Colorado Avalanche
Avs open 2020-21 NHL season schedule Jan. 13 against Blues at Ball Arena

Well, the official Avs schedule is officially out, and…let’s just hope you’re a fan of Major League Baseball-style scheduling. As I reported about a week ago, the NHL season will somewhat resemble that of a baseball schedule, because of the coronavirus and the cost savings that can be achieved by playing more than one game at a time between teams in their respective cities. So, starting on Jan. 13, the Avs will start the season schedule with a game against the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena (it’s not the Pepsi Center anymore remember) and the next game on the docket will be…the St. Louis Blues, on Jan. 15.
Here, folks, is the entire 56-game Avs season schedule:
2020-21 Avalanche Regular Season Schedule
Home Games Bold  – Dates Subject to Change
JANUARY
 Wed    Jan. 13     ST. LOUIS
Fri       Jan. 15     ST. LOUIS
Tue      Jan. 19      at Los Angeles
Thu      Jan. 21      at Los Angeles
Fri        Jan. 22      at Anaheim
Sun      Jan. 24      at Anaheim
Tue      Jan. 26     SAN JOSE
Thu     Jan. 28     SAN JOSE
Sat       Jan. 30      at Minnesota
Sun      Jan. 31      at Minnesota
FEBRUARY
 Tue      Feb. 2       MINNESOTA
Thu     Feb. 4       MINNESOTA
Sat       Feb. 6        at St. Louis
Sun      Feb. 7        at St. Louis
Tue      Feb. 9       ARIZONA
Thu     Feb. 11     ARIZONA
Sun      Feb. 14      at Vegas
Tue      Feb. 16      at Vegas
Sat       Feb. 20     VEGAS
Mon    Feb. 22     VEGAS
Thu      Feb. 25      at Arizona
Sat       Feb. 27      at Arizona
 MARCH
Mon     Mar. 1       at San Jose
Wed     Mar. 3       at San Jose
Fri       Mar. 5      ANAHEIM
Sat       Mar. 6      ANAHEIM
Mon    Mar. 8      ARIZONA
Wed    Mar. 10    ARIZONA
Fri       Mar. 12    LOS ANGELES
Sun      Mar. 14    LOS ANGELES
Thu     Mar. 18    MINNESOTA
Sat       Mar. 20    MINNESOTA
Mon     Mar. 22     at Arizona
Tue      Mar. 23     at Arizona
Thu     Mar. 25    VEGAS
Sat       Mar. 27    VEGAS
Mon    Mar. 29    ANAHEIM
Wed    Mar. 31    ANAHEIM
 APRIL
Sat       Apr. 3       ST. LOUIS
Mon     Apr. 5        at Minnesota
Wed     Apr. 7        at Minnesota
Fri        Apr. 9        at Anaheim
Sun      Apr. 11     at Anaheim
Fri       Apr. 16     LOS ANGELES
Sun      Apr. 18     LOS ANGELES
Tue      Apr. 20     ST. LOUIS
Thu      Apr. 22     at St. Louis
Sat       Apr. 24     at St. Louis
Mon     Apr. 26     at Vegas
Wed     Apr. 28     at Vegas
Fri       Apr. 30     SAN JOSE
 MAY
 Sat       May 1       SAN JOSE
Mon     May 3        at San Jose
Wed     May 5        at San Jose
Fri        May 7        at Los Angeles
Sat       May 8        at Los Angeles
Some thoughts: Yeah, and along with a baseball schedule, I hope you like seeing just the same seven opponents over and over and over. That’s just the way it will be this year, folks, because of the virus. Hey, I think it’ll be fun. It’ll be like a season of the old Original Six days, only it’ll be the Original Eight now. The Avs will play in the West Division, with the top FOUR teams in points making the playoffs. From there, they will play within the division until the conference finals, when the winners of the Central and West will play to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, against the winner of the East and North Divisions.
The North Division, of course, is the all-Canadian team division.
Unfortunately, fans will not be allowed in Ball Arena for the season, at least not in the beginning. The Avs/NHL are reserving the right to add fans should conditions allow. Fans will also not be allowed to watch practices, at Family Sports Center. I know a lot of you will be greatly disappointed by that. Hopefully, that will change as the Avs season schedule moves along too.
As for us here at Colorado Hockey Now: We will be allowed into the buildings for home and road games, morning skates and team practices. And, I and my colleagues at the site, including Scott MacDonald, Reagan Smith and Ashley Glover, will work tirelessly to bring you the best coverage of the team as we possibly can.
That means going on the road for most, if not all, the games. You know my philosophy: I want to be in the building where the Avs are playing, period. I spent 50 straight days in Edmonton covering the team in the playoffs, when no one else in Denver would do it. Thanks to many of you and your generous donations to the Avs Travel Tip Jar, you made that easier for me to do.
So, here’s the pitch again: If you want to guarantee that Colorado Hockey Now will have a presence at many/most, if not all, Avs road games, you can donate to the Tip Jar by clicking here (there’s also a link just to the right on this page). A reminder: 95 cents of any dollar donated goes to strictly Avs travel, and the other 5 percent goes to me buying food to donate on your behalf at the Thornton Food Bank – an organization that does great work and really helps people out who need it most.
Thank you for anything you give. As many of you know, I do not frivolously waste any money when it comes to travel. It’s low-budget all the way, but, hey, that’s kind of how I like it too. No frills works just fine for me. I’ve been in all the fancy hotels in this country, and it’s way overrated. Give me a cheap Airbnb or a Motel 6 and I’m just fine.