15th Division Title. 1st seed in the West. 1st in the Central Division.
After 153 consecutive days of retaining 1st place in the NHL, the west will run through Colorado following the beatdown the Avalanche just served the St. Louis Blues with sending them home with a big “L” (3-1), giving the Av’s home ice advantage for the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A season that has been all the way up for Colorado only gets better from here after the Av’s clinched the Presidents Trophy with only 5 regular season games left on the schedule. Val Nichushkin scored two goals in his first game back from injury, making an impression and sending a clear message to the NHL that he is playoff ready, along with his other teammates. The last time the Avalanche won the regular season conference title was four years ago back in 2022 when they won the Stanley Cup, and this year’s squad is a different animal.
The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoff is starting to shape up now that the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes are the first teams to secure their playoff positions with the regular season winding down. Division rivals Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars are set to match up in a physical hard hitting first round while it is still undecided who Colorado will be facing in the first round. The Avalanche will either see Utah who they’ve defeated three out of the four games they’ve played this season, the LA Kings who they’ve gone 3-0 against, the Nashville Predators matching up evenly going 2-2, and the San Jose Sharks who the Av’s beat two out of the three games this season. The Sharks have been clicking on all cylinders and have become one of the NHL’s hottest teams, but their roster is very young and inexperienced when it comes to the playoffs. The Avalanche is deep and full of veterans knowing exactly what to expect when the chips are down. Now Captain Gabe Landeskog is healthy, hungry, and prepared to light a fire under his team to bring the Stanley Cup back to Denver.
Gabe Landeskog, one of the notable Captains in the NHL, was just nominated with the possibility to receive the “Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy” which is given to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. Who would be more deserving of this award than Landeskog? The man is a true contender and commander with plenty of experience to lead his team by example on and off the ice. Landy also overcame a grueling knee injury that took him out of the game for three years that most players likely wouldn’t fully recover from. Seems like a no-brainer, but we’ll see what the league decides to do.
Regardless, Landeskog and the other veterans including Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Josh Manson, Val Nichushkin, Brent Burns, Ross Colton and company have all been there and done that. Ready to hit the ground running to get this first round on and percolating.
Dante Robinson | Senior NHL Analyst for The NSR Network
