Colorado Avalanche: 3 Keys to Their Building Momentum

The Colorado Avalanche dominated the Arizona Coyotes with a first-period shorthanded explosion. The Avs are chasing Nashville in the division.

It was good/weird to see Vince Vaughn dropping the puck but it was extra fun finding out that Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog was excited to meet Vaughn.  Hockey players have a special quality to them that is very endearing.

Like their NBA counterparts, the Avalanche started strong, faltered a bit but seem to be back on-track for a deep playoff run.  There was the 7-3, not-as-close-as-the-score pummeling of the Kings in Los Angeles.  Friday night saw a 5-1 domination of the Arizona Coyotes in Phoenix.  The Avalanche have the top power play in the NHL, the top scorer, the first and second ranked goal scorers and the top overall offense in the league.

The blowup that had locals wondering if Colorado coach Jared Bednar was moving to the hot seat and whether the team had any punch beyond the top line and defense beyond goaltending lasted about two games.  We are gunshy in Colorado, I understand but the Avalanche used to get a wide benefit-of-the-doubt locally.

That confidence has wavered in a decade of mediocre-to-bad play from the Avs. so the fans can be forgiven. They are rebuilding some of that faith in the last two seasons, they are exciting and they play hard and they are building momentum in a season with moderately high expectations.

Here are three drivers to the building momentum: