Who Can Stop The Avalanche?

This time of year will exhaust even the deepest teams. The NHL is taking a three-week break in February for the Winter Olympics, but they didn't expand the start or end of the regular season. As a result, the schedule is crunched, and you could really see the effect over the holiday weekend, with tired squads playing low-event games. The NHL has long been in an era of relative parity, but the bulk of the teams feel especially interchangeable through the first few months of this season. If you're asked how your local boys are doing, and you don't know, the safest answer is "Oh, they're doing all right." A full 27 of the league's 32 teams currently sit within the range of 25 to 35 points. Truly, anything can happen.

But there is exactly one prediction for April that you can take to the bank: The Colorado Avalanche are not going to miss the playoffs. While nearly everyone else has see-sawed their way to inconclusive contention, the Avs have smothered the field. They've only lost one game in regulation out of 26 so far, winning 19 and showing zero signs of weakness. They're pacing the NHL in both goals scored and goals against, and they've won 12 of their last 13, the lone loss coming in a shootout against Minnesota's sensational rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt. On Tuesday night against the Canucks, they continued to display all facets of their superiority in a 3-1 win.