Avs have nearly as many losses at home this year as all of last year

The Avs are struggling at Ball Arena this season, there’s no other way to put it.

After Colorado fell to the Utah Hockey Club 4-1 on Thursday night on home ice, the Avalanche are now just 7-8-0 in the Mile High City this season.

Being under .500 at altitude in the middle of December is concerning. Consider this: the Avs went 31-9-1 at Ball Area last season. Just one more regulation loss, and they’ll match their total from 2023-24. That could happen as soon as Saturday night against the Nashville Predators. And there will still be 25 more home game to play in the regular season.

Yes, some seasons were COVID shortened, but since the Avalanche have been contenders (2017-18), they’ve posted the following home records:

• 28-11-2 (2017-18)
• 21-14-6 (2018-19)
• 18-9-6 (2019-20)
• 22-4-2 (2020-21)
• 32-5-4 (2021-22)
• 22-13-6 (2022-23)
• 31-9-1 (2023-24)
• 7-8-0 (2024-25)

It’s pretty crazy that in the Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen era the most regulation games Colorado has lost at home is 14. And four of those seasons that number has been in single digits. They’re on pace to lose 22 contests at Ball Arena this year.

Will that keep up? Probably not, as the guys will likely eventually get it figured out. But you can bet this ugly trend is on the mind of head coach Jared Bednar and his staff.

The good news is the road has been kind to the Avs this year, posting a respectable 10-6-0 mark. Two East Coast swings went very well over the last month, resulting in 3-1 and 4-1 records.

Forward Logan O’Connor said postgame after the loss to Utah the team didn’t really have their legs after the long road trip. O’Connor mentioned it’s not an excuse, but he was just telling the truth.

Hopefully, the Avalanche can get in a rhythm in January when they have a four-game homestand and a five-game homestand. If not, it’ll be a battle for a wild card spot all year long, a position Colorado hasn’t found themselves in for quite some time.