Avs Take Game 1 Against Dallas... in My NHL 24 Simulation!

EA Sports always gets it right, right?

The day before a playoff series starts is a weird time. Dater and I both had pieces go up yesterday about what was to come. I talked about the schedule and a brief look back at previous match-ups with the Stars. AD looked at the storylines that we expect to emerge from this series in the next week and a half.

But at the end of the day, we are just sitting around waiting for it to begin.

When Dater asked me to join him in this venture, it was to be a ‘voice of the fanbase.’ Just one of the passionate members of the ‘Avs Faithful’ that the newly introduced sign in the 300-level honors. A coworker asked me during the 2022 run how much of my day was spent thinking or talking about the Avalanche and I responded, “probably 60% of the day.”

I still don’t know why I lied that day.

It’s more like 80% of the day.

So, like you, I have an undying passion for this team and only so many outlets to express that love. Games are obviously the main source. Working alongside AD has been another. While brainwashing my children at the dinner table with long talks about how Stephane Yelle’s place in team history is far too overlooked has been another solid edition in recent years. So what to do when there is no game, the kids are asleep, and my wife has made it very clear that she has ZERO interest in talking about how Matt Duchene always seems to score against the Avalanche?

NHL 24 apparently.

I am 38 and I own an Xbox. The stigma of adults playing video games is gone as my generation grew up on them and have carried an affinity for them from our own youth to parenthood. I just don’t play enough to be good. And I don’t really play online, so it’s mostly just Pat vs. The Machine. Lame. I know.

So last night, I dusted off the sticks (what kids call controllers) and decided to start an NHL 24 postseason. I created a bracket from the current state of the postseason with the eight remaining teams. Like real life, I genuinely don’t care about the other three series and am focused solely on Colorado/Dallas.

So here I am, 12:23 p.m. ET of Game 1… sharing with you the details of my video game played last night. I do so in the hopes that tonight’s real game can mimic the same result… (SPOILER!).

I won’t bore you with the play-by-play of the game because I can only assume this piece will already have a niche readership. But know that this game basically had everything you would expect from tonight’s real Game 1 in Dallas.

The Stars got on the board first as Sam Girard’s backhanded centering feed to Sean Walker went into the net off the inside of Alexander Georgiev’s left skate early in the first period while on the penalty kill. I immediately imagined all the comments we get during the in-game chat if this had happened in real life… because it would combine so many things we all have expressed frustration over: an early deficit, a soft Georgiev goal and a Sammy G misstep.

Mikko Rantanen would tie the game soon thereafter on a snipe in the slot, so no harm, no foul for Sammy. Miles Wood would make it a 2-1 Colorado game with a gritty goal battling down low with Ross Colton. And to further the sense of realism, Matt Duchene would tie the game… because of course he would!

Sean Walker would get retribution for the own-goal he was the intended recipient for earlier by scoring a shorthanded marker after walking the blue line and finding space down low to slide in the eventual game winner. For his efforts, he was named the game’s first star in the Avs’ 3-1 victory.

As you can see from the stats, Colorado dominated puck possession, which is wild considering how bad I am at face-offs. Twenty-two draws in the game and zero wins for the Avs. That’s actually impressive how god awful I am.

Look, I actually suck at this game. I know it. But it’s fun sometimes to hop on and mess around. It’s one of the outlets I mentioned above. I tell my wife I’m on the team all the time, but this is one way for me to show her that it’s actually true!

And I get that many of you won’t get this far or will think this is an exercise in stupidity… and you’d be right. But does The Athletic give you this much Avalanche content? No… no, they do not.

So here’s to hoping that Colorado can win Game 1 tonight and duplicate the success I enjoyed last night.

Go Avs Go!