The past thirty years of Avalanche hockey have featured incredible highs, and some very, very dismal lows.
As an avid fan of The Simpsons, I’ve witnessed plenty of “best of times” moments, but also been subjected to a smattering of unpleasant “blursts” of times. In the final edition of this off-season series, I take a look back through the past thirty years, highlighting one moment that stands among the best, and comparatively, the worst (or blurst, if you will) each season.
Here are the best and blurst moments from another five years of Colorado Avalanche history.
2020-2021
The Best: Miniseries Schedule Format (Various)
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued after the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff bubble, the NHL tried to find a way for its member clubs to the upcoming season.
A shortened, fifty-six game schedule was unveiled, along with a temporary division realignment. Instead of all 31 teams playing against each other, teams would play solely against members of their own division. Each team would play a total of eight games against each division opponent.
As was the case during the playoff bubble, fans were not permitted to attend. This policy was lifted in April, allowing a fans to attend games, albeit in a very reduced capacity.
The Avs were one of eight teams that made up the West Division, facing off against the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Los Angels Kings, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, and Vegas Golden Knights.
In order to potential risks associated with traveling from city to city, teams often played “miniseries” of games against the same opponent. The schedule had a couple of variations to keep things a little interesting. In order to re-create home ice advantage, teams would play a couple of games against each other in one city, then travel to the other for a third game. Or, they would play a pair of games in a specific city, then play another pair against that same team on the road as the season progressed.
Playing consecutive games against the same opponent—sometimes on back to back nights—evoked a playoff series atmosphere, and added a new dimension to regular season play. Since teams could only play against other ones within their division, every point held even more significance as the shortened season progressed. This led to heightened physicality during games and, as the season marched towards the playoffs, increased urgency for better playoff positioning, if not staving off elimination from playoff consideration.
The Avs finished with a 39-13-4 record and 82 points, narrowly edging out Vegas via tiebreakers for the best record in the League and their third Presidents Trophy in franchise history.
The format has yet to return in the years following this one, and due to the myriad scheduling conflicts for each venue, it likely won’t be seen again. I felt this scheduling adjustment was a unique method of making the regular season games more compelling. If there’s ever a chance that the League could re-imagine the now 84 game season to recreate this format in some capacity, it could help draw in more viewers that may be inclined to see a rematch between two clubs after a tightly contested game, or see if one team can respond after a blowout loss.
Case in point: the Avs lost their season opener to the St. Louis Blues by a score of 4-1 at Ball Arena on January 13. Two nights later, they responded in convincing fashion, defeating St. Louis by a 8-0 decision.
The highlights below speak for themselves. Who wouldn’t be drawn in by a response like that?
This scheduling strategy was the best move the League could have made under such challenging circumstances.
The Blurst: Nazem Kadri KOs Justin Faulk (May 19, 2021)
After securing the top seed in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Avs drew the St. Louis Blues in the first round. Both teams had previously met only once in the postseason: the Avs defeated St. Louis in five games during the 2001 Western Conference Final en route to their second Stanley Cup championship.
In comments to the media before the series began, St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly professed his belief in his team’s capability to prevail over the Avs. “We know that they have a lot of talent over there and they work hard, but for us, it’s an exciting challenge,” said O’Reilly. “We’re going have some fun and we’re going to beat them.”
Oh, oh, oh…O’Reilly.
The Avs took that bulletin board material and ran with it all the way to a 4-1 victory in Game One.
Game Two followed a similar blueprint, until things took an unfortunate turn in the third period. Blues defenseman Justin Faulk had received a drop pass from teammate Robert Thomas in the Avs zone. Avs center Nazem Kadri began skating towards Faulk in an attempt to disrupt the play. Immediately after Faulk shot the puck towards goaltender Philipp Grubauer, Kadri forcefully hit Faulk, with the majority of the contact up high. The force of the impact spun Faulk around before he tumbled to the ice, laying motionless.
Kadri was assessed a match penalty for the hit, and on May 21 ahead of Game Three at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, he was suspended eight games for the hit. The Avs would go on to sweep St. Louis out of the postseason, and advance to face the Vegas Golden Knights.
On May 31, one day after the Avs won Game One by a 7-1 score, Kadri filed to appeal his suspension with the NHL, but the League upheld their decision. The Avs won Game Two against Vegas in overtime by a 3-2 decision the next day.
With half of Kadri’s suspension now served, and two games away from the Western Conference Final, the Avs still had a huge hill to climb. Even if they were to sweep Vegas, they would still be without Kadri for at least two more games in the next series. If Vegas were to push back, the soonest Kadri would be available would be in a winner-take-all Game Seven at Ball Arena.
Unfortunately for the Avs, they wouldn’t get the chance to find out. Vegas won the next four straight games, eliminating the Avs series in six games. This was the third consecutive second-round exit for the Avs, and with it, a possible Stanley Cup berth went bust (or blurst).
Nathan MacKinnon bemoaned the loss in this infamous video. “I’m going into my ninth year next year,” he began, “and I haven’t won shit, so I’m definitely motivated [for next year].”
A year later, the hockey world would find out just how motivated he and the Avs would be.
2021-2022
The Best: Found a Way (June 26, 2022)
After the disappointing end of their playoff run at the hands of Vegas last year, the Avs vowed that this season would be different. To a man, they knew that they couldn’t afford to have another early exit when the playoffs rolled around in the spring.
The COVID-19 protocols presented an added layer of complexity as the year started out. The Avs certainly had some trouble finding their rhythm, losing six of their first ten games of the season. Things went on the upswing afterwars, as the Avs won thirteen of their next sixteen games.
With rising COVID-related concerns, the NHL instituted a schedule pause (spoilers) as the calendar year concluded. When January rolled around, the Avs picked up right where they left off, going 23-2-2 into March. They finished the season on a 15-9-3 run, clinching the top seed in the Western Conference as the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs began.
The Avs handily swept the Nashville Predators in the first round, but had a scare in Game Three when Kuemper suffered a freak eye injury at the hands of future Avs center Ryan Johansen. Pavel Francouz stepped in to keep the goaltending steady.
A second round rematch against the St. Louis Blues proved to be a formidable challenge, and one that was not without controversy. Both teams suffered key injuries in Game Three, with defenseman Sam Girard suffering a broken sternum that knocked him out for the remainder of the playoff run, and Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington sustaining a lower body injury in the aftermath of a collision between Nazem Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosén.
Kadri became the target of racist remarks from a select segment of the St. Louis fanbase after the hit, resulting in an increased security presence for Game Four. Kadri let his on-ice play do the talking, as he recorded a hat trick to give the Avs a 3-1 series lead as the series shifted to Denver for Game Five. Unable to close out the series on home ice, the Avs returned to Enterprise Center for Game Six, with with Helm providing a last-minute goal to secure the series win.
A highly anticipated Western Conference Final with the Edmonton Oilers turned into another lopsided affair. After a high-scoring victory in Game One, Kuemper would be shelved for the remainder of the series due to the aftereffects of his eye injury against Nashville. Francouz again answered the call for the Avs, and an overtime goal from Artturi Lehkonen secured their berth in the Stanley Cup Final. The Avs also lost Kadri to injury early in Game Three, and his return for the remainder of the playoffs was in question.
The Avs hosted the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to begin the series, winning both games on home ice. They earned a split on the road thanks to an overtime goal by the returning Kadri. Tampa staved off elimination in Game Five, and Lehkonen gave the Avs the go-ahead goal in Game Six to win the series, claiming their third Stanley Cup in franchise history and snapping a twenty-one year championship drought.
Four days later, the Stanley Cup made its return to Denver, with fans lining the downtown streets to celebrate the victory. Head coach Jared Bednar unarguably gave his finest speech of his coaching tenure to date.
As for MacKinnon? He finally won something!
What a difference a year makes.
The Blurst: Down With The Sickness (December 16, 2021)
Winning cures a lot of ills, but even for all its might, it can’t cure COVID.
The Avs were in Nashville to face the Predators in what was originally scheduled to be a quick visit to the Music City before returning home for a rematch against Tampa. However, a surge in positive COVID-19 cases resulted in a total of twelve players for both teams being ruled out of action.
Missing from Colorado’s lineup were goaltender Darcy Kuemper, defensemen Cale Makar and Devon Toews, and forwards Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher. The Avs weren’t able to call up any players from Loveland to shore up their suddenly thin lineup, and were forced to play with sixteen skaters. Goaltender Pavel Francouz was pressed into service shortly before puck drop, and Dustin Smith served as the emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) for the game.
On Nashville’s side of the ice, forwards Nick Cousins, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen, Matt Luff, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino, and defenseman Ben Harpur also missed the game due to COVID protocol. In addition to the players, Nashville’s coaching staff of Jon Hynes, Dan Hinote, Dan Lambert, Todd Richards, and Ben Vanderklok. Unlike the Avs, however, Nashville did call up reinforcements from their farm team in Milwaukee.
Nashville held a 2-0 lead into the second period, but Mikko Rantanen finally broke through against goaltender Jusse Saros just before the halfway point of regulation. Nashville’s Filip Forsberg would restore the two-goal margin in late in the period. Valeri Nichushkin scored in the third period to keep the margin within one goal, but Nashville added a pair in the final stages of the game to secure a 5-2 victory, which snapped a five game winning streak for the Avs.
“They were shorthanded, we were shorthanded,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re not using COVID as an excuse. We’re here to win a hockey game. We had plenty of capable bodies in the lineup.”
The next day, the NHL announced that it had postponed the Avs’ remaining four games before the holiday break amid more positive COVID-19 cases. On December 20, the NHL went a step further, announcing that it was pausing all games through December 27. However, on the day that the pause was to conclude for the Avs, the League announced that the two remaining games in December—both against the Dallas Stars—would also be postponed.
In total, seven games were postponed and rescheduled in the wake of the Avs’ visit to Nashville. While it was in the NHL’s best interest to take action to adjust and reschedule postponed games, it’s a poor look on the League to risk the health of their entire contingent of players—not just the superstars—amid an uptick in the middle of a two year long global pandemic.
It’s a blurst that, thankfully, didn’t seem to have more longer-lasting consequences than this.
2022-2023
The Best: A Banner Occasion (October 12, 2022)
Opening night is special on its own, but it takes on a whole different aura when the Stanley Cup is the guest of honor in commemorating that long road to championship glory, a ceremony exclusive to only one franchise.
Of all the sights I’ve witnessed in my time watching this team over the years, the sight of Gabe Landeskog (gingerly) skating the Stanley Cup on Ball Arena ice was truly one of the greatest moments I’ve experienced as an Avs fan.
The other great moment? Watching the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions banner being raised to the Ball Arena rafters.
This team was the laughingstock of the hockey world five years prior. Matt Duchene—labeled as the heir to Joe Sakic when the Avs drafted him third overall in 2009—infamously asked for a trade (“I only get one shot at this. I need to play playoff hockey.”) when this team was at its lowest. Patrick Roy—the goaltending backbone of the Avs’ initial championship era—gave the finger to the franchise where he won two more Stanley Cups and had his first head coaching assignment. Several others took their shots at this franchise when it was at its lowest.
Five years later, that had all changed, with that glistening silver chalice and accompanying championship banner as proof of their renaissance to relevance.
Other than winning the Stanley Cup, things don’t get any better than this.
The Blurst: Oh, Captain, No Captain (October 19, 2022)
The Avs had high hopes of defending the Stanley Cup as the season got underway, but started the season without its captain. Gabe Landeskog missed the first three games of the year with a lower body injury. On October 19, the team announced that Landeskog would miss twelve weeks to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery.
The news sent shockwaves through the fanbase. Head coach Jared Bednar said that Landeskog’s knee—the one he had surgery on back in March—began to bother him as the start of the season drew closer. The decision was made early to have the procedure done in the hopes that Landeskog would return shortly after the start of the year.
Landeskog’s surgery seemingly went through without complication. The Avs carried on without their captain, and as the season progressed, worked to positioning themselves favorably for their title defense.
Unfortunately, Landeskog’s recovery stretched beyond the twelve week mark. As January turned to February, then to March, many began to wonder if he would make a return for the upcoming playoffs, if he returned at all. He did make a rare appearance on April 30 as the Avs faced the expansion Seattle Kraken in a do-or-die Game Seven at Ball Arena. Unfortunately, the Avs’ Stanley Cup defense came to an end that evening.
On May 9, the team announced that Landeskog would undergo knee surgery yet again: this time for knee cartilage replacement. The news meant that not only would Landeskog be out for the remainder of this season and the corresponding playoff run, the Avs would not have his services for the entirety of the 2023-2024 season. Further, there was no guarantee that the surgery would allow Landeskog to return to action.
“I just have to do what’s right for my health and really, ultimately, do what I can so I’m able to go out there and play with the guys and continue chasing more Stanley Cups,” Landeskog told reporters on a Zoom call prior to the surgery. “Is it going to be a long road? Yeah. But motivating factors are plenty.”
The cartilage replacement surgery was performed on May 10, and Landeskog began the very lengthy rehab process shortly after.
Losing your leader for not the entirety of this season and the following season on top of a first round exit at the hands of an expansion team? Better believe that’s a blurst.
2023-2024
The Best: Colorado Cancels Collapse, Cements Complete Comeback (March 24, 2024)
When the Pittsburgh Penguins came to Denver for a Sunday matinee late in the 2023-2024 season, they faced an Avs squad that had won eleven of their last twelve games. Pittsburgh, however, had lost ten of their previous thirteen games. With one team red hot and the other ice cold, the outcome seemed like a foregone conclusion.
Things got off to a great start…for Pittsburgh. They scored a pair of goals on Avs goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in the first period, then added another pair during the second period. Pittsburgh thwarted every chance the Avs had, giving goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic a relatively quiet time in goal.
The Avs found some life late in the second, as defenseman Sean Walker and forward Yakov Trenin would score a pair of goals 3:25 apart to put some pressure on Pittsburgh. Jonathan Drouin pulled the Avs within one early in the third.
Nedeljkovic was forced to leave the game after a collision with Avs center Casey Mittelstadt halfway through the period. A few minutes later, Nathan MacKinnon scored to tied the game at four.
The Avs wasted little time in the extra session, as Jonathan Drouin completed the comeback in just under a minute to secure the 5-4 victory for their ninth consecutive win.
MacKinnon scored a goal and two assists, putting him at a total of 122 points on the season, eclipsing the previous mark held by Joe Sakic (120) in Avalanche history. For his part, Crosby scored one goal and added three assists. Both players combined for two goals and five assists for a total of seven points, an impressive performance regardless of the outcome.
If there’s a better best than rallying from a four goal hole and pull out a win, it would have to be something pretty remarkable (which may be further down on this list).
The Blurst: Big Val’s Big Violation (May 13, 2024)
Trailing 2-1 in their second round series against the Dallas Stars, the Avs needed to earn another split on home ice to keep the series on even footing. Having lost Game Three by a 4-1 decision, a solid performance throughout the lineup, especially its biggest stars, would be essential.
Unfortunately for the Avs, they were about to receive some very bad news.
Roughly two hours before puck drop, the NHL announced that Valeri Nichushkin was placed in Stage Three of the League’s Player Assistance Program. As a result, Nichushkin would be suspended for a minimum of six months without pay. Once the entire suspension had been served, he would be eligible to apply for reinstatement.
The abrupt announcement meant that the Avs would be without Nichushkin for not just the duration of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but through the middle of November in the upcoming 2024-2025 season. With Logan O’Connor already out with injury, and Gabe Landeskog fresh off his knee cartilage transplant surgery, the Avs were now missing three key components from their roster.
Nichushkin’s absence was noticeable as the Avs took the ice for Game Four. Dallas raced to a three goal lead in the first half of regulation, handily winning by a score of 5-1 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Avs forced a Game Six back on home ice with a 5-3 victory in Game Five, but a double-overtime goal by Matt Duchene in two nights later snuffed out the Avs’ playoff hopes.
While losing Nichuskin was a big factor in the Avs losing this series, there were other factors that led to their demise. However, Nichushkin’s own personal struggles consumed him in the worst way at the worst possible time.
With two previous strikes against him in the past, the third proved to be his most costly, and an even costlier blurst for his team.
2024-2025
The Best: The Captain Makes It Happen! (April 23, 2025)
You knew this was coming.
After three knee surgeries, including a knee cartilage transplant that had no guarantee of a successful return to the game, which resulted in three lost seasons totaling over 1032 games, the wait was over.
Captain Gabe Landeskog had been activated from injured reserve, making his long-anticipated return.
Earlier in this article, I mentioned that the sight of Landeskog skating the Stanley Cup on Ball Arena ice was one of the greatest moments I’ve experienced as an Avs fan.
This was on a whole other level.
The anticipation inside Ball Arena was the highest it had ever been, even surpassing the energy during the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. As soon as Landeskog appeared on the Ball Arena video boards, all that pent-up energy stored over three years by Avs fans in attendance, finally found its rightful place. When the house lights came up and Landeskog took pregame warmups, Ball Arena was louder than I’ve ever heard it.
Louder than any comeback victory. Louder than the fiercest rivalry match-up between any of the franchise’s most despised foes over the years. Louder than any of the three Stanley Cup wins. Louder than any—or every—jersey retirement of the greats from the past.
This moment beats them all.
The video above doesn’t do Landeskog’s re-introduction justice. Every fan of this team rode the highs and lows of his recovery, openly speculating—some even doubting—the probability of his return for three years. And finally, three years of determination, commitment, and incredible discipline, finally paid off at last.
You truly had to be there to witness how much emotion went into that moment.
Of all the bests covered in this series, this one may be the absolute summit.
The Blurst: Doomsday in Dallas (May 03, 2025)
It is said that, when the doomsday clock strikes twelve, a man-made global catastrophe will come about.
This is the hockey equivalent.
Not forgotten amid the sheer elation of Gabe Landeskog’s return to action was another familiar face: Mikko Rantanen, who had been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 24, had been acquired by the Dallas Stars on March 07. Rantanen previously returned to Denver as a member of the Stars on March 16, but this was the first time that he would face his now-former teammates in a playoff setting.
Rantanen had a quiet start to the playoffs, recording the secondary assist on Tyler Seguin’s overtime goal that secured a 2-1 victory for Dallas. As the series went on, his presence became more noticeable: he collected three goals and five assists for Dallas in Game Five and Game Six.
The Avs, who weren’t able to force a Game Seven the previous season, managed to do so with their emphatic 7-4 victory at Ball Arena. Two nights later, goals from Josh Manson and Nathan MacKinnon gave the Avs a 2-0 lead, which they carried into the third period.
From there, it all fell apart in the worst way imaginable.
Rantanen scored his first goal at 7:49 of the third period to solve former teammate Mackenzie Blackwood. Nearly six minutes later, with Cale Makar in the box for a tripping penalty, Rantanen tied the game on a shot that deflected off defenseman Sam Girard’s skate. Nearly three minutes later, Dallas took the lead on another power play opportunity.
With Blackwood on the bench for the extra skater in the final minutes, Rantanen gained control of the puck and had nothing between him and the empty net. He completed the hat trick among cheers from the crowd in attendance, adding the exclamation point on the series.
Once again, the Dallas Stars eliminated the Avs for the second straight season, but this time, it was at the hands of someone who had been one of their own for nearly a decade.
Indisputably, a blurst of doomsday-level proportions.
2025-2026
The Best: Going Wild Against Minnesota (May 03, 2026)
A sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in the first round gave the Avs an opportunity to rest up in advance of their upcoming second round. Either they would face the Dallas Stars for the third straight postseason, or they would draw the Minnesota Wild.
With Minnesota winning their first round series against Dallas, the Avs knew they had their work cut out for them, but neither team expected this series to start out quite like this.
Just after the halfway point of the first period, the Avs scored three goals on Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt in 2:01 seconds to take the lead. Later in the period, Minnesota responded with two goals in 1:02 to keep the game close.
The Avs added another goal early in the second period, but Minnesota turned up the pressure, scoring three goals in 10:10 to take a 5-4 lead. Late in the period, the Avs found the equalizer, sending both teams to the locker room tied at five goals apiece.
Early in the third, the Avs scored twice in 2:22, retaking the lead. Minnesota cut the lead to one with just over four minutes to play, but two goals in 0:46 from the Avs (one of which was an empty net tally) capped off the scoring. When the dust settled, the Avs won by a final score of 9-6, in what became the highest scoring game in franchise history, taking a 1-0 series lead in the process.
A performance like this, and the series clincher against Minnesota in Game Five, made believers out of many people—including me—that the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup Final appearance was all but inevitable.
Inevitable, however, would have to wait for another day. Until then, we’ll always have the best memory of a season filled with incredible moments to remember forever.
The Blurst: A Harrowing Heritage Hearkening (Various)
During the shortened 2020-2021 season, the Avs released an updated jersey design as part of the Adidas Reverse Retro Collection. Those jerseys were the envy of the League thanks to their integration of the Avs’ burgundy and white color scheme into the classic look of the original Nordiques jersey design.
While those jerseys won’t ever see a re-release (although they probably should), the Avs did the next best thing as part of their thirtieth anniversary celebrations this past season: a re-release of the original powder blue Nordiques jersey would be worn on select game nights to honor the team’s Québécois roots.
Not counting the Reverse Retro release, this was the very first time that the Avs publicly celebrated their Canadian origins as part of an anniversary year. Putting the classic Nordiques logo front and center, down to the smallest details, even going so far as to integrate Badaboum (Quebec’s original mascot) demonstrated that the organization wanted to put a lot of effort into recognizing their roots.
Given all of this attention to detail, what made this whole effort a blurst?
In total, the Avs wore the Nordique sweaters for eight games as part of their Heritage Series. Here’s a brief look at how the team performed:
October 23, 2025 vs. Carolina Hurricanes: after trailing Carolina (who wore their throwback Hartford Whalers jerseys for the occasion) 4-1 in the first period, the Avs rallied to tie the game late in the third period, but lost via a 5-4 shootout decision.
November 29, 2025 vs. Montréal Canadiens: the Avs scored a pair of goals in both the first and second period, eventually cruising to a 7-2 victory.
January 03, 2026 @ Carolina Hurricanes: Trailing 3-1 to Carolina (who again wore their throwback Hartford Whalers jerseys) after two periods, the Avs would score four unanswered goals to win by a score of 5-3, but lose defenseman Devon Toews to injury.
January 12, 2026 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: The Avs saw a 2-1 lead turn into a 3-2 deficit in the third period. A goal by Martin Nečas tied things up, but an overtime goal from Toronto’s William Nylander saw the Avs fall by a 4-3 score.
January 29, 2026 @ Montréal Canadiens: Montréal scored early and often in this contest, jumping to a 3-1 lead after the first period, ultimately avenging their loss in November with a 7-3 defeat of the Avs at Centre Bell.
March 16, 2026 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first period and never looked back, as they would win one for the returning (but injured) Sam Girard by a score of 7-2.
April 01, 2026 vs. Vancouver Canucks: Goaltending was very optional in this game, as Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen and Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood surrendered a combined fourteen goals. Even though the Avs somehow came back from 3-1 and 6-3 deficits, they still wound up on the losing end, falling to Vancouver by a 8-6 final score.
April 11, 2026 vs. Vegas Golden Knights: In what could very well have been foreshadowing future events, both teams traded goals in the first and second periods, only for Jack Eichel to score the game-winner in overtime, defeating the Avs by a 3-2 decision.
Quebec’s history wasn’t always pretty, and unfortunately, the Avs embraced that side of their heritage a little too literally.
Looking at those results, there’s no way that this nod to history—even one that was as well-meaning as this one—couldn’t be considered a blurst.
Was there a best (or blurst) from these most recent years of Avalanche hockey that was overlooked? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
