 shots.

Kahkonen settled in and the Avalanche seemed comfortable in front of him!

Questions exist on how this team will handle a 3 goalie roster, but the truth of the matter is that something is going to have to give. I can tell you that the room has no quit in it and that, in my opinion, if there ever was a group which could overcome this roller coaster start to the season, it’s the Colorado Avalanche of 24-25, because they for certain believe.

Believe in believe.