Colorado Avalanche: Why the Results of the 2018-2019 Season are So Important

The 2018-19 season is very important for the Colorado Avalanche because the results will largely tell us where along the rebuild the team is — and even if the rebuild is working.

Recently, I’ve been writing preview posts that call practically every game a “must-win” for the Colorado Avalanche. Naturally, as you know, we’re barely to the halfway mark of the season, and the Avs are in pretty solid possession of third place in the Central Division.

However, it’s not just a matter of each game being a must-win for the Avalanche. Rather, it’s a case of this whole season being a must-win for the team. It’s like the sophomore season for a stellar rookie, you see. It’s the time when we see what’s what.

It’s the time when we see if we’ve really got something here or if we’re just a middling team. What’s at stake? Our being the Pittsburgh Penguins/Washington Capitals, or the Minnesota Wild/St. Louis Blues. Are we chasing a dream (perennial Stanley Cup contention) that’s actually obtainable, or is it the eternal will-o’-the-wisp that can vanish at any moment?

The Colorado Avalanche followed a losing season with a playoff-bound one. Sound familiar? It should — they’ve done it twice in the last six years. Let’s not forget the 2012-13 season when the Avs were dead-last in the Western Conference and second-to-last in the entire NHL. They followed that with the Golden Why Not Us season of winning the Central Division.

And then what happened? They missed the playoffs, regressed a little more each year, then dropped off the end of the world with the Dreadful Why Us season of 48 points in 2016-17. And, yes, last year they followed that up by making the playoffs.

The 2014-15 season was not a disaster. Colorado earned 90 points, which was good for #11 in the 14-team division, but no playoffs. Unfortunately, like I mentioned, they followed that with years that showed the Golden 2013-14 season was a fluke.

I know you’re going to start mentioning the specifics of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Coaching. Roster. Etc., etc. I don’t care. I’m looking at the big picture here. The team followed a dreadful year with an awesome one… then regressed.

This year, making 90 points and failing to make the playoffs would be a disaster. Any regression would be a disaster. Because it would mean we’re not striding forward. We’re not building on what was great and moving forward.

Again, you might start mentioning coaching, roster, youth, yadda-yadda-yadda. Still in big picture land here. The Avalanche’s top line started out hot. Unfortunately, the rest of the team hasn’t been able to pick up any of the slack when those three men inevitably falter. You can’t build a team on three players alone any more than you can rely solely on your goalie for sustained success.

And the coaching isn’t compensating enough. Instead of building a line on players’ strengths and talents — not to mention future rolls — the coaches are “playing the hot hand.” That’s a recipe for current success, not building toward the future.

In fact, I daresay that’s how you beggar the future. You stunt players’ development or frustrate them until they really won’t succeed under the current administration and need a “change of scenery.”

If the Colorado Avalanche have an unsuccessful season this year, we’re in danger of being in that bad position — not only of regressing, but of actually stunting our future growth.

In other words, we’re in danger of going the Wild/Blues route, a slippery slope that ends in years-long disappointment.

That’s why every game is a must-win for a while now. None of us want to be on that slippery slope. We want the current team, maybe with a little tweaking here and there, to be the one that takes us to glory.