Mile High Maniac
Fansided

Colorado Avalanche: A Primer

By Michael Longhofer

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 24: The ice sheet is prepared for the Columbus Blue Jackets to face the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on October 24, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. The Blue Jackets defeated the Avalanche 4-3. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – OCTOBER 24: The ice sheet is prepared for the Columbus Blue Jackets to face the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on October 24, 2015 in Denver, Colorado. The Blue Jackets defeated the Avalanche 4-3. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

I know I’ve been out-of-the-loop for a while but it seems like 95 points should be comfortably in the playoffs.

I looked at the point totals for the Avalanche’s time in Denver and 95 is an interesting number.  The Avs finished second in the Western Conference in 1997-98 with 95 points.  Only once in their Colorado history have they failed to make the playoffs with 95 or more points (2006-07).  All season I looked at the Avs win-loss record and thought that they must be a middle-of-the-pack playoff team.

Not this year.  The Avalanche had to win a play-in-esque game over the Blues on Sunday to secure their spot.  Further to the craziness, the Avalanche had to win in regulation.  One point for the Blues and it would be them travelling to Nashville for Thursday’s playoff opener.

The NBA isn’t the only league with notable parity.  In any other season, this Avalanche team missing the playoffs would be absurd.  It’s just been that kind of year for professional sports in Denver.

Still, you’d like to think hovering near 20-games over .500 would garner more attention.  Such is often the plight of teams trying to exist in the shadows of the Broncos.  When the Avalanche were competing for the Stanley Cup, there was talk of them usurping the Broncos stranglehold on Denver.

It wasn’t to be but for that brief time it was possible.

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