I'm convinced that Avalanche hat tricks are unicorns.
Since I became a diehard Avs fan in November 2010, I've witnessed exactly two hatties from my team. Tomas Fleischmann and Matt Duchene were absolute magic during the second half of a home-and-home with Chicago in December 2010 (even if I'm about 90% sure Flash's three goals were actually summoned with this outstanding dance two nights before), and about a year later, the universe decided that Matt Duchene, Left Wing would be a wonderful idea for exactly one game in Dallas. We'd still go on to lose in OT, but that's it. That was the last hat trick the Avs scored.
Prior to 2008, Avalanche hat tricks were no big deal. So many great players could be counted on to light the lamp three times a night fairly regularly. But since Milan Hejduk's trio of tallies on December 9th, 2007, the Avs have only managed the feat a total of four times. FOUR. That includes the two described above and Chris Stewart's pair from March and October 2010. Even last year when we won the Central Division and finished 4th in the league in goals, zero Avalanche players hit the mark.
Like I said before, Avalanche hat tricks are unicorns.
That doesn't seem to stop the rest of the league from having all the fun. So far this season, there have been 36 hat tricks in the NHL. Last season had 60, the lockout year had 37, and '11-12 had 59. In fact, there have been 186 scored since Matt Duchene's exactly 3 years and 97 days ago. And if you want to talk about hatties scored at home, you have to go back even further. The Avs are actually nearing the 5 year anniversary of Stewart's March 6th date with destiny at the Pepsi Center. Don't believe me? Take a look:
All Hat Tricks:
Team | Total Since Avs' Last HT | Player | Date | Current Drought Days | Current Drought Games | Home/Away |
TBL | 14 | Cedric Paquette | 1/29/15 | 11 | 5 | H |
DET | 7 | Henrik Zetterberg | 1/18/15 | 22 | 6 | H |
NYI | 5 | Kyle Okposo | 1/16/15 | 24 | 9 | H |
ANA | 12 | Corey Perry | 1/14/15 | 26 | 10 | H |
WPG | 2 | Mathieu Perreault | 1/13/15 | 27 | 11 | H |
STL | 10 | David Backes | 1/6/15 | 34 | 14 | A |
NJD | 5 | Jaromir Jagr | 1/3/15 | 37 | 12 | H |
OTT | 5 | Bobby Ryan | 12/29/14 | 42 | 15 | H |
NYR | 8 | Derek Stepan | 12/27/14 | 44 | 18 | H |
CGY | 8 | Johnny Gaudreau | 12/22/14 | 49 | 17 | A |
MTL | 9 | Alex Galchenyuk | 12/16/14 | 55 | 20 | H |
WSH | 8 | Nicklas Backstrom | 12/13/14 | 58 | 25 | H |
PIT | 15 | Blake Comeau | 11/26/14 | 75 | 32 | H |
VAN | 2 | Jannik Hansen | 11/23/14 | 78 | 30 | H |
ARI | 8 | Martin Hanzal | 11/14/14 | 87 | 36 | A |
MIN | 3 | Nino Niederreiter | 11/13/14 | 88 | 36 | H |
DAL | 5 | Tyler Seguin | 11/8/14 | 93 | 39 | H |
NSH | 3 | James Neal | 10/23/14 | 109 | 46 | H |
CAR | 5 | Jiri Tlusty | 10/11/14 | 121 | 50 | A |
LAK | 5 | Jeff Carter | 5/21/14 | 264 | 62 | A |
PHI | 10 | Wayne Simmonds | 4/29/14 | 286 | 54 | H |
SJS | 7 | Martin Havlat | 4/11/14 | 304 | 62 | H |
BOS | 5 | David Krejci | 3/4/14 | 342 | 86 | H |
TOR | 4 | Phil Kessel | 2/1/14 | 373 | 79 | H |
EDM | 8 | David Perron | 1/27/14 | 378 | 80 | A |
CHI | 6 | Patrick Sharp | 1/3/14 | 402 | 111 | A |
FLA | 2 | Tomas Kopecky | 2/26/13 | 713 | 162 | H |
BUF | 1 | Thomas Vanek | 1/31/13 | 739 | 177 | A |
CBJ | 4 | Cam Atkinson | 4/5/12 | 1040 | 188 | A |
COL | - | Matt Duchene | 11/4/11 | 1193 | 260 | A |
Home Hat Tricks:
Team | Home HT Player | Date | Drought Days | Drought Home Games |
TBL | Cedric Paquette | 1/29/15 | 11 | 3 |
DET | Henrik Zetterberg | 1/18/15 | 22 | 2 |
NYI | Kyle Okposo | 1/16/15 | 24 | 4 |
ANA | Corey Perry | 1/14/15 | 26 | 4 |
WPG | Mathieu Perreault | 1/13/15 | 27 | 5 |
STL | Vladimir Tarasenko | 12/16/14 | 55 | 11 |
NJD | Jaromir Jagr | 1/3/15 | 37 | 7 |
OTT | Bobby Ryan | 12/29/14 | 42 | 8 |
NYR | Derek Stepan | 12/27/14 | 44 | 8 |
CGY | Josh Jooris | 12/2/14 | 69 | 16 |
MTL | Alex Galchenyuk | 12/16/14 | 55 | 11 |
WSH | Nicklas Backstrom | 12/13/14 | 58 | 12 |
PIT | Blake Comeau | 11/26/14 | 75 | 18 |
VAN | Jannik Hansen | 11/23/14 | 78 | 16 |
ARI | Mikkel Boedker | 10/15/14 | 117 | 23 |
MIN | Nino Niederreiter | 11/13/14 | 88 | 18 |
DAL | Tyler Seguin | 11/8/14 | 93 | 20 |
NSH | James Neal | 10/23/14 | 109 | 20 |
CAR | Jiri Tlusty | 4/2/13 | 678 | 71 |
LAK | Dwight King | 10/24/13 | 473 | 76 |
PHI | Wayne Simmonds | 4/29/14 | 286 | 26 |
SJS | Martin Havlat | 4/11/14 | 304 | 31 |
BOS | David Krejci | 3/4/14 | 342 | 44 |
TOR | Phil Kessel | 2/1/14 | 373 | 37 |
EDM | Taylor Hall | 12/5/13 | 431 | 55 |
CHI | Patrick Sharp | 12/27/13 | 409 | 54 |
FLA | Tomas Kopecky | 2/26/13 | 713 | 79 |
BUF | Thomas Vanek | 4/5/11 | 1406 | 138 |
CBJ | R.J. Umberger | 3/23/12 | 1053 | 98 |
COL | Chris Stewart | 3/6/10 | 1801 | 177 |
The Avs are heading back for a four game home-stand starting Thursday. While I'm not exactly holding my breath that a club that's managed 260 games without a hat trick will get one, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if we could break the streak sometime soon. With a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Overall on the roster (not to mention Jarome Iginla), I'm starting to feel a little left out here. We're long overdue. Besides, the way this season is going, it could just be the high point of the year.
So please, dearest Avs, let's at least go out on a high note. Even if we miss the playoffs, it's time for ball caps to rain from the rafters. It's time for the roar of Avs fans to ricochet off the walls of the Can. But most of all, it's time to bring a unicorn back to Denver. Please find a way to make it happen.