The Elite defense of the Colorado Avalanche shines through again as Bowen Byram dominates against the St. Louis Blues. Quality play from everyone and goals from Mikko Rantanen and Val Nichushkin made this one easy for the Avs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO4WfO12N9U
A fantastic game from the Avs’ depth forwards like Logan O’Connor, JT Compher, Alex Newhook, and Ben Meyers. The Avs are able to hold on to an early lead despite some third period struggles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6zq_y8M1RI
Some days you are the moose, some days you get moosed. Today Mikko was the big moose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meZEBfRgc90
This Avs loss was not for lack of opportunity but Colorado certainly lacked finish as one too many chances got away from them in a game you could argue they played better than St. Louis in most categories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSE_-3NrxCE
The Avs look poised to dominate the Central division for a third straight year but have any of the other teams closed the gap? And who will win the Connor Bedard sweepstakes? https://youtu.be/DrNse8Yv9W8
The Avalanche are back in the Western Conference final for the first time in 20 years thanks to their forward depth. The St Louis Blues got to play the sacrifice as the Avs finally slew their Round 2 demons. https://youtu.be/yADuV00FWYs
Now that. That was a playoff series worth remembering. While it has been eye-rollingly stupid to watch Colorado’s detractors the last few years pretend like getting out of the first round is some given (“But they only beat the x-ranked team! How hard is that?” they asked while ignoring the Avs were the only team in the NHL to accomplish…...
At morning skate today, every member of the media that I talked to said roughly the same thing, “I can’t believe we’re back here.” Halfway through Game 5, everybody was making plans for what they would do with their days off in between series, and obviously you know what happened next. So there we were, sitting inside the Enterprise Center…...
The demon yet lives. Nathan MacKinnon cannot be the lone hero in this journey to the Western Conference Finals. The only good news here is the Avs get more opportunities to win the series. https://youtu.be/byJ0hbKCIPw
The only positive way I can even think to spin this one for the Colorado Avalanche is that everyone knew this series would be a tough battle, everyone knew the Avalanche were going to have to fight through some adversity to get to where they want to go, and now they have a chance to go out and prove that…...
There aren’t a lot of moments in hockey I can earnestly say I’ll never forget. Kadri’s hat trick in this game has absolutely earned that status. The Avs continue to finish business taking a 3 – 1 series lead back home for Game 5. https://youtu.be/I1E8EbAc4_o
I want to start this off by being honest that I may not be the right voice or the right perspective for this piece. I’m a straight white guy who has lived in predominantly white areas all my life and the extent of the discrimination I’ve faced is that Colorado natives occasionally frown upon my admission that I grew up…
You know, there was so much drama and so many story lines ahead Game 4 between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues, that you almost forgot that the two teams would eventually have to play the game instead of everyone just talking about it. I probably don’t need to fill you in on the noise surrounding this game, it’s…...
A solid all-around game marred by injuries on both sides sees the Avs come out on top to take a 2 – 1 series lead. With production coming from every forward line the Avs seem to outmatch St. Louis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgCPyXJygmM
The Avs drop their first game of the playoffs to level their second-round series at 1 – 1 against the St. Louis Blues. With poor execution and a lack of urgency, this needs to be the Avs floor if they want to contend for the cup. https://youtu.be/hoTIHdoK6H8
Hockey, like most facets of life I suppose, is built on some time-worn cliches that get us through things like game recaps. They become cliches, however, because at the core is almost always some level of truth found in there. One of hockey’s great truths is that you’re never in trouble in a playoff series until you lose a home…...
Given his team is 5-0 in the postseason for the second straight season, there’s a sneaky amount of pressure on Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar right now. It’s not the kind of pressure that results in a coach losing his job (if that was ever even a possibility, it ended with the tidy sweep of the Predators), but with…...
The Avs get an elite performance out of Sam Girard and Josh Manson on their second pairing to escape OT with a W in Game 1 against the Blues. With dominant 5-on-5 play across the board, the Avs should feel confident going deeper into the series. https://youtu.be/cq_ym2Nbf3E
This morning, Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar addressed the media for what felt like the 20th time since his team last saw game action. Bednar wasn’t his usual chatty self, there were actually several times he gave one-word or one-line answers. I asked him what he was looking for out of Sam Girard, given the way his postseason performance…...
Let’s start this Round 2 preview between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues by establishing something that I think is important: This is not last year and the regular-season meetings between these two teams do not matter. There might be plenty of optimism about the Avs-Blues matchup in Colorado, but last year’s sweep of the Blues in Round 1…...