Hockey Mountain High Podcast

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have begun, but the Avalanche might've missed the memo. Colorado loses Game 1 to the Seattle Kraken 3-1 in what was far from their best performance. Intensity and execution were lacking across the board, and the depth was simply not effective whatsoever. Still, it's only Game 1, and there's a lot of series still left to play if the Avs can clean up their mistakes and rever...

It's the final episode before Game 1 of the playoffs, and it's time to do a full in-depth deep dive on the Avalanche's first round series with the Seattle Kraken. Jeff Januszek and Joey Cirilo from The Kraken Pod join the show to give their perspective of the Seattle Kraken coming into this series against the Avalanche, and how they feel about Seattle's chances. What is the most dangerous part of...

Our favorite guest, Alex 'Raj' Rajaniemi joins the show once again to look at the Avalanche's regular season, and look ahead to the upcoming playoff series against the Seattle Kraken as well as the ensuing Stanley Cup Playoff run. What threats can the Kraken bring to the series? Can the Avalanche make it back to the Stanley Cup Final without captain Gabe Landeskog? Who's could their opponent be on...

The regular season has come to a close for the Avalanche by winning the Central division. However, the division title has a massive damper put on it with the announcement that Gabriel Landeskog will not be back for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, leaving the Avalanche without their captain. Still however, the Avalanche must march forward and take on the Seattle Kraken in Round 1 all the same. Finally, t...

The Avalanche are gearing into playoff mode with two games left, just falling short in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Oilers, but got a massive point that puts them in control of their own destiny to win the Central Division. The defensive details were all there, Georgiev had a great night, the Avs limited McDavid and Draisaitl, but just couldn't get enough offense to finish the job. With reinforcemen...

The Avalanche won all three games of California road trip, and hit a ton of milestones on the way, even if it wasn't all smooth sailing. Mikko Rantanen finally hit 50 goals, and put a hat trick on the San Jose Sharks before finally joining MacKinnon at 100 points later in the week. In Los Angeles, the Avalanche absolutely stole a game from the Kings thanks to Georgiev and the depth. Finally, they...

The Avalanche finally claimed first in the Central division with a 4-3 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks, and officially clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Also, Nathan MacKinnon FINALLY hit 100 points for the first time his career on the overtime winner, and at last joins the 100 point club after so many interruptions getting in the way. Rantanen is still pushing for 50 goals, b...

After losing control of their destiny on Wednesday against Minnesota, the Avalanche have suddenly taken it right back again with a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars, and Minnesota losing to the Golden Knights on the same night. In their win over the Stars, the Avalanche took care of business and had a fantastic bounce back, shutting down Dallas early and putting the game away when they needed to. Can...

The Avalanche blew their chance to take first in the division when they took on Minnesota at Ball Arena, dropping their biggest game of the season 4-2 to give the Wild a three point in the Central. The game was full of sloppiness and mistakes that gave the Wild the chances they need to win, and Bednar was not happy post-game. What can we draw from this game as the playoffs draw near? However, the...

The Avalanche took care of the Arizona Coyotes two games in a row, in the usual slog fest that ended up a little closer than it needed to be. Cale Makar and Erik Johnson made their return to the lineup in Friday's matchup, and Makar once again showed himself to be the best defenseman in the NHL, and dominated Arizona en route to a 3-1 win. In the rematch, the Avalanche had to survive a third perio...

The Avalanche six game winning streak was snapped against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 loss, in an uncharacteristically sloppy game, complete with the perfect mix of poor officiating and poor discipline that cost them big time. Without Cale Makar, the Avalanche have struggled, which is a big reason why 60% of NHL players named him the best defenseman in the NHL. However the Avalanche made li...

The Avs sweep their four game eastern road trip, holding off a pesky Ottawa Senators team with a 5-4 win, topped with an incredible save by Jonas Johansson in the closing seconds to the preserve the lead, and Lars Eller's first goal with the team in bizarre fashion holding up as the game winning goal. A few days later in Detroit, the Avs took care of business as MacKinnon hit thirty goals and Rant...

Two wins for the Avalanche in Canada over the Canadiens and Maple Leafs has the Avs on a three game winning streak, balancing a perfect offensive performance against the Habs with an 8-4 win, and a perfect defensive performance with a 2-1 shootout win over Toronto. However, with Artturi Lehkonen breaking his finger and likely going to miss the rest of the regular season, can Denis Malgin and Alex...

The Avs are struggling with inconsistency, and Griffin is struggling with a cold while Christian carries the show. The Avs motivation questions surface against the Los Angeles Kings in a 5-2 loss, and the attention to detail just isn't there from players who we all know know better. However, the Avs survived a scare against from Connor Ingram and the Arizona Coyotes with a 3-2 overtime win, where...

The Avalanche took care of business and absolutely handled the San Jose Sharks with a 6-0 win to snap their three game losing streak, and did it with one of the most dominant performances you'll ever see, outshooting the Sharks 43-13 and running them out of the building early on. Now the Avs had their get right game, can they keep it up in a tough matchup at home against the Los Angeles Kings? Als...

The Avalanche have had a tough last few days. First, the Avs came up empty before the trade deadline and did not add any other pieces for the rest of the season, but is this really a bad thing when the right fit might not have been there? Less optimistically, the Avs got absolutely crushed in a huge game against Dallas with a 7-3 loss, with very few positives to spin out of such a poor performance...

The trade deadline has been insane over the last several days, and the Avalanche have made of their own, acquiring Lars Eller from the Washington Capitals for a 2025 second round pick. Is Eller a good fit for the Avalanche in their bottom six? In the games, the Avalanche took down the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in a near perfect game, but got sloppy in a drunk 7-5 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Can...

The Avalache are still rolling, and making trades before the coming trade deadline. Jack Johnson is coming back home to Colorado after being traded for Andreas Englund, but is this the right move to make for the Avs defensive depth? Was it really necessary to move Englund to bring Johnson back? Next, Keith Kinkaid was traded for Shane Bowers to give the Avs some more insurance at goalie. But most...

The trade deadline is less than two weeks away, and the question still remains just how all in the Avs are going to go with the limited amount of trade assets they have to move. What can the Avalanche realistically do at the deadline, and are they going to be in on any of the big names. With the Western Conference this bad, do you even need to go all in? Also, the Jets and Stars have struggled hea...

The Avalanche are starting roll, winning both games of their back to back and capping it with a classic 6-5 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers, coming back from a 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3 deficit without Cale Makar in the lineup for one of the best wins the Avalanche have scored all season long. The Avs also took care of business the day before in St. Louis against the Blues with a 4-1 win, complete w...

The Avs made due with the toughest back to back of the season, taking a point against Tampa Bay and getting the biggest win of the season on the road against Minnesota. Despite being outshot 43-19 by the Wild, Georgiev saved the day and the Avs were able to hold on to a third period for a regulation win on the road. The night before, the Avs put on a classic in a rematch against the Lightning, but...

The Avs road trip out of the all star break finishes at 1-1-1, could've been worse, could've been better. They got beat up real bad by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a Stanley Cup Final rematch, that they're probably better off burning the tape for. But the Avs salvage the trip against the Florida Panthers, where the offense finally explodes and hold onto a third period lead for a 5-3 win on the road....

The Avs are back from the All Star break, but fall 2-1 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins, in a game they probably deserved to win. But first, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now joins the show to look at how realistic it is for the Avalanche to still win the Western Conference, and what we can expect from the rest of the season. Also, looking ahead to the trade deadline and offseason contract s...

The All-Star break is winding to a close after a total failure by the NHL, and now the real season is about to kick in for the Avalanche with 34 games to go. After an injury riddled first season that has the Avs in the second wildcard spot, how can they battle their way back to winning the Central division? Is there another team in the West that the Avalanche should feel threatened by? Also, why i...

With the Avs in the bye week, it's time to look ahead to the trade deadline, and what Avalanche could be looking at doing. The biggest option, Bo Horvat, is no longer on the board after being traded to the New York Islanders in an unexpected deal. However, there are still plenty of the options for the Avs to look at. Will the Avs go after some of the big names on the market? How would they make an...