Can the Avalanche throw their throwbacks back?<\/p>\n
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\u2019re starting to seriously wonder if the Avs\u2019 Quebec Nordiques retro sweaters are cursed.<\/p>\n
If once is a fluke and twice is a pattern, three times is officially a problem. Colorado\u2019s puzzling 8-6 loss to woebegone Vancouver this past Wednesday was the Avs\u2019 sixth game dressed as the Quebec Nordiques, and they\u2019re now dropped three straight games while going retro \u2014 including two straight in regulation.<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Avs\u2019 Quebec throwbacks karma \u2014 D<\/p>\n In the six games in which they\u2019ve dressed in Quebec throwbacks, the Avs are 2-2-2 this season. And the results haven\u2019t made anyone\u2019s nostalgia grow fonder:<\/p>\n Oct. 23 vs. Carolina \u2014 L, 5-4\/SO<\/p>\n Nov. 29 vs. Montreal \u2014 W, 7-2<\/p>\n Jan. 3 vs. Carolina \u2014 W, 5-3<\/p>\n Jan. 12 vs. Toronto \u2014 L, 4-3\/OT<\/p>\n March 16 vs. Pittsburgh \u2014 L, 7-2<\/p>\n April 1 vs. Vancouver \u2014 L, 8-6<\/p>\n Coincidence? Maybe. Yet before visiting Dallas on Saturday afternoon, the Avs put up a record of 47-13-8 when dressed as \u2014 well, themselves.<\/p>\n For the year, Colorado\u2019s been outscored 29-27 when honoring the Nordiques, an average setback of 4.8-4.5 per game.<\/p>\n More context: Take out the contests with the Nordiques look, and Colorado\u2019s 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\u2019ve worn Quebec throwback gear.<\/p>\n So \u2026 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2018Diques and the Hartford Whalers will always hold a special place in what\u2019s left of our hearts.<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s also worth noting that most of those early-to-mid \u201990s 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\u2019 demons remained in the Great White North.<\/p>\n Now they\u2019re back.<\/p>\n So, much as it pains us, it\u2019s probably time for the Avs to nix the Nordiques. To quash the Quebec, once and for all.<\/p>\n Because we\u2019ve got bad news on the sweater front \u2014 there\u2019s 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\u2019s got a Quebec logo on it.<\/p>\n The Dre Greenlaw Experience \u2014 C<\/p>\n The GTW crew wishes Dre Greenlaw would\u2019ve worked out in orange and blue. But we could only sit and nod when the former Broncos linebacker told Terron Armstead<\/a> on \u201cThe Set\u201d a few days ago that, \u201cIt makes it tough when you pay a guy ($11 million) and he\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n East High assistant honored \u2014 A<\/p>\n Belated GTW tip o\u2019 the cap to East High girls basketball assistant coach Celena Miller, who was recently named as the Women\u2019s Basketball Coaching Association\u2019s national Assistant Coach of the Year for the high-school level.<\/p>\n The WBCA award is presented annually based on an assistant\u2019s commitment to their program, their student-athletes, and their head coach; on-court coaching impact; mentorship on other coaches; and professional manner and attitude.<\/p>\n As part of the award, the WBCA will donate $5,000 in Miller\u2019s 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.<\/a><\/p>\n