Can you smell that, Avs Faithful? We are getting closer to the Colorado Avalanche playing some regular season hockey again. On Wednesday morning, each team’s home opener opponent and date was announced.
The Avalanche will face the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on September 30. Last season, the Avs opened the season on the road in Los Angeles, but on October 7.
The big difference in the date has to do with the fact that the league is implementing two extra games into the schedule. Instead of 82 games which fans are used to, they are moving to 84.
Hopefully, the Avalanche have the same result as the postseason, where they were able to boast and tease about a Hollywood classic.
I’m not sure how much of a difference the later start will have on any team, really. Perhaps it’ll help the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, who last played in the Stanley Cup Final on June 14. With the Avalanche being eliminated earlier, it might not make that much of a difference.
Still, this matchup will be quite different from the last one. The Avalanche had Valeri Nichushkin back in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They won’t have him this time around as he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Additionally, the Kings won’t have Anze Kopitar as he has now retired.
The Kings do still have some notable names, however. Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield make up their first line. Kevin Fiala, Erik Haula and Mats Zuccharello are on their second line. Drew Doughty is their top right defenseman.
Also, former Avalanche savior Darcy Kuemper could be in goal for the Kings. It’s possible that he will head into training camp in an open competition with Anton Forsberg, who took the starting job late in the regular season last year and started every game in the best-of-7 series that only lasted four.
The Avalanche’s top-six consists of players who are returning to the club from last year, while the bottom-six has three new players: Jaden Schwartz Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux. There’s a chance that someone steps up in training camp and steals one of those bottom jobs, such as T.J. Hughes makes the team out of training camp as he was highly coveted before the Avalanche claimed his rights.
The full NHL schedule will be released tomorrow, Thursday, July16th. Stay tuned!
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