Image by Getty Images via @daylife

So the Avalanche won a game in Edmonton last week to break a 10-game losing streak.  Aside from a rousing whoop-dee-friggin-doo, there are a couple of points worth noting about this rare win for Colorado.

First, it was prospect forward Ryan Stoa scoring the shootout goal that lifted the Avalanche to its third win since January 18^th.  Second, the Avs played tough defense and goaltender Brian Elliot stopped 31 shots in a standout performance.  Third, and this one is sort of funny, the Avalanche have now developed a verifiable trend that goes thusly: Win 1 (vs Blues), Lose 10, Win 1 (at Blues), Lose 10, Win 1 (at Oilers).

That’s a pattern, and if it holds up through the final 11 games of the NHL Regular Season, Colorado is due for another victory on its final game of the year against those same Edmonton Oilers.  Now, this is where it gets downright hilarious.

Colorado’s two wins previous to Saturday night’s breakthrough in Edmonton were both against the St Louis Blues.  The Avalanche can put together an absolutely stunning final three months of the season by continuing the trend mentioned above.  If they do, Colorado will have gone 4-36 in the final three months of the season while beating just two different teams.

That’s right, the Avalanche have a chance to make hockey history by beating just two teams in their final 40 games.  Barring an unforeseen setback like accidentally winning another game, Colorado is on pace to make the end of their crummy season honestly interesting in the worst way imaginable.

Tuesday, March 22^nd vs Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 MST)

Once upon a time, the Avalanche were positively dominant against the Blue Jackets.  They started the season with twin 5-1 victories over Columbus, one in Colorado and one in Ohio.  Then there was a 3-1 whooping in early February that continued the Avs’ decent into mediocrity.  The game was not so close as the score.

So now the Avalanche are coming off a gritty 3-2 shootout road win with a chance to put together back-to-back victories for the first time in 2+ months.  Will they do it?  Yeah… yeah, I think they will.  But it’ll be a shame to see the above-mentioned chance at hockey history slip away.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 4, Blue Jackets 3

Thursday, March 24^th vs Toronto Maple Leafs (7:00 MST)

The Maple Leafs are working on a fun trend of their own.  Every other game for the last two weeks Toronto has won handily, while the games in between are mistake-filled losses.

The Leafs are scheduled to hit Denver after losing to Minnesota on Tuesday.  As far as trends go, though, Toronto is bad enough to lose on any given night no matter the prevailing winds.  And so, because I won’t have another opportunity to predict an Avalanche victory for a couple weeks, we’re calling this one a victory and a feel-good 3-game winning streak as Colorado nears the conclusion of an otherwise abysmal season.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 3, Maple Leafs 2

Saturday, March 26^th @ LA Kings (2:00 MST)

Assuming Colorado actually wins their first two games this week, it will be a fitting contrast when the Avs are brutalized by the Kings in Los Angeles.  If the Avalanche lose two cake-walk home games before heading to LA… well, it’ll just be sad won’t it?

PREDICTION: Avalanche 1, Kings 4

**BONUS COVERAGE**

Matty Duchene has not slumped in his sophomore season with the Avalanche.  He leads the team with 56 points, and has showcased his ability to take on an entire defense and come away with a goal.

That said, Duchene needs to start working on some offensive zone discipline.  Too often Colorado’s offense boils down to Matt on an island at right wing trying desperately to make something happen.  It’s understandable because the rest of his team has shown a complete inability to produce scoring chances in recent months, but the whole thing is eerily reminiscent of watching Carmelo Anthony monopolize the Nuggets’ offense for six years.

Simmer down Matty.  Let the game come to you.  Trust your linemates.  And pray that Tomas Fleischmann makes it back to full strength for the beginning of next season.  You two had some wicked chemistry going before blood clotting in Tomas’ lungs sent him to the IR, and I am looking ever so forward to seeing that terrifying transition offense work its magic in ’11-’12.

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The not-so-triumphant return of Adam Foote meant nothing to a super-slumping Avalanche squad last week.  Even after pressing the Sharks to the brink in San Jose, Colorado only managed a pathetic shootout loss.

That extra-time L did garner Los Avs a point to bring them to 60 points on the season.  However, a 5-1 home downer at the hands of the West-worst Edmonton Oilers (good for two 5-1 home losses to Edmonton in as many weeks) erased any lingering positive vibes from a competitive outing in San Jose.

Now the Avalanche get into a tough stretch of games that will likely extend their atrocious post-All Star Break streak of mostly losses (1-12-2 or a 0.07 winning percentage.)  This week features games against a series of smash-mouth clubs, capped by back-to-back contests Friday and Saturday versus Anaheim and at Nashville.

To boot, promising power forward Ryan Stoa ended up rupturing his appendix and needing surgery.  He will miss at least two weeks.

Can it get any worse in Avalancheville?  Yes, yes I believe it can…

Tuesday, March 8^th @ Minnesota Wild (6:00 MST)

Back when the Avalanche were scoring 3.5 goals per game, they took an early lead in the season series versus the Northwest Division’s resident thugs.  A 7-4 win and a 4-1 victory in Minnesota sandwiched around a 1-3 loss to the Wild at home had Colorado looking like they might have finally figured out the gritty boys in green.

Then the Avs returned from a relaxing All Star Break and lost a 3-4 heartbreaker at home to the Wild wherein Colorado managed an absurd 41 shots on goal.  That game started Colorado’s current slide, and may have been the demoralizing straw the that broke the Abominable Snowman’s back in a season plagued by injuries and missed opportunities.

A 3-2 loss at Minnesota a couple weeks later was more reminiscent of Colorado’s historical struggles against the Wild, and we’ll go ahead and predict a similarly frustrating outcome in this one.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 2, Wild 3

Friday, March 11^th vs Anaheim Ducks (7:00 MST)

As a seasoned fan of teams that manage epic slumps (Avalanche, Nuggets, Rockies, Saints, Red Sox… this is getting depressing) sometimes you just have to look for the little victories amidst a big steaming pile of crap.

Well, I think we’re going to beat the Ducks at home on Friday.  If you go to one game the rest of the year, make it this one… because we may not win again… ever.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 4, Ducks 3

Saturday, March 12^th @ Nashville Predators (6:00 MST)

At Nashville after a slugfest versus the Ducks the night before?  Blech.

Plus the Predators are just wrapping up a luckless slide full of bad losses.  Their standard response in such situations goes – 1) beat the Avalanche 2) go on a tear.  Double blech.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 1, Predators 3

**BONUS COVERAGE**

Looking for more little golden nuggets in that big pile of fetid brown waste?  Okay, fine:

Ryan O’Reilly scored his first goal since January 4^th in that 5-1 loss to Edmonton.

Adam Foote is now 39^th in games played by a defenseman after moving ahead of Borje Salming, his childhood hero, on Saturday.

Having gone 3-0-1 so far this season against the surging Oilers, and with the Ottawa Senators playing improved hockey featuring former Colorado backstop Craig Anderson, the Avalanche are rapidly moving towards the worst record in the league and a #1 Overall Draft Pick…. hooray?

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Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Drafted: 2005 NHL Entry Draft, 34^th Overall

Vital Stats: 6’ 3”, 213 lbs, born April 13^th, 1987

The Colorado Avalanche made Ryan Stoa their third rookie Center call-up of the ’09-’10 season in December, but Stoa’s first year has not panned out as nicely as that of fellow rooks Ryan O’Reilly & Matt Duchene. He was demoted back to the AHL, returned to the NHL, and then succumbed to a shoulder injury January 29^th at Dallas that placed him on injured reserve indefinitely.

Stoa was back in Lake Erie with Colorado’s AHL affiliate Monsters a week after his first call-up, but returned in January due to injuries in the Avalanche lineup.  He has played well enough in his time in the NHL this season, but his success in the AHL and NCAA suggest that Ryan is due for a breakout season in coming years.

Ryan Stoa spent three full seasons with the University of Minnesota after being drafted by the Avalanche in 2005.  A fourth year (’07-’08) was cut short by injury after two games.  After Ryan’s final season in 2009, he was named a First-Team All American by the American Hockey Coaches Association, College Hockey News and Inside College Hockey.  That season, Stoa rounded out what had been above-average offensive numbers with solid defensive play, and was named the Captain of his Minnesota Gophers.

In his 41 games with Lake Erie during their ’09-’10 campaign, Ryan logged 18 goals.  At the time he was recalled to the Avalanche, Stoa led the Monsters in that category.  Unfortunately, his success in the minors never translated to success in the majors, and Stoa has yet to score his first NHL goal.  He did record an assist for his first NHL point on January 22^nd against Nashville in Denver.

Ryan Stoa also played considerable time with the US National Under-18 Team from 2003-2005.  He scored 10 goals in 42 games his first year with the team, and then exploded for 10 goals in just 15 games played (plus 13 assists) in his second season.

Expect to hear see name ‘Stoa’ in Avalanche box scores next season, as Ryan should be ready to join O’Reilly & Duchene in forming a trifecta of young Avalanche Centers.

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