Trying To Talk My Way Into Thinking Things Will Be OK With The Avs

It's just the injuries that are the problem. Right? Right?

Dater/editor’s note: I’ll be live-chatting the Avs-Blackhawks tonight, so feel free to join in. I’ll have full coverage after the game. Meantime, enjoy this analysis from Pat Salvas, who, as the story says, isn’t panicking just yet about our fair team, but there is clearly some sweat on his brow.

The Colorado Avalanche are currently in sixth place in the NHL’s Central Division, 20th in the league-wide standings and out of the playoffs if they started today (they don’t).

There are issues with this team that have led to struggles in on-ice performance that has translated to a lack of consistency from night-to-night. 

We all know it’s injuries. There’s no need to dance around the topic. It’s been the unfortunate theme of the year that usually is at the forefront of all discussions of this team. What makes the injuries infinitely worse this season is that when you’re on top, you get the best effort of every opponent… every night. 

When you win, you’ve got a target on your back.

That’s the saying that everyone uses when you win a championship. Hell, that’s what made beating Tampa last year so much more special. The Avs knocked off the two-time defending Cup champs to finally get it done. That’s partly what made 2001 even more special than the added Ray Bourque factor: beating the defending champion Devils in Game 7 to accomplish the goal.

The difference for this year’s Avalanche team is that beating them is not nearly the same as taking down a defending champion in past years. However, the target remains on a team that is a shell of what it was just 12 months ago, but with a new banner above their heads.

I’m not saying this is the 1998 Florida Marlins who were gutted by ownership after winning the World Series the year before and playing with an almost entirely new roster. I am saying that the Avs of 2022 and 2023 are different in the way they look and feel.