Breaking down the Colorado Avalanche 2019-20 schedule

The 2019-20 season schedule has been revealed by the NHL and with that the next Colorado Avalanche season begins to take shape in what expects to be an exciting and promising campaign.

Key Dates

Opening night for the Avalanche is at home as they host one of their playoff foes in the Calgary Flames on October 3rd. Nice to get away from the central division for the season premiere and to rekindle a little bit of the playoff rivalry — with ideally the same result.

The Avalanche get a repeat of the 2017-18 season with their final game of the regular season hosting the St Louis Blues on April 4th. Hopefully a win isn’t needed in that game to secure a playoff berth this time around.

A combined Bye Week and All-Star Break is on tap again next season with a whopping 11 day layoff and no games scheduled between January 20th and February 1st. That’s enough time for a European vacation. Following the break the Avalanche go on a road trip and do not play again at the Pepsi Center until February 11th.

What was already known and now officially on the schedule is the Coors Light Stadium Series outdoor game at Falcon Stadium at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on February 15th. The LA Kings make their only trip to Colorado for the clash.

Rivalry Matchups

The opening night meeting with the Flames gets out of the way immediately but the Avalanche will not face the San Jose Sharks until a meeting at home on January 16th. They will see both clubs three times each in the season.

The Avalanche will host the defending Stanley Cup champion St Louis Blues three times next season including twice in January. In total the two teams will meet five times.

Other interesting central division foe wrinkles have the Avalanche travel to a Minnesota three times as well as a home and home with Chicago immediately following Thanksgiving,

For those who still consider Detroit a rivalry they visit the Pepsi Center on January 20th right before the all-star/bye week break with the rematch in the Motor City is on March 2nd.

Critical Stretches

The season kicks off after a four game home stand with a tough road swing through Washington, Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa Bay, St Louis (and a probable quick pitstop at home) before finishing in Vegas. The month of October will likely define if the Avalanche get out to an early lead in the standings or have to chase the whole season.

Two other lengthy trips of five games will test the team as well. In November the jaunt to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Minnesota will make an impact on the standings as well as a February trek through Philadelphia, Buffalo, Ottawa, Columbus and Minnesota. What makes these trips even more difficult is playing those critical division games at the tail end.

A busy March with a whopping 16 games follows a 15 game February and will likely set the stage heading into the post season. The Avalanche play 11 total back-to-backs in the season but only one set in March and those days of rest at that point are crucial. If the team has taken care of business by then would also help with rest down the stretch.