After a disappointing elimination in the Western Conference Finals, the Colorado Avalanche can look to the Carolina Hurricanes for inspiration on how to overcome their shortcomings and put themselves in a better position to contend for the Stanley Cup next season. These are tangible practices that go beyond platitudes like “score more,” “avoid injuries,” and “ride a hot goalie.” These aforementioned benefits are key to winning, but teams have very little control over who is hurt or who might be snakebitten at the wrong time. Instead, the team needs to be intentional about incorporating the following guiding principles.
Becoming relentless
The one adjective most commonly ascribed to the Carolina Hurricanes during their playoff run is that they were relentless. It was descriptive of how the expectation was to never cut corners in any aspect of the game and to have an all-zones mentality. Their goal was to outwork the other team on the forecheck, the backcheck, in the corners, at the net front, in transition, and in any other aspect of the game.
This is a mentality where the Colorado Avalanche have had lapses in the recent past. Whether it was a lack of puck pursuit, a lackadaisical line change, an unwillingness to battle in the tough areas, the Avs players from the stars to their role players need to recommit themselves to giving full effort in the details of the game to underpin the high skill level that the team possesses in spades.
The Avs have the character and the talent to be able to achieve the “relentless” label. If the team leaders lead by example, then it can become a part of the entire team identity.
Pulling on the rope
One of the themes for the Canes this season was the mantra of everyone pulling on the rope. After each win, the players would reinforce this idea by passing a length of rope to whomever best embodied that spirit during that game. It was an outward manifestation of an inward mentality towards each player fulfilling his role to the best of his ability. The list of players who remade themselves in order to better the team as a whole is extensive – Hall, Stankoven, Walker, Ehlers, and on and on.
The Avs are a cohesive group but seemingly lack a singular vision of who the team is as a whole and how each individual player fits into that vision. There is too much talent on this team for scoring to have dried up across the board like it did against the Vegas Golden Knights. The team needs that thread that links the top line to the middle six to the defense. If they can create that “whatever it takes” mindset throughout the whole group, the Avs will be a juggernaut whose talent and determination can overcome the hurdles that the playoffs bring.
Stay true to yourself
Before winning the Stanley Cup, the Carolina Hurricanes had been consistently criticized for their commitment to their system because they would achieve great regular season results and then hit a wall in the playoffs, especially when it came to goal scoring. This narrative has been put to rest and has shown that not being hasty to make changes for the sake of change has its benefits.
After their crushing elimination at the hand of the Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche take a similar approach to what the Canes did and not make any panic moves. They should trust the process that made them a great regular team and only make changes that reinforce those high-level traits that the Avs embody as a whole. They are still a top team in the NHL and they should still be a favorite to be the last team standing at the end of the 2026-2027 season.
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