Looking at history between Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets

The Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets will square off in both teams’ final game of the 2024 calendar year. The clash will take place at Ball Arena and has significant implications for the two teams.

The Jets currently lead the division with 55 points, while the Avalanche sit third with 44. A win in regulation would allow the Avalanche to close the gap somewhat.

Leading up to Tuesday night’s game, there’s a bit of a complicated backstory between these two clubs. Neither the current incarnation of the Avs nor the Jets are the original franchise that entered the league. The Avalanche entered the NHL as the Quebec Nordiques in 1979 following the merger between the NHL and the World Hockey Association (WHA).

The Winnipeg Jets would also enter the NHL in 1979. However, that franchise would go on to become the Arizona Coyotes and then the Utah Hockey Club. The current iteration of the Jets comes from the Atlanta Thrashers, who joined the league as an expansion team in 1999.

The Thrashers had a tortured story until the team was forced to relocate in 2011, becoming the new version of the Winnipeg Jets. So, technically, the story between the Colorado Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets goes back to 2011.

Nevertheless, there are decades of games between the Quebec Nordiques and the Winnipeg Jets (1979) to consider. Please keep in mind the (1979) designation is used to identify the original team that entered the league and not the current version that joined the league following the Thrashers’ relocation.

Phew, all right. With that backstory out of the way, let’s look at the history between the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets.

Looking at Colorado Avalanche vs Winnipeg Jets all-time

Looking back at the all-time record between the Winnipeg Jets and the Colorado Avalanche, including the Thrashers’ days, the Avalanche have a slight edge at 28-25-1-6, according to Statmuse. Please remember that the fourth column refers to ties, which were a thing at one point.

But if we count just the games between the Jets and Avs, we get a 22-19-4 mark. Over that span, the two clubs have been rather evenly matched. If we look at the last 10 games, both clubs have won five games apiece.

The only lopsided game during that stretch was a 7-0 rout the Jets dropped on the Avs back on April 13 of this year. The Avs got the last laugh last year, though, bouncing the Jets in five games during the first round of the playoffs.

This season, the Jets won a tight, 1-0 game on November 7. But that game was during the Avs’ most challenging period when the team was struggling with inconsistency and injuries. Hopefully, that won’t be the case on New Year’s Eve.

The Avs will likely come out swinging with the following lines:

With the Jets coming off a 3-0 blanking against the Nashville Predators on Monday night, the game could be set for another tight-checking affair. Perhaps the Avs will pull this one out to even the season series. Win or lose, the matchup should be among the night’s best.