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Colorado Avalanche: Reasons I’m Thankful for the Team, 2020

By Nadia Archuleta

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 04: Vladislav Namestnikov #90 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on September 04, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - SEPTEMBER 04: Vladislav Namestnikov #90 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on September 04, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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As a yearly tradition, I give thanks for the Colorado Avalanche as my favorite team. They give us so much.

The Colorado Avalanche have survived 2020. I almost feel superstitious typing that sentence, like this cursed year will find a way to make it not true. But, the reality is that the team is still here in Colorado, and they’re still good. No, they’re not playing hockey right now, but they’re still good.

And we don’t have any of those devastating injuries some other teams, those injuries that have months-long timelines. The season looks good to start in about five weeks, so months-long recoveries are devastating.

In fact, all of those facts are reasons to be thankful in this year of hell, 2020.

Hey, let’s be thankful we got to finish out the season. On March 12, when the NHL declared the season was on pause indefinitely, we saw a lot of possible scenarios. A likely one was that the Colorado Avalanche had played their last game of the 2019-20 season the evening before. Granted, it was a win for the Avs, but I for one didn’t want to see the season end there.

The NHL very cautiously worked through the phases until, joy of joys, they got to Phase 4. That was the return of hockey. In late June, the season resumed with preliminary rounds and playoffs.

And we got to see two rounds of Avalanche hockey. Yes, there should have been more. Yes, they should have gone all the way to the Finals. Yes, they should have had it in them to win the Finals. But fate had something else in mind.

And a part of me is glad they didn’t have to win the Stanley Cup in the midst of a public health crisis when we couldn’t have felt comfortable celebrating our team’s victory en masse.

I’m thankful that the Avalanche are going to be good for years to come. Our superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, is just in his prime. And he’s got some prime talent, especially in Cale Makar, coming up the pipeline,

And, hey, on a shallow note — I’m glad the reverse retro jerseys aren’t as ugly as they could have been. They’re actually not ugly at all, and I quite like the way the designers blended the two designs. I also feel the blue pants and helmets will look quite fetching on the ice.

dark. Next. My Avs Thanksgiving List

Well, Avs Nation, I hope you’re having a great Thanksgiving celebration. It probably looks different this year than in years past, just like the postseason did. However, we can be thankful that we’ll have some good Colorado Avalanche hockey just around the corner. Happy Thanksgiving!

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