One year ago tonight, the Avs beat the New York Rangers in an overtime in front of a sellout crowd of 18,025 at Pepsi Center. During that game, the NBA announced it would suspend their season, and the following day the NHL followed suit. Since then, we have all been living in the Upside Down, only with no extraterrestrial monsters, though given how unthinkable the past year has been, I doubt anyone would be surprised by an alien attack. When the Avs left the ice on March 11, 2020, they were 42-20-8 and trailing the St. Louise Blues by one point for the lead in the Western Conference with a game in hand and were poised to make a deep playoff run.
Last night, the Avs skated off the ice, also in an overtime victory, but the stands were quiet and not because it was a road victory. The hallways and lines for beer remained empty. As if the vibe of the stadium isn’t enough, it now even bears a new name. The only spectators at Ball Arena were there in a working capacity and masked. Nearly halfway through the season, the Avs have a record of 14-8-2 and are vying, not for the conference title, but for a playoff spot, period.
It isn’t that the Avs are playing poorly; they dominated Arizona in the last two games. They outshot them 81-28 in their two contests, but Finnish netminder, Antti Raanta, remained impenetrable (nothing was getting through). However, much like the end of the 2020 playoffs, the Avs have been plagued with an injury-ridden roster - Makar, Johnson, Francouz, Compher, Timmins, Byram, and Gilbert. MacKinnon only just returned to the lineup after missing three games due to a head injury.
If this were 2018, I would be content with where the Avs stand. But when we’ve seen what this team is capable of, it sets high expectations. Despite falling to the Dallas Stars in the Second Round of the playoffs, the Avalanche entered this year, a mid-season start, favored to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup. I think it is improbable to project the Stanley Cup Champions at the beginning of the season, even if it is my team. It’s a long season, and anything can happen, especially in a season as strange as this one. The shortened 56 game season is being played solely on a divisional level to limit travel. The Ave play the same seven teams eight times. Early in February, the Avs seemed to be gaining momentum, but due to COVID protocol, play was halted for 11 days. Nothing about this year is normal. A majority of the country has been wearing the same pair of sweatpants for the last year; I don’t think anyone is in a place to make predictions on the future. The other day I wrote the month as “January” and had to get two negative COVID tests to believe that I didn’t have it. It turns out my chest tightness was just anxiety, and I’m not even a hypochondriac (at least I wasn’t). People are stressed and riddled with anxiety, so I can’t blame the Avs for not being completely present every game.
That being said, I don’t get paid the salary that they do either, and it’s not every year that you have the roster and chemistry that we do. No one wants to write the season off as another fallout from the pandemic. The question is, what is Joe going to do about it? The trade deadline is April 12th, and the Avs need some help. Hopefully, everyone can get healthy and return to the ice. Problem solved. But if the names like Johnson or Francouz remain off the bench, our calculating Joe will likely make some moves. Is it worth it to sacrifice any of our younger talent for a rental playoff player? Or will the rumors hold true, and we will be getting a new backup, or rather former Av goalie, Jonathan Bernier from Detroit. Like so many things these days, it is out of our hands, and all we can do is have faith. In Joe We Trust.