Colorado Avalanche

All the Colorado Avalanche had to do to win the Presidents' Trophy and the top overall seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was beat the lowly Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. 

So that's what they did. 

Thanks to five goals in the second period, the Avalanche cruised 5-1. Tyson Jost had two goals, while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky got on the board as well. 

Mikko Rantanen and Conor Timmins chipped in with two assists apiece. 

And so Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche (83 points) jumped ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights (82 points) to win the West Division, claiming the Presidents' Trophy and top overall seed in the postseason.

That will set up a first-round series between the Avalanche and St. Louis Blues, while the Golden Knights will face the Minnesota Wild. 

The rest of the playoff picture was already determined before Thursday night. 

In the North Division, the 1-seed Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the 4-seed Montreal Canadiens in a battle of storied franchises, while Connor McDavid and the 2-seed Edmonton Oilers face the 3-seed Winnipeg Jets. 

In the Central Division, the 1-seed Carolina Hurricanes will take on the 4-seed Nashville Predators, while the 2-seed Florida Panthers will go head-to-head with the defending champion 3-seed Tampa Bay Lightning in a battle for Florida bragging rights.

And finally in the East, Sidney Crosby and the 1-seed Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the 4-seed New York Islanders, while Alex Ovechkin and the 2-seed Washington Capitals ready for the 3-seed Boston Bruins.

The NHL playoffs will have a unique format this year, with the first two rounds being completely intradivisional. Once all four divisions determine a winner, the four teams remaining will be re-seeded based on the regular-season standings. 

So in theory, the top-seeded Avalanche—traditionally in the Western Conference—could face a team traditionally in the Eastern Conference like the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals before the Stanley Cup Final. That could lead to some fun, unusual matchups and potentially conference rivals facing off in the Final. 

Just imagine a Toronto-Boston matchup in the Stanley Cup Final. It should be an interesting postseason as the NHL experiments with a new format.  

The NHL announced Friday that the Colorado Avalanche have had their next three scheduled games postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the team.

The league noted that a third Avalanche player was placed in COVID protocols Friday, meaning games against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Sunday have been postponed, as has Colorado's game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

If the Avalanche return no new positive tests in the coming days, the NHL expects them to return to practice April 21 and return to game action April 22 against the Blues.

Prior to Friday, rookie defenseman Bo Byram and starting goalie Philipp Grubauer had already been placed on the COVID list by the Avs.

Byram, 19, was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft. He has appeared in 19 games during his debut season, tallying two assists, a plus-1 rating and 23 penalty minutes and 17:31 of ice time per game.

Grubauer is the bigger loss given his status as a top contender to win the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the NHL's top goaltender.

The 29-year-old leads the league with five shutouts and also boasts a 25-8-1 record with a 2.00 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.

Colorado acquired veteran goalie Devan Dubnyk from the San Jose Sharks prior to the trade deadline, and he will likely fill in as the Avs' starter until Grubauer returns.

The Avalanche also have Jonas Johansson in goal after acquiring him from the Buffalo Sabres last month.

Colorado is the top team in the NHL so far this season with a 30-9-4 record, which is good for 64 points. That puts the Avs four points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the West Division.

The Avalanche could be in danger of losing the NHL's top spot with three games getting postponed, but Colorado is stacked with enough talent to close the gap should that happen.

The NHL announced the postponement of all Colorado Avalanche games through Feb. 11 due to the league's health and safety protocols. 

NHL officials will use the hiatus to further analyze COVID-19 test results from the organization. The team's training facilities will also remain closed until further notice, the league announced Thursday. 

The Avs were previously scheduled to face the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes twice each between Thursday and Feb. 11. 

The news out of Colorado follows the announcement of Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger testing positive early on Thursday. The Sabres have seen their games postponed through Monday with the league closing team facilities as well. 

The Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitols and Winnipeg Jets each have players who are currently in COVID-19 protocol. 

The Wild and Devils have also been placed on hiatus by the league. 

Additionally, the NHL announced a series of updates to its coronavirus guidelines, including the limitation of time at the game arena, physical distancing in team spaces and a requirement of teams to deploy air filtration and cleaning equipment. 

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar has won the 2020 Calder Trophy as the top first-year player in the NHL.

Makar was considered the top rookie in the league over the other finalists: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and Chicago Blackhawks left wing Dominik Kubalik.

Here's a look at the voting breakdown:

The 2017 first-round pick made his much-anticipated debut in the playoffs last year and came through with a game-winning goal in his first appearance and five assists over the next nine games. He carried this level of play into the regular season with 50 points in 57 games. He was one of seven defensemen regardless of age with at least 50 points, ranking second among rookies behind only Hughes.

What separated Makar was his production in fewer games, averaging 0.88 points per appearance.

The Avalanche star also finished plus-12 on the season compared to Hughes' minus-10, making a significant impact on both ends of the ice.

Makar immediately jumped into a big role with Colorado, averaging more than 21 minutes on the ice per game. The 21-year-old was also second on the team with 38 assists, trailing only 2013-14 Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon.

The Canadian helped the Avalanche become one of the best teams in the league this season with 92 points in 70 games. His level of play and impressive production made Makar the top rookie in the NHL, and he became the first defenseman to win this award since Aaron Ekblad in 2014-15.

Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon has won the Lady Byng Trophy for the first time in his career, an honor given to the player who "best combines sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and ability."

The 24-year-old topped finalists Ryan O'Reilly of the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews. 

MacKinnon has been one of the top all-around players in hockey for the past few years, earning four straight All-Star selections while topping 90 points for the third straight season.

His high level of play has especially stood out in 2019-20 while helping the Avalanche become one of the top teams in the NHL with 90 points heading into the postseason. He was recognized as a finalist for the Hart Trophy, MVP of the league and the Ted Lindsey Award as the most outstanding player based on a vote from his peers.

The numbers also support this recognition while ranking eighth in the NHL in point shares.

While the rest of his play is impressive, MacKinnon put himself in the Lady Byng conversation after tallying just 12 penalty minutes all season despite averaging over 21 minutes of ice time per game. This came after finishing with 55 PIM just two years ago.

His turnaround in this area has been rewarded with yet another honor to add to his already impressive resume.

A third player for the Colorado Avalanche has tested positive for COVID-19.

The NHL announced Tuesday the player is in self-isolation and hasn't had any contact with teammates or members of the coaching staff:

The Avs previously announced March 26 and March 28 that players tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Per TSN's Frank Seravalli, a total of eight players between the Avalanche and Ottawa Senators have tested positive for the virus. Those are the only known cases of the coronavirus in the NHL at this point. 

There is no apparent connection between the Avs and Senators, who last played each other Feb. 6 in Ottawa.

Colorado's final game before the NHL suspended the season was a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on March 11. 

There appears to be good news for two members of the Colorado Avalanche who previously tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Per Adrian Dater of 104.3 The Fan, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog announced Tuesday that both players have recovered. 

In separate statements on March 26 and March 28, the Avalanche announced two different, unnamed players had tested positive for the virus. 

The March 26 announcement noted the player had since recovered after going into self-isolation at his home when the symptoms first started. 

In the March 28 announcement, the Avs noted the player was in isolation and that other players, coaches and people with the organization who might have had contact with him were informed and also in self-isolation. 

There have been a total of four known coronavirus cases involving NHL players. The Ottawa Senators announced they had two players test positive for COVID-19. 

The NHL suspended its season on March 12 because of the ongoing pandemic. 

The Colorado Avalanche announced Saturday that a second member of their team has tested positive for COVID-19.

The statement read as follows:

"The Colorado Avalanche were advised late last night that a second player has tested positive for COVID-19. The player is in self-isolation. All other Avalanche players, staff and others who might have had close contact with the player have been informed and remain isolated as per prior League direction and are monitoring their health and will be in touch with Club medical staff as necessary. No other Avalanche player or staff member has shown symptoms at this time."

That announcement followed another two days prior, when the Avs released information regarding the first confirmed COVID-19 case in their organization: "The player has been at home in isolation since the first symptoms appeared, has recovered and is back to normal. The Avalanche have notified anyone who has had known close contact with the athlete."

News of the NHL's first confirmed COVID-19 case was released March 17, when the Ottawa Senators stated that one of their players tested positive. On March 21, the Sens announced that a second player on their team also had COVID-19.

There are no known confirmed COVID-19 cases in the NHL outside the two each from the Avs and Sens.

According to the World Health Organization on Saturday, there are at least 571,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. At least 26,495 have died as a result of the virus.

The United States has the second-most cases with at least 85,228, and there have been at least 1,243 deaths.

The Colorado Avalanche announced on Thursday that an unnamed player has tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a team statement, the club was recently informed of the confirmed case and that the player has apparently recovered. The team says the athlete had been in home isolation since symptoms began appearing, and the club had notified anyone who had been in close contact with the player. 

The World Health Organization's latest report from Thursday states that 462,684 confirmed COVID-19 cases exist worldwide. At least 20,834 have died as a result of COVID-19.

In the United States alone, 63,570 cases have been confirmed, resulting in 884 deaths.

"The health and safety of our players, staff, fans, and community remains our highest priority," the team statement said. "The Avalanche organization will continue to work in conjunction with our medical staff and public health officials to do everything we can to help the Avalanche community remain safe and healthy during this time."

The National Hockey League has previously advised players, coaches and staff to self-quarantine through April 4; however, that timeline may be extended. Two members of the Ottawa Senators have already tested positive for the disease. 

Sports returning in the summer seems like the best-case scenario. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski used that time period when reporting on March 15 about a possible NBA return date and said that owners and executives believe mid-to-late June is the most optimistic outlook.

The NHL, for its part, has been much more noncommittal about a return to play. While the April 4 date remains a benchmark in the response process, the league hasn't been willing to make official plans beyond that time.

"As we get closer to the date, we're going to have to make decisions as to what to do then," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com's Nicholas Cotsonika on Wednesday. "We're biting this off in chunks."

The Colorado Avalanche announced Wednesday that superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon will miss one to two weeks with a lower body injury.

MacKinnon has been a force the past few seasons, notching 97 points on 39 goals and 58 assists in 2017-18 and 99 points on 41 goals and 58 assists last season. He's emerged as one of the game's bright young stars and the most dangerous player in Colorado's attack.

This year, the 24-year-old has registered 35 goals and 58 assists for 93 points in 69 games.

While MacKinnon—the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft—didn't initially have the impact of some of the recent No. 1 selections, such as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, that narrative changed the past few years, and his loss will be felt.

Until MacKinnon returns, the recently acquired Vladislav Namestnikov is likely to center the top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin as his wingers.

Since other key forwards in Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Nazem Kadri (lower body) and Andre Burakovsky (lower body) are also injured, the second line of J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost and Joonas Donskoi will be leaned upon heavily as well.

Head coach Jared Bednar will also look for defensemen Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Ryan Graves to contribute offensively.

Still, the Avs are in good shape as far as the Western Conference playoff race goes. They are second in the Central Division with 90 points through 69 games, and they hold an eight-point lead on the third-place Dallas Stars, plus a 12-point lead on ninth place in the conference.

That cushion should allow the Avalanche to take a cautious approach with MacKinnon and get him healthy in time for the playoffs.