An Address to Any and All Avalanche Fans

What was supposed to be a dream season for the Colorado Avalanche came to an abrupt end, as the team was ousted in six games by the Vegas Golden Knights in the West Division Final. The Avalanche, who captured the Presidents' Trophy this season, won the first six games of the playoffs, but Game Two saw the Avalanche win despite the Golden Knights starting to take over the remainder of the game. Colorado's next two games would see them lose complete momentum against the Knights, resulting in back-to-back road losses, and while Game Five saw them go up 2-0 entering the third period, the Knights came back in the third and won in overtime. Game Six? The Avalanche tried, but mistakes and miscues were the team's downfall.

The series' loss and sudden collapse was due to miscues by defensemen, mainly Patrik Nemeth, and key players disappearing offensively--namely Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi, and even Gabriel Landeskog. In all, not only was this the Avalanche's third straight 2nd round loss, but it comes in very disappointing fashion--losing four straight after starting 6-0 and looking like worldbeaters.

So that's what went wrong. Now I have to speak as a fan of the Avalanche, which I have been since the team's last two seasons as the Quebec Nordiques:

My fellow Avalanche fans. I know it hurts, trust me, I know. But we have no reason to believe that this team won't eventually reach the mountaintop very soon. I know we are in disbelief, I know we expected much more, I did too. I wear my Avalanche fandom proudly and loudly and have for at least 25 years. I want that feeling that I had on June 10, 1996. I want a repeat of June 9, 2001. I, like all of you, was hoping for that this year and was expecting it, but it all came to a crashing end.

Even with this, we cannot give up. The window is still wide open and will be for the next five seasons. There is no reason why the Avalanche cannot win a Cup with this group. Well, most of them--some names have to go. But look what this team has. A Hart Trophy candidate in Nathan MacKinnon. A Norris Trophy candidate in Cale Makar (who won the Calder Trophy last season). A Vezina finalist in Philipp Grubauer. High level players such as Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, and Brandon Saad. Avalanche legend Joe Sakic as GM making these amazing moves. All of those factors will equal a Stanley Cup for the Avalanche within the next five seasons.

So again, not much really needs to change. Whatever detriments the team has need to go, maybe another key free agent signing, but again, not much. The Avalanche will be back in the Central with the Blues, Wild, Stars, Blackhawks, Predators, Jets, and the Coyotes (coming from the Pacific due to the Seattle Kraken). This team will continue to be a force in the Central Division, as long as they keep that core. In the meantime, here's hoping MacKinnon gets that Hart Trophy that he has been denied too many times to count, Makar gets a Norris to go with his Calder (imagine winning the Calder and Norris back-to-back), and Grubauer gets that Vezina. In the overall history of the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche, that team has never won the Vezina. That's 42 years! Here's hoping Grubauer is the first and ends that skid!

Thank you for reading this address! If you liked it, feel free to respond on my Twitter and Facebook pages, and if you really loved it, feel free to leave a tip (if you want)!