Strike 2: With two of the world’s best hockey players skating alongside a number of genuine All-Stars, there’s no doubt that the Colorado Avalanche are among the top two or three most talented teams in the National Hockey League.
But it takes much more than just talent to win the Stanley Cup.
No matter the sport, the more driven, hungry players win championships. The 2022 Cup champion Avs had all the talent and hunger going back several seasons, culminating with that memorable Cup win over Tampa Bay. Since then, while there have been some roster changes of course – plus the key injury to captain Gabe Landeskog – the core of that team remains on the ice. But now, with their names forever engraved on the Cup, some of the hunger appears to have been satisfied. At the very least, it’s not on display much of the time.
This kind of thing happens a lot. It’s why repeating as a champion is so damn difficult.
When the Avs brass pulled off the trades that brought in goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, it fortified the entire team and made visions of another June parade through downtown Denver seem like a reality. Both have been very solid in net, especially Blackwood, who has drawn comparisons to the best days of Darcy Kuemper – the netminder of the 2022 cup champs.
So this team has the raw talent, from top to bottom, to win another cup.
But do they have the intangibles? Do they have that hunger?
Unfortunately, this Avs team has, in the words of head coach Jared Bednar, too many “passengers” – guys who aren’t fully engaged for a full 60 minutes on a nightly basis. The on-again, off-again effort has been plainly displayed on the scoreboard, where over their last 10 games since the calendar turned to 2025, Colorado has gone 5-5. It’s been a win-lose-win-lose pattern, including a win over the defending Cup champion Florida Panthers and a loss to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks in back-to-back games. It even happened within a game in a 4-3 home loss to Edmonton, when the Avs blew a 3-0 first period advantage. After the third goal, rather than going for the throat, Colorado shifted into cruise control. And ended up losing.
The pattern remained intact on Monday afternoon when the home team put forth another pedestrian effort in a key division game against Minnesota, the team they’re chasing in the standings. The Wild were beat up and coming off a 6-2 loss in Nashville. But you couldn’t tell who the struggling team was early on. In the 3-1 loss, the Avs generated just eight shots in the first two periods before trying to scramble back at the end, to no avail.
“I don’t have the answer to that. It’s like we didn’t have the energy to do enough,” Bednar said after the frustrating loss to the Wild. “It was a struggle to create offense. It’s frustrating. It’s just palms up…you’re just a cheerleader.”
MVP Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the Avs lone goal against the Wild, has enough hunger and drive for an entire locker room. But for some reason, it doesn’t seem to be contagious. Injuries have been a factor like they always are, but then again, Bednar isn’t talking about anyone who’s not on the ice being a “passenger.” It’s the guys that are healthy and being counted on who have only played well in fits and spurts.
Avs faithful continue to lament the loss of team captain Landeskog, who hasn’t set foot on the ice in an NHL game since he hoisted the Cup in June of 2022. Is he missed? Sure. But it’s way past time for Avs followers to give up talking about the need to get him back. What they’re asking for is for Landy to come back from a knee injury – a ligament transplant surgery – that no other hockey player has ever come back from.
It’s going on three full seasons now. Time to give up on that idea. The captain’s return is not something for this team to hang its collective hat on.
What the Avs need to do without anyone wearing the “C” is circle the wagons with the players they have, including the two new goaltenders, and find a way to bring their “A” game every night. There’s time to right things between now and the end of the regular season. Finish strong, and home ice remains in play. Keep playing hard in every other game and the off season will get here quicker than anyone wants.
