Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy – Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Reason 1: The Bad Start?
The Colorado Avalanche lost consecutive games to open their season to the Minnesota Wild, by a cumulative score of 8-0. Apply aloe vera as necessary.
The tone for the poor start was set before opening night in my opinion. The Avs won a single game in pre-season, and while I think the performance should be taken with a large granule of salt due to all the youngsters playing, it seemed to sort of set into the vibe of the team heading into the meaningful action.
The Avalanche managed only 4 wins in their first 18 games, for a record of 4-8-6. This put them at 14 points through 18 games, and also put them behind the playoff pace in a hurry.
After 18 games, the Avs needed a 1.27 point-per-game pace to reach 95, which is often cited as the approximate playoff barrier. This pace equates to about a 104 point season over 82 games.
It’s no fun having to chase your season. The Avalanche are actually playing decent hockey of late, and are putting up points at a decent clip, but the problem is, so is everyone else.
You could make a decent argument that the first fifth of the season or so really sunk the Avalanche. They couldn’t get on track fast enough, and are paying for it now.
Next: Reason TWO