Just like in the NBA, the regular season in the NHL started with many interesting moments and strong performances from some teams. The Colorado Avalanche are tearing the Western Conference apart: They’ve gone on a perfect streak of 10 straight games, and a lot of people have suffered in that streak. The team became the first team to score more than 100 goals (118) and conceded an incredible (in a good way) 70 goals. Idyll, harmony, minimal injuries and confident steps towards the record – everything leads to success and championship. But can the Avalanche achieve this?

As we know, there is an unspoken curse in the NHL for teams that finish first in the conference: they often finish in the first round of the playoffs. As Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said: “The only disaster for us is that it’s a shame there’s no May!”

It’s worth analyzing the team’s performance and seeing if the Avalanche truly deserves the championship.

Colorado’s strongest start to the regular season: How many records will be broken?

“Colorado” started the 2025/26 season with incredible excitement and this is not strange at all. Jared Bednar, the head coach of the team, admitted that the squad is the strongest and deepest in his memory, there were no injuries, and therefore he wants to get the maximum result in every match. Things are going well so far as only the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders have managed to beat the Avalanche in regulation time, and at the time of this writing, those are the only 2 clean sheets. An extremely valuable achievement considering 19 wins and 2 wins in overtime.

It is also very good in terms of goals and conceded: 118-70 and these are the best numbers in the league. At this rate, the Avalanche might even topple Edmonton’s amazing scoring record. The Oilers allowed 446 goals in 1983-84 compared to Colorado’s best of 312 goals in 2021-22; This was perhaps the team’s best season in history. This is what resulted in first place and a championship for the Avalanche in the Western Conference and confident victories in the playoffs. So far, Colorado’s morale is good, and the team has managed to achieve an interesting feat: they are ranked second in history and have lost only once in 26 starting games. Before them, the Philadelphia Flyers did it in 1979.

It’s interesting what records the Avalanches were still able to break this season:

– Regular season points: Boston Bruins lead with 135 points – Avalanche currently have 49 to 30 games remaining with 52 more games remaining. It’s all real, you shouldn’t relax at the end of the season like Colorado likes to do in case of an early exit to the playoffs.

– Number of wins: Boston leads again with 65 wins. Colorado currently has 21 games remaining and 45 more games left in the remaining 52 games. It’s tough here because the Bruins set the bar so high. True, it should not be denied that the task is quite real and feasible.
– Pucks allowed: The fewest goals allowed in history were the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1953-54 and the Montreal Canadiens two seasons later with 131 goals. Colorado currently has 70 goals conceded, and given the rhythm of the modern NHL, it’s unlikely they’ll fit into 131 goals.
– The streak was initially repeated, but it was not possible to overcome it: the Avalanche were not allowed to get their 11th win by their rivals in the Minnesota Wild. Colorado also has its own special achievement – they won 3 Stanley Cups from only 3 tries, so 100% grandmaster. In terms of total trophies, the Avalanche isn’t even close to the leader. It’s worth noting that no one is close in their reasoning: the Montreal Canadiens are ahead of the rest with 35 Stanley Cups, while the Detroit Red Wings are second with 24.

Regardless, Colorado is still excellent and most of their opponents are unlucky enough to play against them. 8-4 destroyed New Jersey, 9-1 mocked Edmonton, 6-0 went to San Jose and 2-7 “flew” to Montreal. The Avalanche have never lost by more than one goal.

Colorado Heroes: McKinnon is in great shape

Colorado’s main hero in recent years can be called Jared Bednar and his assistant Nolan Pratt, who have been with the team since 2016. A year later goalkeeper coach Jussi Parkkila arrived and replaced another assistant before the current season, with Dave Hackstop replacing him. Bednar has been through a lot during this period, but he still managed to lead the team to the championship in one of the best seasons in the club’s history, overcoming a plague of injuries and bad luck, and then heading back to the cup. The one thing Bednar can’t fix is ​​that he’s converting on less than 20% of his power play chances. It’s hard to imagine how the best offense in the league will forgive opponents by playing with player advantage. Changes in the majority team reveal themselves.

Now for individuals. Who are this season’s Avalanche leaders:

1. Gabriel Landeskog. The team captain missed last season due to a serious knee injury and only made it to the play-offs: he scored 1 goal and made 3 assists. He was not lucky enough to play more, but the Swede was preparing himself for the new season as much as possible – he did not leave the gym, trained and now he can trust the Avalanche captains 100%. Landeskog has 5 goals + 9 assists so far, but this is also a good result considering his strongest partners are motivated to win.

2. Nathan MacKinnon. The forward has consistently scored over 100 points for 4 consecutive seasons and has 8 of them in his career. This year he already has 24 goals (1st place) and 27 assists (4th place). We can say that MacKinnon is one of the best of the 21st century, and he happily proves it in almost every game.
3.Martin Necas. The Czech player scored 41 points in 30 games this season and scored the same number in 37 games last season. The Czech forward was honored to play in the starting lineup alongside all Avalanche players. Necas is good at playing the only game that was expected of him after his transfer from Carolina.
4. Cale Makar. One of the best players of our time, considered by bookmakers as the No. 1 favorite for the Norris Trophy. There is definitely a point where Makar can play much better. He has 10 goals and 26 assists after 30 matches played. Why so few? Makar promised to play more defense and he keeps his promise. It is unknown how long the player will last because he likes to attack more.
5. Goalkeepers. Colorado did not disappoint once with its goaltending team. Three goalkeepers each have a save percentage above 90:

Miner 90.91%, Blackwood 92.05% and Wedgwood 91.27%. McKenzie had two shutouts in 10 games and Scott kept a clean sheet in 20 games despite consistently allowing 2.07 goals. To summarise, they can do better, but this is more than adequate, especially with the current defense.

Separately, it is worth highlighting the deep composition in which all-round strong hard workers can be distinguished: Malinsky, Burns, Drury, Kelly, Colton, Lehkonen, Olofson and Nelson. Nichushkin is back from injury and wants to provide maximum benefit to the team after a long break. Toews is also in excellent form and complements Makar perfectly in the top row.

You can currently bet at 5.00 odds that Colorado will win the championship, but only 3.00 odds that it will win the Western Conference. A great start is great but now we need to avoid injuries and approach the play-offs with maximum fitness.

Sergey Trigub, Sport.ua