Colorado Avalanche: Best Moments of 2018

The Colorado Avalanche had a very strong 2018. Here are some of the best moments from that calendar year.

The Colorado Avalanche finished the calendar year 2018 with an overtime fizzle, but let’s not focus on that. They started out 2018 with an overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets, so see, they can win in overtime.

Anyway, happy new year, Avs Nation. (A little late, but better that then never!) It’s time for us to buckle down with out team and focus on a playoff push. We’re just past the halfway mark of the season, and recently things have been a little wobbly.

That said, the new year is always the time to reflect back on the old year. We’ve all had a lot of ups and downs, the Avs included. However, we’re fortunate because our team had more ups than downs in the calendar year of 2018.

There have been a lot of good ones. When I put the question out on Twitter, some fans focused on meeting the players. We’re very fortunate that Avs players generally enjoy meeting fans and make themselves pretty accessible.

But for this post, I’m going to focus on public moments. The Avalanche did a lot of positive things in 2018 and, as Avs fans, we got to celebrate along with them. And isn’t that what sports fandom is all about? Wouldn’t their victories ring a little less, well, victorious without fans celebrating along? And don’t we enjoy all getting behind a mutual cause, even if we’re an occasionally fractious bunch?

Hey, at least we’re not Blues or — gasp! — Wild fans.

So, without further adieu, let’s look at some of the top moments from 2018 for the Colorado Avalanche.

Beating the Detroit Red Wings

Any victory for the Colorado Avalanche is good. Home wins are good. Beating the one-time rival Detroit Red Wings is good. When you have an Avs victory at home against the Red Wings — that’s Nirvana.

Especially when it’s a 5-1 victory.

I don’t know about you, but when an opponent scores against the Avalanche, I feel this gut-wrench. I suppose it’s caused by an instant shot of adrenaline fueled by the disappointment. It’s just this unpleasant drop in my stomach.

That feeling is exacerbated and prolonged when I’m at the Pepsi Center and have to listen to opponent fans cheer. It’s that much worse when the cheering sounds as loud for the opponent as it is for the Avs. It’s often like that at Blackhawks games. And, somewhere along the way, it became that way at Red Wings games.

Not on March 18, 2018. On that day, the Avalanche limited the once-rival Red Wings to one goal while scoring five times themselves. And that allowed me to hear — and scream — a lot more cheers for the home team because I was at that game.

Tyson Barrie puts the nail in the coffin:

That goal put his points streak at 10 games, which was longest by a defenseman in Avalanche history.

JT Compher’s Two Shorties

November was a very good month for the Colorado Avalanche. Indeed, their play in November is a large part of the reason the team is still in playoff contention despite a dismal December. They went 8-3-3 that month.

One of the games that they dominated was the November 23 game against the Arizona Coyotes. It was a Black Friday of a different sort for the desert dogs as Colorado beat them 5-1.

Two of those goals came from J.T. Compher. On the same penalty kill. That’s right, Compher scored twice on the same penalty kill to put the Avalanche up 2-0:

Compher was only the 20th NHLer ever to score two goals on the same penalty kill. He was the first in Quebec/Colorado franchise history.

While we’re here, let’s celebrate the Ginger’s Gordie Howe Hat Trick:

The GHHT came in the December 14 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Alas, we had little else to celebrate in December, so we might as well look to small victories such as that one.

Guts All Over the Place

The Colorado Avalanche made the playoffs last season. They went from the butt of the league with 48 points — worst in the salary cap era — to making the playoffs. What’s more, they didn’t get swept or lose in five games.

Little old Colorado, who made it into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, took the Nashville Predators, the Presidents’ Trophy winners, to six games. They even won one game on the road.

In the process of winning that game, we ended up with one of the seminal moments of Avalanche current lore.

It was Game 5, and as I mentioned the game was in the Bridgestone Arena. The Avs had already taken the Preds by surprise in winning one at home. However, that was to be expected, right? Colorado could win one at Pepsi Center. No way were they preventing Nashville from winning on home ice and getting what they deserved — fast-tracked to Round 2.

Yet that’s exactly what Colorado did — prevented the series-clinching win. Nashville came out playing like they were due the win, and the Avs played their hearts out.

Well, apparently they have several hearts — and some other extra internal organs as well:

Then-radio announcer Marc Moser, went into conniptions. His voice broke in the elongated. “Scoooooooooooore!” and neither he nor his voice ever quite got under control again as he screamed:

“This has got to be one of the gutsiest teams in the National Hockey League! Pure guts! They got nothin’ but guts! Every guy with three big ol’ cow hearts, two pancreases, and five stomachs! Guts all over the place!”

That’s a lot of guts.

And, as we see above, it was the game-winning goal!

Mikko’s Bunny Hop

This moment is actually a big one, and the Mikko Rantanen bunny hop is the smallest part.

It all starts with the captain, Gabriel Landeskog, scoring a goal. It’s just an empty-net goal, but it’s one that puts the Avalanche up 4-2. Over the St. Louis Blues. In Game 82.

You may remember it took all the way until Game 82 for the Colorado Avalanche to seal their playoff berth. And this goal is the one that sealed the deal.

The Avalanche players knew it right away, too. Watch them pile onto Landeskog in celebration:

And at the end… the little bunny hop onto the pile. Mikko Rantanen didn’t want to be left out.

I love this moment particularly because it shows with what wild abandon we all felt. We had barely dared sustain our hope that the Avs would make the playoffs. But they did.

Mikko’s bunny hop is all of us in that moment.

Speaking of Mikko Rantanen…

Rantanen as Scoring leader

Mikko Rantanen is no longer the scoring leader. When your team is in a slump, such titles are often the first to go.

However, our Finnish Sniper started out hot. He earned points in the first nine games straight. He quickly took over as the assists leader. And as they piled up, Rantanen took over the scoring leader title.

Rantanen recorded 21 points (5 goals, 1 assists) in October. Those were league-leading stats and earned him First Star honors in the entire NHL for the month of October.

Let’s look at those five goals. Here’s his first of the season, conveniently in the first game of the season, against the (hated) Minnesota Wild:

Here he puts the nail in the coffin against the New Jersey Devils with an empty-net goal:

Mikko got two goals against the Philadelphia Flyers, which extended his points streak to nine games. The first goal was a power play tally which started off the scoring:

He also finished off the scoring, recording the Avalanche’s fourth goal of the game late in the third. It was another empty-netter:

For the final goal of October, Rantanen scored a power play goal against the Ottawa Senators:

Even though Rantanen is no longer the scoring leader (he is number two), his dominance did earn him his first-ever spot at the NHL All Star Weekend.

Gabriel Landeskog Hat Trick

So, remember how Mikko Rantanen scored an empty-net goal against the New Jersey Devils in the Colorado Avalanche’s 5-3 win? Well, three other of those five goals came from our captain, Gabriel Landeskog.

On October 18, 2018 against New Jersey Devils, Landeskog scored his third NHL hat trick. it was almost 11 months to the day from when he scored his first NHL hat trick, which happened on November 20, 2017.

Landeskog’s first goal of the night was a power play tally midway through the second period. Rantanen and MacKinnon earned assists. Gabe’s second came midway through the third with Rantanen and, this time, Ian Cole assisting. His final tally was with just 3 1/2 minutes left in the third — MacK and Rants again.

Here are all three goals:

In case you’re wondering, Sven Andrighetto scored the other Avalanche goal. He scored early in the second period.

MacKinnon Named All Star Captain

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The year 2018 was the year center Nathan MacKinnon came into his own. Sure, MacK in god-mode started last November, 2017. But make no mistake Nate dominated 2018.

Nathan finished the 2017-18 season with the best numbers of his career — heck the best numbers the Colorado Avalanche had seen in a while. He earned 97 points (39 goals, 58 assists). He’s been just as dominant this season, already racking up 66 points (26 goals, 40 assists).

But let’s look at MacKinnon’s 2018 numbers specifically. He has 106 points (47 goals, 59 assists). Whoa. Those are some good numbers.

His 97 points last season were good enough for him to be first runner up of the Hart Trophy race. He also made his second consecutive appearance at the NHL All Star Weekend.

This year, his dominance through the first third or so of the season was good enough for him to get voted by fans across the world as a captain during the All Star Weekend. Though it doesn’t take place until this calendar year, 2019, the news came out in 2018.

Anyway, what’s important is this: MacKinnon is starting to get the recognition he deserves.

The Colorado Avalanche had a very, very good 2018. While it’s true 2019 has started out a little bumpy, the meat and bones of the team remain intact. While we may need to practice a little patience here in Avs Nation, I have confidence this team has the foundation to make it as an eventual Stanley Cup contender.