Colorado Avalanche NOT Giving Up

The Colorado Avalanche are going to continue going balls out all the way. They’re going to give it the old college try. They’re not letting anyone put the nail in their coffin.

The Colorado Avalanche are NOT giving up, Avs Nation, and neither should we.

Are we going to see Avalanche hockey beyond April 11? Not unless unicorns drop rainbows on the team, and leprechauns wave their magic, ah, clovers at the standings. Never mind that. We still have 10 games of Colorado Avalanche hockey to watch.

And head coach Patrick Roy, along with the players, has said they’re going to fight to the last game.

Coach Roy:

"“When you’re wearing the Avalanche logo, you battle.”"

Defenseman Nate Guenin reiterated that feeling in a post-skate presser:

"“We have a lot of pride in this room, and we hold ourselves to a pretty high standard, and we expect that kind of effort game in and game out.”"

A couple years ago, when the Avalanche were yet again not making the playoffs, then-goalie JS Giguere had to call out some of the young players who were focusing on their post-season plans rather than the game at hand. I’m not privy to locker room conversations, but I highly doubt that’s the case this year.

The Avalanche have their set goals, and they’re continuing to work toward them. Yes, making the playoffs was one of those goals, but it was one with factors they could not control. Other teams are playing as hard as they are and solidifying their positions.

On the flip side, the players vowed they would play Avalanche hockey — shots on net, feet moving, puck possession Avalanche hockey. They also strive to reach 95 points. They’re at 78 points with only 10 games left, meaning they can only drop three points.

At this point, many teams start calling the hockey meaningless. This year’s Avalanche are not about that. Guenin said of the locker room mindset:

"“We’re not writing this year off yet. We’re going to keep playing every game like we need those two points. The habits, whether it’s this year or next year, that’s the one constant. You need to have good habits.”"

That emphasis on “good habits” comes from coach Roy. He has alluded to some lack of work ethic at the beginning of the season. He struggled with his young players’ intensity — playing a full 60 minutes — for parts of the season. However, while the Avs still can’t manage to gain consistency in their power play, I can’t think of a recent game that they didn’t play the full 60.

Coach Roy sees the end of this season as a chance to learn. I see it as a chance for the players to show us their mettle. At the beginning of the season, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog asked the Avs Nation to keep on believing.

Now it’s coach Roy, only he’s making a promise:

"“We have too much respect for our fans and our team. When you’re wearing that jersey, you’re wearing it with pride, and you’re going out there to win your games. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to work harder, and we’re going to try to find a way to stay in that race as long as we can.”"

I know the Avs aren’t going to make the playoffs. They might not even make those 95 points. But if they come out for the next 10 games with the same passion and intensity they’ve showed since mid-February… well, I’ll consider my faith well-rewarded.

Next: Importance of Playing Hard for the Avs

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