Colorado Avalanche Ranks Low in THN Fan Suffering Index

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Nov 5, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Colorado Avalanche fans in rally caps cheer during the third period against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Avalanche may be struggling this season. However, compared to other NHL franchises, Avalanche fans have been relatively lucky over the past few decades.

As hockey fans, we often like to brag about our teams’ accomplishments. For example, just about every conversation between a Colorado Avalanche fan and one of the Minnesota Wild begins with “you losers have never won a Cup” (Avs fan to Wild fan) and ends with “remember what happened in the 2014 playoffs?” (Wild fan to Avs fan. Actually, there is never much in between either.

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However, fans also love to do the exact opposite — especially when their team has been terrible for a long time. A conversation between fans of the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, could go like this. “It seems like we get the first overall pick every year, but the team still sucks,” the Oilers fan says. “You think that’s bad? We haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967,” the Leafs fan replies. Next, a St. Louis Blues fan comes in and reminds everyone that the franchise was founded that year and has never won a Stanley Cup.

So, it can go either way. The question is, who has the right to cry about their team’s history and who isn’t? The Hockey News writer Matt Larkin wanted to find out, and did so for the THN November 23 issue. But, how do you quantify the misery fans have to endure? Here’s what Larkin did:

We introduce to you the Fan Suffering Index. We’ve ranked all 30 NHL franchises in six statistical categories to determine the most beaten-down bunch. We use team lineage for clarity’s sake. So Quebec Nordiques fans have “followed” the team to Colorado, for instance. The numbers tracked are from the first post-expansion season, 1967-68 and on.

So, let’s take a look at the categories and how much we Colorado Avalanche fans — or the oldest ones among us — had to endure. For every “won category” (as in, this franchise’s fans had to suffer the most), that franchise gets 1 point. The fans that had to suffer the least get 30 points. Therefore, the club with the lowest point total had to suffer the most. Let’s get to it.

Next: Ticket Prices

Mar 10, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; General view of the Pepsi Center before the game between the Los Angeles Kings against the Colorado Avalanche. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Ticket Prices

This category is an easy one. We all want to watch hockey, but there is nothing worse than paying $200 to see your team lose, no matter how good your seats are. Actually, it even sucks to pay $200 and see your team win.

Anyway, the Toronto Maple Leafs get their first big win of the season — the most expensive tickets at an average of $113.66 in the 2014-15 season, according to the Team Marketing Report. This is the first time I feel a little bit of sympathy for these guys. Their team totally sucks but their fans have to pay a little fortune for every loss they get to witness. The Florida Panthers have the cheapest tickets at an average of $33.39 by the way — less than a third of the average Leafs ticket.

But where does the Colorado Avalanche rank? According to the Team Marketing Report, last season’s average ticket came at a price of $47.56, ranking 25th among NHL clubs. So, 25 points for Gryffindor! Uhhh… the Avalanche! Off to a good start.

Next: Playoffs

Oct 8, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) reacts to the loss against the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center. The Wild won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Playoff Misses

The St. Louis Blues choke in the playoffs every season, after generally outstanding regular season performances. But let’s not forget, about half of the league’s teams don’t even make the playoffs. Oops.

So, the ranking came together as Larkin gave each franchise a point for each time they missed the playoffs since 1967. However, fans of teams that have recently won a Cup have nothing to complain about, which is why Larkin handed out heavy “Cup penalties”, taking away a crazy number of points, depending on how recently a franchise had won a Cup. To give you an idea, the Chicago Blackhawks ranked 30th with a score of -1,490.

The Colorado Avalanche missed the playoffs 13 times since 1967. However, they also won two Stanley Cups in that time, resulting in a point total of -137. Which in turn results in an overall rank of 24th in playoff misses. Another 24 points for the Avalanche — not too shabby!

Next: Game 7s

Apr 30, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Minnesota Wild team members react to the win over the Colorado Avalanche in a overtime period in game seven of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Game 7s

Okay, your team did make the playoffs. But then this happens. Your team loses the playoff series in Game 7. The worst possible way is obviously to win the Stanley Cup Finals in Game 7. When you can already smell the Cup’s metal polish through your team’s body odor, as you walk out onto the ice — and fall short in the last second. Unfortunately, that happens.

The Arizona Coyotes and Ottawa Senators have never won a Game 7. Poor guys. They have only been in five Game 7s each, but that’s enough to be completely devastated and to roll on the floor, crying. The Blue Jackets, Blues and Senators have actually never even been to a Game 7. At least they don’t know what losing one feels like.

Our Colorado Avalanche has never been great in games that decided everything (cough, 2014, cough), but it could be worse. Since 1967, they have won seven Game 7s while losing five. It’s alright, but not great — 10th in the NHL.

Next: Awards

Jun 24, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche poses with the trophy during the 2014 NHL Awards ceremony at Wynn Las Vegas. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Individual Awards

When it comes to awards, we already know that the Avalanche can’t be that bad. This is only about individual awards, but we know that players like Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg used to play in Quebec and Denver. Plus, the 2013-14 Central Division winning season brought some individual awards with it.

Overtime Records

Remember the 2014 playoff match-up between the Colorado Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild? Yeah, me too… Four of the seven games were decided in overtime, including Game 7 that shattered everyone’s dreams. Definitely a category that can be taken into account when judging how much fans had to suffer.

Larkin analyzed each franchise’s playoff overtime wins and losses, ranking them by win percentage. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets are first with a win percentage of zero percent. However, they have only combined for three OT playoff contests, making this category slightly flawed. I mean, if my team doesn’t take a game into overtime, I won’t be sad because they didn’t.

Anyway, the Colorado Avalanche had 40 overtime wins and 29 losses in the playoffs since 1967, ranking 24th in the league. Therefore, 24 more points go to Colorado.

Next: Drafts

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Mark Hunter announces Mitchell Marner (not pictured) as the number four overall pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs as commissioner Gary Bettman looks on in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Draft Busts

When you have the 28th overall pick at the NHL Draft, you aren’t that sad if the player doesn’t become a superstar. Of course it sucks, but it isn’t nearly as bad as seeing your top-five pick turn out be a bust. Who is a bust, according to Larkin? A skater who appeared in less than 500 NHL games or a goalie who appeared in less than 400.

Mike Modano, the Minnesota North Stars’ first-overall pick in 1988, turned out to be the highest-scoring American of all time. Other than that, however, the franchise was not exactly successful with their top-five picks. Six of their 10 top-five picks qualified as busts. Ouch.

The Colorado Avalanche ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack once again — 14th to be exact. Again, it wasn’t pretty but could be way worse. After all, the Avalanche got Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon with their past top picks. Click here for in-depth Avalanche draft analysis.

Next: Final Result

Apr 30, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche fans pose for a photo before the start of game seven of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Final Result

Before we look at the final result, there is one more thing that has to be mentioned, as it changed the outcome of the whole project significantly. Larkin created one bonus category called the “sympathy bonus” that substracted different amounts of points for chosen teams Larkin feels sympathy for. The reasoning is simple: there have been terrible events that cannot be quantified or expressed in rankings. Examples include Wayne Gretzky’s trade in 1988 and Flyers goalie Pelle Lindbergh’s death months after he won the Vezina Trophy.

The Colorado Avalanche did not get a sympathy bonus, which means that the franchise stayed at their score of 117 points, tying for third in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils. Therefore, according to the Fan Suffering Index, there are only two teams whose fans had to suffer less than those of the Avalanche. So, it seems fair to say that the biggest frustration has only come up over the past two seasons, but Avs fans have also had lots to be excited about!

Next: Duchene Answers Trade Rumors

If you want to see the full ranking, head to a newsstand or purchase the digital issue of The Hockey News November 23 issue. It was certainly an interesting project!

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