Prior to their move to the Central Divsion in the Western conference, where they reside now, the Colorado Avalanche played in the Pacific Division. In the 1998-99 season, the divisions changed, and the Avalanche ended up in the Northwest Division in the Western conference. They played in the latter division until 2011-12, before heading to the Central Division in the Western Conference.
Prior to their move to Colorado, they were the Quebec Nordiques, whose home was in the Adams Division, of the Prince of Wales conference.
Since their latest move, the Avalaanche have won their division four times, including year one.
Back in the day, the Avalanche had a famous rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings. There was a lot of fight—a lot of grit between these two teams whenever they played. That series is 64-47-1-10 all-time, with Detroit leading.
The other teams in the same division as the Colorado Avalaanche are the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club (as of now), and Chicago Blackhawks.
Last season, the Avalanche had a record of 16-8-2 against their division opponents, including three wins and one loss to the Blackhawks, who have last year’s number one overall pick in Connor Bedard. During the regular season, Colorado lost all three matchups to the Jets, went 1-2 against the Predators, 3-1 against the Blues, 3-1 against the Stars, 3-1 vs the Blues, 2-2 vs the Coyotes, and 4-0 against the Wild.
A fun fact about the 2023-24 Colorado Avalanche is that they sold out 37 of their 41 home games. That is a pretty darn good track record. Even though the team had been up and down over the past two seasons following their Stanley Cup victory in 2021-22, Avs Faithful still believes and has a fun time attending their home games.
Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup history and recent success in division
Overall, the Colorado Avalanche have won three Stanley Cups: the aforementioned 2021-22 win, 1995-96, and 2000-01. They have had eight head coaches since moving to Colorado, with their current coach Jared Bednar having the longest tenure of them all as he was hired in 2016.
The division race was very tight last season with three teams making a late-season run for first place. Unfortunately, the Avalanche finished third, but still sneaked into the playoffs, and eliminated the Winnipeg Jets but fell to the Stars. So, despite playing their division opponents several times in the regular season, they ended up facing two of them in the playoffs, and fell victim to one.
At the end of the day, division matchups are some of the best games a fan can watch. There seems to always be that extra sense of urgency in those games and rightfully so.