Dater: Are Avs In Deep Manure? History says yes - and no

Late-season slides have resulted in playoff charges

One win, five losses, one overtime loss.

That was the record of the 2021-22 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the final seven regular-season games. Included in those losses were a 6-3 defeat in Edmonton and a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

“The Avalanche are in serious trouble” was the gist of many headlines when the regular season ended. The team had a great record to that point, but there were goaltending problems, everyone said (Darcy Kuemper wasn’t as good as advertised) and everybody looked stale as Game 1 against the Nashville Predators approached.

The Avs went 16-4 from there and hoisted Lord Stanley’s silver punchbowl in the humid June air of Tampa, defeating the defending champion Lightning in six games despite the entire series being under protest by Jon Cooper.