Will the Colorado Avalanche make the playoffs?
They might but it’s way a longshot, because with so many games being 3-point games, in order to catch anybody, Colorado basically has to pretty much run the table from here on out, and also one of the teams above them has to really tank it. Both things have to happen for them to catch anyone. They could keep it going – but if the teams above them play basically .500 hockey from here on out the Avs still will probably fall just short. That’s what stinks with this giving 1 point for the overtime loss.
I’m a Sabres/Avalanche fan, but I can see Colorado slipping in the 8th seed, possibly 7th. They got some great players in Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, Peter Budaj, Andrew Brunette, John-Michael Liles, and a capable backup in Jose Theodore. Stastny is hot with a 17 game point streak as a rookie, which tied Teemu Selanne back when he was on the Winnipeg Jets which is amazing to start off. Liles has 11 goals and about 28 assists, which is good. If Marek Svatos comes out of his slump, they got even a better shot because Svatos is a 2nd year guy that is very good, but just in a bad slump, and just waiting to get out of it because he is very fast and very good still. Colorado is only 6 points behind Minnesota, which I don’t see making the playoffs with Manny Fernandez and Nicklas Backstrom being hurt. People over estimate the odds of Colorado not making the playoffs. Colorado may be on a long road trip, but they are 3-0 on it, beating my favorite team, the Sabres, wh
I can’t see them making it in the playoffs. Their team is getting old. In a game now dominated by young, fast players (thank you rule changes, blah) it’s difficult for veterans to do anything but lead a team late in the season. Both Budaj and Theodore are shaky this season. Hejduk has had a bad year by his standards. The blue line is not as strong as the perennial teams that the Avalanche have had. The Flames, Canucks, and Wild are all playing well both at home and on the road. Plus, their goal differential is not something to brag about. I don’t think they will get enough help from the top three teams in the Northwest to make it in. I think they would do themselves a favor by retooling in the offseason to put Stastney, Wolski, and Budaj as the center piece for a great team.
