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.