Colorado Avalanche must continue to respond to opposition with physicality

The Colorado Avalanche are loaded with offensive weapons. Players like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar can single-handedly take over a game. There's even more firepower behind them in Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Val Nichushkin and recently returned captain Gabriel Landeskog. But offense can't win you all the games. One of the biggest knocks on the Avalanche for the past few seasons has been their physicality, or rather, the lack thereof.

Getting pushed around contributed to past team struggles

Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, the Avalanche have had little postseason success. They lost to the Seattle Kraken in the first round in 2023, then the Stars in the second round in 2024 and again to the Stars in 2025. In each of these losses, the Avalanche were outclassed in physical on-ice play.

While Seattle wasn't a bruising, physical kind of team, they played tenaciously along the boards and out-muscled the Avalanche. The Stars on the other hand are notorious for playing big, heavy, physical hockey. The first playoff series loss against Dallas can be chalked up to unfortunate player absences, but on the ice the Avalanche were definitely ineffective in the physical aspect. Last season's series loss to Dallas was also largely due to the Stars pushing the Avalanche around.

Avalanche starting to show off their toughness

Last year the team got some needed size at the deadline by bringing Brock Nelson in from the New York Islanders. Then they added more size with the return of Landeskog. The second line of Valeri Nichushkin, Nelson, and Landeskog was dynamite for the Avs in their playoff series loss to the Stars and the only real physical presence the Avalanche showed. However, this year, they seem to be addressing that very issue.

In the Avs first preseason game against the Utah Mammoth, left wing Samuel Lipkin got Cale Makar with a high elbow that left Makar on the ice for a few moments. Lipkin was assessed the two-minute penalty and was quickly met by Landeskog to answer for the hit. Landy dropped his gloves, hit the Lipkin with 3 quick punches and dropped him to the ice. In an instant, in a preseason game Landeskog changed the mentality of the entire team.

On Tuesday, the Avalanche opened the season in Los Angeles and continued that trend. Both teams seemed to be shaking off the cobwebs and working things out through the first period. Throughout the game, the Kings kept taking shots at the Avs after the whistle. And every time there was a face wash or shove on an Avs player, they pushed back. Brock Nelson and Parker Kelly exchanged a few shoves and punches with their opponents in post-whistle scrums. Josh Manson laid a huge hit on Warren Foegele in the first period and had to answer for that hit in a fight with Jeff Malott.

Eventually the Avalanche broke through and had a 4-0 lead. The Kings started to get more physical and even more chippy and the Avalanche continued to fight back. Josh Manson led the team with six hits and only five Avalanche players had zero hits. They didn't let the physical play rattle them, nor did they back down and take their foot off the gas. They continued to put full effort in even with the game well in hand.

The Avalanche must continue to play their high octane offensive game, and be able to adapt when teams try to push them off of it. The last few seasons have shown that the Avs shied away from the physical aspect of the game. In today's NHL,the physical game is becoming more and more of a factor. The Avalanche are finally integrating that aspect into their game and it could make them the dominant team we've all been waiting for.