In the end it was just too much ground to make up and not enough time. A 14-1-2 streak that started on 27 February ended Saturday night, 7 April, for the Colorado Avalanche as they fell to the Nashville Predators, 4-2, ending their chances to be a part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for an eleventh straight season. This will be the first time the organization will miss the playoffs since coming to Colorado in 1995.This 17 game streak was nevertheless exciting and the team came from 14 points back to just three entering play Saturday night, but Calgary was up for the challenge and never let the Avalanche completely close the gap. The Flames clinched the eighth position in the Western Conference and will face Detroit in a best of seven first round series starting either Wednesday, 10 April, or Thursday 11 April.
I will post a final regular season article about the NHL as well as a playoff outlook post in the next few days. I am still picking Buffalo to win the Stanley Cup, but I am now undecided about who will come out of the West and make the Finals. There are eight worthy clubs with a chance and all of them have things to like about them which makes these playoffs the best in professional sports.
The Colorado Avalanche showed the fans a lot in these last six weeks so optimism will be rightfully high for next season for a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and competitive contention for the Northwest Division title and the number one seed in the Western Conference.
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