Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche Need Inspiration for Final Push

By Nadia Archuleta

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 15: Goaltender Darcy Kuemper #35 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by Nathan MacKinnon #29 and Kurtis MacDermid #56 after a shutout against the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 15, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Avalanche defeated the Coyotes 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 15: Goaltender Darcy Kuemper #35 of the Colorado Avalanche is congratulated by Nathan MacKinnon #29 and Kurtis MacDermid #56 after a shutout against the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 15, 2022 in Glendale, Arizona. The Avalanche defeated the Coyotes 5-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Avalanche need to dig deep to find their internal motivation in the coming weeks since they’ve drawn so far ahead of the pack.

Barring an epic slump to end all slumps, the Colorado Avalanche will make the playoffs. We know that. Opponent teams know that. The players know that.

The team is top of the NHL by three points. They’re best in the conference by a whopping 13 points and best in their division by 14! They’re the de facto best team in the league.

That said, thanks to COVID, the NHL regular season is lasting a good two to three weeks longer than usual. The Avalanche have almost two more whole months to play. How can they keep motivated for the next stretch or three?

Well, as we saw against the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado has to maintain inspiration to keep their high-win record alive. This is one time when saying, “There’s still lots of hockey to play in the season” could be a detriment to the team.

As Avs insider Adrian Dater points out, the team might suffer from occasional bouts of boredom in the upcoming weeks. It’s hard to stay on high-alert for seven weeks straight.

Luckily for the Colorado Avalanche, they don’t have to. They can afford to let up on the gas occasionally, especially against teams like the Coyotes, who aren’t challenging them for playoff position.

It might not even be a bad idea for banged up players and even veteran players to take the occasional maintenance day in the form of a game missed. I’m looking at you, Nathan MacKinnon. While not “veteran,” he’s been getting banged up pretty regularly all season.

I’m happy to report that Nathan MacKinnon is no longer our MVP. He’s all the way down at #5 for points on the team! He’s #6 for goals!

Yes, yes, I know MacKinnon has missed stretches of time because of injury. And talent-wise, he’s still our MVP. It’s just that finally, finally the team around him is up to contender standard.

That said, motivation is a tricky bird. You can’t really release it because it may fly away… and not come back. Teams have epically collapsed before — hello, Toronto — and failed to make the playoffs when they seemed a shoe-in.

The Avalanche players are professional athletes. Competitiveness is hard-wired into them. A man like MacKinnon who loves to win so much he’ll maim his best friend to win a wrestling match, isn’t going to let up on the gas.

They still have goals to play for. They should want to win their division and conference. And why not aim for the Presidents’ Trophy? And, just like a team not making the playoffs, they can play for each other.

The Colorado Avalanche players don’t like to lose. We don’t like them to lose either. However, games like the one against the Coyotes aren’t worrisome as long as they’re a one-off. Teams like the current Avs may even look on the loss as the motivation they need to win the next few games. And they’re built to do it.

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