The Colorado Avalanche begin their quest for the Stanley Cup Thursday night in Calgary. The Avalanche have plans to go much further than just the First Round this season.
The Colorado Avalanche have a different aura surrounding them heading into this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs compared to last year. Last year, they were a team who, outside of Colin Wilson and a couple guys involved in the First Round series against the Minnesota Wild in 2014, no playoff experience.
Last season, the Avalanche were just happy to make the playoffs and gain some playoff experience. This year, it’s different. Even though they are the second wildcard team, they have expectations. The Avalanche are the hottest team in hockey right now, and we’ve seen an 8 seed run through the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. It’s possible due to these X-Factors.
Phillip Grubauer
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What a season he ended up having. The first few moths of the season many avs fans, including myself, were worried about the future of our goaltending position. Not anymore. Grubauer has been one of, if not the best goaltender in hockey the last month or so, almost single handily bringing the Avalanche into the playoffs.
Comparing this to last year when both of our goalies needed up missing games in the series vs Nashville and we had the Hamburger, who played some good games, in net. This is a massive upgrade from last year, and as we know, a hot goalie can win you a Cup.
Erik Johnson
Speaking of injuries last season, Erik Johnson had a brutal one and missed our playoff run last season. We all know the Condor will be raring to go to lead our defensive core into battle against Calgary. EJ will have an extra jump in his step knowing what he missed last season. I can’t wait to see the type of series he has both offensively and defensively.
Matt Calvert
Matt Calvert is a playoff hockey player. He’s never going to score more than 20 goals in the regular season, but he’s a guy who has a ton of heart and the right amount of skill to be a difference maker in the Playoffs. He is a massive upgrade to Blake Comeau from last season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he scores a goal in the first game in Calgary.
Derick Brassard
Brassard only had 4 points -all goals- for the Avalanche in 20 games this season, but we didn’t bring him in for the regular season. He has 90 games of playoff experience and has 59point sin those games. I expect him to get a good amount of ice time as he knows what it takes to win a Stanley Cup. Brassard will be vital if the Avalanche want to make a run.
Here is a bonus X-Factor.
Cale Makar
There is a good chance that Makar does sign with the Avalanche after his UMASS team either gets eliminated, or wins the National Championship. This is a wildcard in the deck for the Avalanche. Even if he does sign and play a game with us in the playoffs, there’s no guarantee he would even make a difference. But imagine if he did make a difference. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Regardless if Makar comes, I think the Avalanche are going to have a great shot at taking down the Calgary Flames. It all begins Thursday Night.
GO AVS GO!