Avalanche Season Comes To A Close

What a season.

It's hard to remember now, but less than a year ago, Colorado earned the #1 pick. And when the team hired Roy, I (like most fans) was on board. But we didn't really know what to expect.

To go from 29th to 3rd in the league...
to win the division over excellent teams like the Blues, Blackhawks, Wild...
to go to the playoffs for the first since I moved here three years ago...
to win three playoff games, two of which were unbelievably exciting...
to go to a Game 7 and to have that go to overtime...

It is all incredible. Thank you to the players and coaches and the rest of the organization for a fantastic experience all year.

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I'm glad I got to experience a Game 7. And I'm glad for the players. It didn't turn out the way any of us wanted, but it is good experience. I think the Avs will be back in the playoffs for the next couple years and this was a good first run with this young core.

Moving forward this team has some strengths but also some weaknesses that could pose problems.

Despite my previous post that I wasn't worried about the advanced stats for this year's playoffs, I absolutely think they need to improve their possession/shot numbers. And they need to improve their defense. You can't count on having the #3 goalie (by save percentage). Varly should be top ten next year, but you can't count on staying that hot all year.

The offense should only get better. We have a lot of great scorers and playmakers that are young too. If we're able to keep them around, the next six years look solid.

Worst case scenario: The defense and possession number stay this bad or get a little worse. Varly regresses to average or below average. The offense is average. Avs miss the playoffs again.

Best case scenario: The defense and possession numbers improve just a bit. The offense improves because we have young talent that just matures. Varly has room to regress a bit and still stay a top 5 goalie. And now we have a bit of playoff experience. That's a dangerous team.

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The NHL division playoffs have done what they intended--created and intensified rivalries. Before this series, many Avs fans thought little of the Wild. Just a boring, defensively-minded team. Now, this is a team that our players, coach and fans want to beat year after year. A dirty hit that ended the season of our most clutch player and whining about every call, in a series (like every series) that has a bunch of big calls go both ways, will do that. Minnesota, I'd love to do this again next year.

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I really thought the Avalanche were going to win that game. Repeatedly.

Brit and I went out to a sports bar to watch it together. It was the first time in our relationship that we've gone to a bar to watch a game of any kind. Before Game 6, she said, "If there's a game 7, we have to go out." I love this woman.

When I was thinking Colorado was going to win, I was already thinking, "The better team did not win." What I meant in my head, was that these teams are so even. They could play a best of 100 right now and it would be 50-50. It sounded more magnanimous assuming the Avs won. Now it comes off as sour grapes.

The Wild won fair and square. The Avs had plenty of chances and there's no whining here about the outcome.

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I was really looking forward to a series with the Blackhawks. Even if Colorado lost to them, there's no shame in that. And it would have been more good experience. And I was just really curious if our regular season success against Chicago would carry into the playoffs (it didn't for Minnesota). But it will have to wait until another year.

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What more can you say? I've still never seen a team advance in the playoffs, but it's mostly my fault for only rooting for the Chiefs and the last 3 years of the Avalanche. It was a great season and has the prospect of more.