Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy frequently preaches the necessity of keeping an “even-keel” mentality. Going down the final stretch of the regular season, fighting for their playoff lives, that even-keel mindset will be more important than ever.
“It is important,” Avalanche veteran and assistant captain Jarome Iginla said after practice Tuesday morning. “There’s no panic, we have to stay confident.”
The Avalanche have exactly 20 games remaining in the regular season. In the last two years, the Avalanche have been able to succeed down the stretch, going 12-5-3 in the final 20 games of the 2013-14 season and 12-7-1 in 2014-15. Patrick Roy’s ability to maintain his team’s even-keel mindset during, arguably, the most important part of the season has played a big role in their end-of-the-year success.
“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and enjoy it too,” Iginla said. “It’s one of those things Patty’s talked about and reminded us is that you want to be in this position. You are in the hunt down the last 20, and it’s going to be fun games. The playoffs will be even more fun if and when we get there.”
The Minnesota Wild are now the biggest threat to Colorado’s playoff hopes, as the Avs currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Only two points behind the Avalanche, Minnesota has two games in hand to catch Colorado. Considering how well the Wild have played since replacing their head coach, the Avalanche players are definitely keeping their eyes on the standings, but that is really nothing out of the ordinary.
“There’s so much on television; hockey is on in the morning with highlights and stuff,” Iginla told Mile High Sports. “It’s funny, even after the first quarter of the year, you are always watching those teams around you and your division and all that stuff. So, yeah most guys usually know how certain teams do around us daily.”
Keeping their calm demeanor and focus while staying aware of the surrounding teams in the standings has to be difficult to balance, but that is and has been Colorado’s approach to the end of the season. Replicating the mentality of seasons past could potentially replicate the results. Acquiring 25 to 27 points, as they did in the final 20 games of the last two seasons, will be precisely what the Avalanche need to hold on to their playoff spot.
The final 20 games for Colorado include nine against the Central Division, seven against the Pacific and four against the Eastern Conference. Playing mostly against the Central Division could be beneficial for the Avalanche, as they’ve scored 3.00 goals per game versus those opponents and have a positive goal differential. Against the Pacific Division and Eastern Conference, though, the Avalanche have negative goal differentials and are scoring less than three goals per game.
The Colorado Avalanche faceoff against the San Jose Sharks Wednesday night at Pepsi Center. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. MST. Following is the highly anticipated Stadium Series game from Coors Field, Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
