Hockey fans, you know what time it is! It is currently the pre season for Colorado’s NHL team the Colorado Avalanche, and so far they haven’t been looking good. Is this a foreshadow for the upcoming season or will they get their stuff together and maybe make the playoffs?

The Avalanche had their first game on Tuesday the 18th against the Vegas Golden Knights.  The game ended in a devastating defeat with an overwhelming score of 5-1 Golden Knights. In the third period, 23 year old defenseman, Ryan Graves, scored their only goal.

They were met with more defeat in their following game.  After a tough match with the Minnesota Wild on Saturday the 22nd, they lost with a score of 7-0. A combination of weak defense from the Avalanche and strong offense from the Wild was the leading cause of this shutout game.

The Avalanche had their best game and first win on Monday the 24th with a rematch against the Vegas Golden Knights. In the end, the Avalanche won with a score of 5-3 but Anton Lindholm from the Avalanche received a grueling upper-body injury. With goals scored by J.T. Compher, Carl Soderberg, Sheldon Dries, Scott Kosmachuk, and Vladislav Kamenev, the Avs certainly had a favorable lineup.

On Wednesday the 26th, the Avalanche lost for the third time against the Dallas Stars. With strong defense from the Stars, especially by sophomore defenseman Julius Honka,  the avs struggled to score.  2 out of 3 of the scores against Colorado’s team were made on power plays.

An exciting game was presented to us on Friday the 28th of September.  After an overtime win, Avalanche pulled ahead with a final score of 4-3.

The last time they played Minnesota, Avalanche lost in a devastating 7 to nothing game. However, this time they pulled it together and won, mostly due to Mikko Rantanen and his game winning goal in overtime.

The preseason came to an end on Sunday September 30th. Playing the Dallas Stars, the Avs managed to gather a win to bring the final standings to an even 3 wins and 3 losses. Fans erupted with excitement at the two-goal start just 4 minutes into the game. Dallas caught up a couple times, but Colorado was able to pull ahead in the second period. They won in the third period, with a final score of 6-5.

Now that the preseason is over, coaches, fans, and rivals are trying to guess what will happen. Some guesses are out of bias, and some are based on statistics. But what do statistics really tell us?

In the end, Avs just need to keep their head in the game, focus, and try not to get too many penalties. With an even preseason standing, the season could go either way. Colorado fans can only hope for a successful season. It’d be nice to see the Avs dominating their competitors and gaining some wins over the league’s top-tier teams.