Can the Avalanche throw their throwbacks back?

Asking for a friend. OK, asking for several thousand friends. The hockey wonks up in the Grading The Week offices are a superstitious lot, especially where playoff juju is concerned. And they’re starting to seriously wonder if the Avs’ Quebec Nordiques retro sweaters are cursed.

If once is a fluke and twice is a pattern, three times is officially a problem. Colorado’s puzzling 8-6 loss to woebegone Vancouver this past Wednesday was the Avs’ sixth game dressed as the Quebec Nordiques, and they’re now dropped three straight games while going retro — including two straight in regulation. That Vancouver shocker came on the heels of an even more stunning 7-2 loss at Ball Arena to Pittsburgh back on March 16, also in Nordiques blue.

Avs’ Quebec throwbacks karma — D

In the six games in which they’ve dressed in Quebec throwbacks, the Avs are 2-2-2 this season. And the results haven’t made anyone’s nostalgia grow fonder:

Oct. 23 vs. Carolina — L, 5-4/SO

Nov. 29 vs. Montreal — W, 7-2

Jan. 3 vs. Carolina — W, 5-3

Jan. 12 vs. Toronto — L, 4-3/OT

March 16 vs. Pittsburgh — L, 7-2

April 1 vs. Vancouver — L, 8-6

Coincidence? Maybe. Yet before visiting Dallas on Saturday afternoon, the Avs put up a record of 47-13-8 when dressed as — well, themselves.

For the year, Colorado’s been outscored 29-27 when honoring the Nordiques, an average setback of 4.8-4.5 per game.

More context: Take out the contests with the Nordiques look, and Colorado’s drilled everybody else by a margin of 253-158. The Avs have given up 18.3% of their goals this season in the six games in which they’ve worn Quebec throwback gear.

So … not boring, right? Not all that good, either. Especially when the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference holds more weight than usual this spring.

And because we know loyal GTW readers (love ya, Ma!) keep receipts, yes, we were positively effusive about those Nordique throwbacks this past fall when they were unveiled. What can we say? We love the old WHA. And many of the GTW staffers grew up with NHL trading cards and hockey sweaters from the early-to-mid-1990s. Names such as the ‘Diques and the Hartford Whalers will always hold a special place in what’s left of our hearts.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that most of those early-to-mid ’90s Quebec teams were no dang good. And once the franchise moved to Denver, and the newly christened Avs hit the ground dominating, it was as if all of Les Nordiques’ demons remained in the Great White North.

Now they’re back.

So, much as it pains us, it’s probably time for the Avs to nix the Nordiques. To quash the Quebec, once and for all.

Because we’ve got bad news on the sweater front — there’s still one more Nordiques throwback day left. Colorado is slated to kick it old-school one last time against Vegas at Ball Arena on April 11. After which, they should probably burn anything left in the locker room that’s got a Quebec logo on it.

The Dre Greenlaw Experience — C

The GTW crew wishes Dre Greenlaw would’ve worked out in orange and blue. But we could only sit and nod when the former Broncos linebacker told Terron Armstead on “The Set” a few days ago that, “It makes it tough when you pay a guy ($11 million) and he’s only on the field 50% of the time. It made it tough for me. It made it to the point where it kind of makes you not happy.”

East High assistant honored — A

Belated GTW tip o’ the cap to East High girls basketball assistant coach Celena Miller, who was recently named as the Women’s Basketball Coaching Association’s national Assistant Coach of the Year for the high-school level.

The WBCA award is presented annually based on an assistant’s commitment to their program, their student-athletes, and their head coach; on-court coaching impact; mentorship on other coaches; and professional manner and attitude.

As part of the award, the WBCA will donate $5,000 in Miller’s name to the Kaw Yow Cancer Fund. Miller just helped East and coach Carl Mattei complete a 20-7 season with the Angels, including an 8-0 in league contests.

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