Avalanche Clinch the Central and Grab West’s Top Seed as Colorado Eyes an Even Bigger Prize

The Colorado Avalanche checked off two major goals Tuesday night, beating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 to clinch the Central Division title and lock up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The win in St. Louis pushed Colorado to 51-16-10 with 112 points and gave the Avalanche their first conference top seed since 2023 and their third in the past five seasons.

Colorado’s celebration, at least publicly, did not last long. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar made it clear after the game that the team is not interested in acting like the job is finished just because it wrapped up the division and the conference. “We’re not all the way there yet,” Bednar said. “You know, like the goal for us started with winning the division, the conference, we still need another win to get first overall. Like, we’d be crazy not to chase that at this point, right? It’s important, if you get to where you want to go, you might as well try and get your home ice, especially after a season like this.”

That next target is the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the NHL’s best regular-season record and would give Colorado home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

So while the Avalanche officially secured the top spot in the West on Tuesday, the larger push is still alive with five regular-season games remaining.

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The accomplishment still carries weight on its own. Colorado has spent most of the season near the top of the league standings, and this marks another year in which the Avalanche enter the playoffs from a position of strength instead of just trying to survive the bracket.

The last time Colorado finished as the West’s top team, in 2023, the postseason ended in a first-round exit. The year before that, the Avalanche finished first in the conference and went on to win the franchise’s third Stanley Cup in 2022.

That history is part of what makes the mood around the team a little different from the usual division-title chest-thumping. Colorado has been here before, and it knows exactly how little a strong regular season guarantees once the playoffs begin. The standings matter. The path matters. Home ice matters. But none of that changes the fact that this roster will ultimately be measured by what happens over the next two months, not what happened in early April in St. Louis.

That is why Bednar’s comments landed the way they did. There was no parade talk, no oversized reaction, just the next item on the list. That is probably what a legitimate contender is supposed to sound like.

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Goaltender Scott Wedgewood echoed that tone while also making clear the players understand what they have accomplished. “Obviously, this was a goal at the start of the year, to make the playoffs and then see where you seed,” Wedgewood said on the team’s postgame show. “For the most part, we’ve led the entire league all year.”

Wedgewood also pointed to something that could matter a lot if Colorado gets where it wants to go. The Avalanche have actually been better away from home this season, going 27-7-5 on the road compared with 24-9-5 at Ball Arena, but he still emphasized the value of opening playoff series in Denver. “Just atmosphere, altitude … you’re in your own bed the night before,” Wedgewood said. “You know, you’ve still got to perform. It doesn’t mean you win because you’re at home, but like I said in between rounds, you’re able to knock a team out in five or six, you’re home for that many more days.” He added, “Then, obviously the fans, you get them going with a couple of hits, playoff hockey’s intense, and it’ll play in your favor.”

That home-ice edge could become even more important given the way Bednar described his team entering the stretch run. He said Colorado has been inconsistent over the past few games and wants to see a stronger standard carry into the postseason. “We’ve proven that we can do it when we want to set our minds to it, which is really important,” Bednar said. “I don’t have to see it for 60 minutes for every game the rest of the way, but we need to see it enough to secure our goal and making sure everyone’s confident in the way we play.”

Wedgewood sounded confident the group can find that level. “It’s a great group, a hungry group,” he said. “And it’s obviously fun to be part of that room and keep hearing music at the end of every game.”

That is where Colorado stands now: division champs, West’s top seed, still chasing the Presidents’ Trophy, and very much talking like a team that understands the real season is about to begin. The Avalanche got the standings reward Tuesday night. The harder part starts next.

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