The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames on Thursday to clinch their second Presidents' Trophy win in six seasons. Here's how.
The Colorado Avalanche have officially clinched the Presidents' Trophy.
A 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday gives the Avalanche enough points to ensure they finish atop the NHL standings. They'll have home-ice advantage in the playoffs, no matter who they face.
Thursday's contest marked Colorado's 52nd win of the regular season. Their record improves to 52-16-10, with 114 points in 78 games.
This is the Avalanche's fourth Presidents' Trophy in franchise history as the best team in the NHL for the regular season. They've previously won it in 1996-97, 2000-01 and 2020-21.
Those three Presidents' Trophy-winning campaigns all came around the time of Colorado's three Stanley Cup championships.
The franchise's first Stanley Cup victory came in 1996, one year before its first Presidents' Trophy.
In 2001, the Avalanche got their hands on both awards and were simply the best team in the NHL, regular season and playoffs.
And their latest Cup-winning season came in 2022, just one year after they won their third Presidents' Trophy in 2021.
If history is a reliable source, the Avs could very well be coming up on their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history as early as this year or next season.
Colorado has been dominant from the jump and, undoubtedly, the best team this regular season.
The Avalanche reached their peak during November and December. In fact, from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, they only lost one game in regulation in 27 games. They went 23-1-3 in that span.
The Avs recorded two separate 10-game winning streaks, with the 10th game of the second streak coming against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 3.
At that point, Colorado was 11 points clear at the top of the league. Central Division rivals, the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, were in second and third place in the NHL, respectively.
The Avalanche have received elite efforts from all areas of their roster.
Nathan MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in goals with 52, and is third in the league in scoring with 126 points in 77 appearances. With his play, he is keeping himself in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, Rocket Richard Trophy and Hart Trophy.
As expected, defenseman Cale Makar has led the way from Colorado's back end. He isn't the favorite for the Norris Trophy this time around, but his excellence hasn't diminished at all with 20 goals and 75 points in 73 games.
Colorado's goaltending has also been rock-solid, with Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood holding down the fort as a tandem. Even coach Jared Bedar has been recognized throughout the year as one of the league's top bench bosses in orchestrating one of the team's best seasons in franchise history.
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