It’s now December and the Avalanche are staring at the most important month of their season. The Avs have proven that they mesh better than the previous season’s squad, but still find themselves in a familiar position in the standings.
The Avalanche sit at the bottom of the Central division, while the top half of the division is pulling away. On top of that, their schedule for December is no walk in the park. Out of the 14 games they’ll play in December, eight of them are against teams that are sitting in the top half of their divisions. Stealing points away from teams like the first-place Lightning or the L.A. Kings is a tall order for any team in the league — but for Colorado’s playoff chances to grow, they’ll have to find a way to do so.
However, there is a sliver of light in this dark corner for the Avalanche as they enter this critical month of hockey. Currently, the division is separated by a total of 12 points from the top to the bottom, and Colorado has played the fewest amount of games in the division, to boot. On top of that, the Avalanche get two cracks at the Panthers, who are second-to-last in their division, and the Coyotes who are in last in theirs. Even though the Avalanche have too often played down to lesser opponents’ levels, this team looks to be more opportunistic — and they’ll have to be in order to pick off the lower-hanging fruit when available.
It’s unfortunate before the season’s halfway point arrives, the Avalanche are facing what almost equates to a playoff run of hockey, but the bar hasn’t yet been set out of reach. The team is clearly improving game-by-game, and with only a quarter of the season complete, they have already accumulated more than half the points they had in the entire previous season.
Perhaps, as the snow starts to fly in Colorado, a little holiday spirit will to propel the Avalanche forward in December.
