The 2025-26 NHL regular season belonged to the Colorado Avalanche.
Sure, there were other great stories. The Buffalo Sabres returning to the playoffs, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the Pittsburgh Penguins back to relevance and the rise of Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer are just a few.
But the Avs broke the league for half a season with a historic start. They’ve been atop the NHL standings every day since Nov. 1. The 121 points is among the top 10 in league history.
Nathan MacKinnon scored the most goals. The Avs as a team scored the most and allowed the fewest.
It goes beyond just the on-ice results. The Nordiques-inspired uniforms were the most talked-about fashion choice. Colorado won the trade deadline by adding Brett Kulak, Nicolas Roy and then Nazem Kadri at the last minute.
Even the introduction of a remix of as the team’s entrance music at Ball Arena, a nod to the 30-year anniversary with an all-time classic from 1996, was a huge success and immediately among the 3-5 best in the NHL.
Now, it’s time to find out if this will be remembered as one of the greatest teams of all-time. Win 16 more games, and it will be true.
“I think everyone understands the reality of how hard it is to win,” Avs goalie Scott Wedgewood said. “I think (the regular season) just makes you hungrier to prove it. It wasn’t just a fluke. It wasn’t just, ‘We got lucky and won some games and all that.’ I think we all know what kind of team we are when we play the right way.
“I think the mentality is just don’t squander this opportunity, this lineup, this expectation.”
Every NHL player wants to win the Stanley Cup. None of them cares about style points or how the path to get there will be remembered. It’s the same with fans of every NHL team.
No one in St. Louis cares if the 2019 Blues aren’t remembered as one of the all-time greats. No one in Dallas cares if the first thing some people outside of Texas think about with the 1999 Stars is Brett Hull’s skate.
Every Cup winner is a champion forever.
But some have been more revered than others throughout history. There are certain years where the champion is just synonymous with all-time excellence, even decades later. It’s 1977 and the Canadiens, 2002 and the Red Wings. It’s early, but 2022 and the Avalanche is a strong contender.
The Avs have put themselves in a position to be included in that group.
“It’d be special,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said. “I think for us, it’s don’t look too far ahead. Cliche as that sounds. I think it starts with L.A. It starts with Sunday at 1 p.m. and it’s taking care of business in the first period. I think it’s easy this time of year to get over-excited and forecast and watch other series and see what’s going on, but I think the biggest thing is just no distractions and worry about the group we have within here.
“I think if we do the right things and play to our game plan, trust each other, play to our identity, great things are going to happen.”
Winning so much and in such dominant fashion has put the Avalanche in this position. The Avs stopped being a team that could win the Cup and became the team that should win the Cup months ago.
The trade deadline additions and the strong finish only reinforced that. The expectation to win a championship has been the same inside the Colorado locker room since Day One of training camp. The external expectations have risen dramatically since then.
“I think the group knew what we had, and even more so after the deadline,” Avs center Brock Nelson said. “But I think we’ve got a pretty good mindset that even with trying to set out to be the best team in the league for the regular season, we never really strayed from (our focus). Obviously a couple off games, but I think we stuck with it. And the main focus is to win a Stanley Cup. We know we’re not there yet, so there’s still a lot of work to be done. One singular focus now, starting with this first round.”
No team is destined to win the Stanley Cup, especially in the salary cap era. Even the most dominant regular-season teams that did complete the job — think 2013 Blackhawks and 2022 Avalanche — still had some moments of adversity along the way.
Everyone also remembers the most dominant teams that didn’t reach the finish line. Think the 2011 Canucks, the last club to finish first in goals for and first in fewest goals against. Or the 2019 Lightning and 2023 Bruins, which both flamed out in all-time first-round upsets.
Barring terrible injury luck, there isn’t any middle ground left for this Avalanche team. It’s either win 16 games and become one of the all-time greats, or this group joins the latter list of what ifs and what could have beens.
“There has to be a mentality there, that we’re willing to go and earn what we want,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re not deserving of anything. It’s all going to be about the way we play and being willing to earn it.
“I think all of our guys understand that. We’ve been through some heartache here in the first few rounds of playoffs, and I think that’s still fresh in our minds.”
