Colorado Avalanche
Avalanche off-day notebook: Is Timmins hurt? (UPDATED)
Hope you all had a nice night last night, Avalanche fans. No, it’s not the Stanley Cup, not by a longshot. But the Presidents’ Trophy was still a very nice accomplishment for an Avalanche team that had the usual glut of injuries, not to mention two lengthy pauses in the schedule because of Covid-19 protocol.
It was the third time in team history that the Avs won the Presidents’ Trophy (1996-97 and 2000-01 were the others). We went through some of the histories of previous winners of the trophy and their ultimate success, or lack thereof, in going on to win a Cup. But the last time the Avs won it, they also won the Cup. Either way, the past is the past.
Let’s do some notebook-style stuff for this off-day Friday:
- Conor Timmins didn’t take a shift in the third period last night. Nobody asked the coach about it after the game, either.
- Soooo, is Timmins hurt? Unfortunately, we may not get any answer until tomorrow or Sunday. The Avs are off from all hockey and media responsibilities today, so unfortunately we have to wait and worry a bit about Timmins. If I find out anything in the meantime, I’ll be sure to update things.
- UPDATE: Timmins didn’t play because he took a shot off an ankle. It’s not believe serious, though.
- It would be a shame if Timmins can’t start the playoffs, as he’s been one of the Avs’ better players of late. He had two assists and a plus-3 in his 9:26 of total ice time last night.
- The Avs are the favorites with every bookmaker I’ve seen here, to beat the Blues in the first round. I guess they haven’t checked in with Ryan O’Reilly yet.
- Yes, I am surprised ROR said that. But as a media guy, I’m glad he did. Sure adds some spice to this series already, doesn’t it?
- The Blues are going into the playoffs pretty healthy, which…of course they are. You didn’t expect the Avs to get any breaks from the injury gods, did you? The Avs are just going to have to beat them at their best, period.
- The Avs are going to have to be very disciplined in the series. The Blues’ power play was excellent down the stretch. But the Avs are going to need to be physical, too. St. Louis has some big forwards and you can’t let them camp out in front of the net.
- Jared Bednar’s .732 win percentage this season is the best single-season winning percentage by a head coach in franchise history, passing Bob Hartley’s .695 win percentage in 2000-01 (note: overtime losses were counted as losses for coaches prior to 2005).
- The Avs’ 22-4-2 home record (.821) is their best home points percentage since the club moved to Denver, eclipsing the 2000-01 team (.768). Colorado is 16-0-1 in its last 17 contests at Ball Arena, the longest home point streak in the NHL this season. It also ties the club record set in 2002-03. The Avalanche outscored opponents 110-54 (+56) on home ice in 2020-21.
- Cale Makar notched an assist to finish the regular season with 44 points (8g/36a) in 44 games, joining Steve Duchesne (82 points in 82 games with Quebec in 1992-93) as the only blueliners in franchise history to average a point-per-game. He’s the only blueliner in the NHL to average a point-per-game this season.
- The league obviously prepared for a Vegas division victory in advance. Check out that background behind the Avs’ skaters here:
- The league deleted the tweet that image appeared in. Hey, no judgment from me. God knows I’ve tweeted many mistakes.