Avs Notebook: Division, Conference Title Looking More Realistic As Top Competitors Keep Losing

And, my latest thoughts on the trade deadline and NHL 3 Best Bets

Man, I wish I had put a few shekels on the Chicago Blackhawks last night when they were down 3-0 to the Dallas Stars, on the road in the second game of a back-to-back and third game in four nights. What were the odds of a comeback Chicago win, in regulation? Well, I never actually saw what they were, but I’d bet something like 2000-1 against, minimum.

Come back and win in regulation is exactly what the cellar-dwelling Blackhawks did last night in Dallas, though, and that really helped the Colorado Avalanche hockey club quite a bit.

The Avs have been idle all week, but they’ve only lost a grand total of two points in the Central Division standings - and those two were to second-place Winnipeg. First-place Dallas has now lost five in a row, and so right now Colorado is still only five points back of the Stars and here’s the big thing: Now the Avs have three games in hand on Dallas. The Avs are four points back of Winnipeg, and they’ve got three games in hand on the Jets, too.

So, yeah, the Colorado Avalanche now control their own destiny when it comes to the Central Divison, at least. The Avs are six points back of Western Conference-leading Vegas, but with only two games in hand.

Tomorrow night, the Avs resume their schedule in Winnipeg. Yes, my sources say, this is a big game.

It’s hard to fathom that the Avs are in this kind of fortunate spot, with all the injuries they’ve had. Jared Bednar said something interesting the other day, that the Stars have only had three injured players all season, and for very little lost time (I haven’t double-checked those numbers, but I’ll assume he’s got good information). His team had more than that in the last week, he said.

But the Avs have just managed to grind out wins lately, thanks to opportune, clutch play. That win over Edmonton the other day was Exhibit A.

One note of caution: the Avs are only three points from being OUT of the playoff picture too, but that is a bit deceiving. The Calgary Flames are the ninth-place team in the West, with 65 points. But the Avs have three games in hand on the Flames, too.

Translation: A playoff spot looks much more guaranteed than it did a week ago, thanks to teams like Dallas, Winnipeg, Calgary and even Minnesota losing more than they’ve been winning.

It’ll nice to see some Avs hockey again tomorrow night too, won’t it?

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