2014–15 Colorado Avalanche season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	2014–15
Year:	2014
Team:	Colorado Avalanche
Conference:	Western
Conferencerank:	11th
Division:	Central
Divisionrank:	7th
Record:	39–31–12
Homerecord:	23–15–3
Roadrecord:	16–16–9
Goalsfor:	219
Goalsagainst:	227
Generalmanager:	Joe Sakic
Coach:	Patrick Roy
Captain:	Gabriel Landeskog
Altcaptain:	Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod
Arena:	Pepsi Center
Attendance:	16,176^[1] (41 games)
Goalsleader:	Jarome Iginla (29)
Assistsleader:	Tyson Barrie (41)
Pointsleader:	Gabriel Landeskog Jarome Iginla (59)
Plusminusleader:	Tyson Barrie (+5)
Pimleader:	Cody McLeod (191)
Winsleader:	Semyon Varlamov (28)
Gaaleader:	Calvin Pickard (2.35)

The 2014–15 Colorado Avalanche season was the 20th operational season and 19th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season.^[2] As well as the franchise's 36th season in the National Hockey League and 43rd season overall.

The Avalanche missed the playoffs despite qualifying the previous season.

Off-season

On May 26, 2014, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere announced his intention to retire, reportedly saying, "I do not see a reason to remain in the League."^[3]

Suspensions/fines

Player	Explanation	Length	Salary	Date issued
	Throwing a punch at Minnesota Wild forward Mikko Koivu while both players were on their respective benches during NHL game No. 930 in Denver on Saturday, February 28, 2015, at 19:57 of the third period.	—	$5,000.00	March 3, 2015^[4]
	Entering game late with intention of starting an altercation during NHL game No. 930 in Denver on Saturday, February 28, 2015, at 19:52 of the third period.	—	$3,091.40	March 3, 2015

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Pre-season game log: 1–5–2 (Home: 0–3–1 ; Road: 1–2–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 22	Anaheim	5–2	Colorado				0–1–0	Recap
2	September 22	Colorado	0–4	Anaheim			13,252	0–2–0	Recap
3	September 25	Colorado	2–3	Montreal	OT	Berra	21,287	0–2–1	Recap
4	September 26	Montreal	3–2	Colorado				0–3–1	Recap
5	September 28	Calgary	2–1	Colorado		Varlamov		0–4–1	Recap
6	September 30	Colorado	0–2	Calgary		Berra	19,289	0–5–1	Recap
7	October 2	Los Angeles	2–1	Colorado	SO	Berra	6,176	0–5–2	Recap
8	October 4	Colorado	3–2	Los Angeles	SO	Varlamov		1–5–2	Recap
*Notes:* Game was played at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City. Game was played at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Game was played at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Regular season

Game log

October: 3–4–4 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 1–3–2)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 9	Colorado	0–5	Minnesota			19,098	0–1–0	0	Recap
2	October 11	Minnesota	3–0	Colorado		Varlamov	18,139	0–2–0	0	Recap
3	October 13	Colorado	2–1	Boston			17,565	1–2–0	2	Recap
4	October 14	Colorado	2–3	Toronto	OT	Varlamov	18,754	1–2–1	3	Recap
5	October 16	Colorado	3–5	Ottawa			19,913	1–3–1	3	Recap
6	October 18	Colorado	2–3	Montreal		Pickard	21,287	1–4–1	3	Recap
7	October 21	Florida	4–3	Colorado	OT	Berra	14,440	1–4–2	4	Recap
8	October 24	Vancouver	3–7	Colorado		Varlamov	17,119	2–4–2	6	Recap
9	October 26	Colorado	1–2	Winnipeg	OT	Varlamov	15,016	2–4–3	7	Recap
10	October 28	San Jose	3–2	Colorado	SO	Varlamov	14,552	2–4–4	8	Recap
11	October 30	NY Islanders	0–5	Colorado		Varlamov	12,892	3–4–4	10	Recap

November: 6–6–1 (Home: 3–4–0 ; Road: 3–2–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
12	November 1	Colorado	2–3	St. Louis	SO		17,498	3–4–5	11	Recap
13	November 2	Anaheim	3–2	Colorado		Varlamov	15,310	3–5–5	11	Recap
14	November 4	Vancouver	5–2	Colorado		Varlamov	13,221	3–6–5	11	Recap
15	November 6	Toronto	3–4	Colorado	SO		15,036	4–6–5	13	Recap
16	November 8	Colorado	3–4	Philadelphia		Berra	19,792	4–7–5	13	Recap
17	November 11	Colorado	0–6	NY Islanders		Varlamov	12,888	4–8–5	13	Recap
18	November 13	Colorado	4–3	NY Rangers	SO	Varlamov	18,006	5–8–5	15	Recap
19	November 15	Colorado	3–2	New Jersey		Varlamov	15,626	6–8–5	17	Recap
20	November 20	Washington	3–2	Colorado		Berra	16,476	6–9–5	17	Recap
21	November 22	Carolina	3–4	Colorado			17,208	7–9–5	19	Recap
22	November 25	Colorado	4–3	Arizona	OT	Pickard	12,163	8–9–5	21	Recap
23	November 26	Chicago	3–2	Colorado		Pickard	18,007	8–10–5	21	Recap
24	November 29	Dallas	2–5	Colorado		Pickard	15,761	9–10–5	23	Recap

December: 5–5–3 (Home: 3–3–1 ; Road: 2–2–2)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
25	December 1	Montreal	4–3	Colorado			14,038	9–11–5	23	Recap
26	December 4	Colorado	3–4	Calgary	OT		18,651	9–11–6	24	Recap
27	December 5	Colorado	2–6	Winnipeg		Varlamov	15,016	9–12–6	24	Recap
28	December 9	Nashville	3–0	Colorado		Pickard	12,689	9–13–6	24	Recap
29	December 11	Winnipeg	3–4	Colorado	SO	Pickard	14,300	10–13–6	26	Recap
30	December 13	St. Louis	3–2	Colorado	OT	Pickard	17,806	10–13–7	27	Recap
31	December 18	Colorado	0–1	Pittsburgh	OT	Pickard	18,603	10–13–8	28	Recap
32	December 20	Colorado	5–1	Buffalo		Pickard	18,831	11–13–8	30	Recap
33	December 21	Colorado	2–1	Detroit	SO	Pickard	20,027	12–13–8	32	Recap
34	December 23	St. Louis	0–5	Colorado		Varlamov	17,634	13–13–8	34	Recap
35	December 27	Chicago	5–2	Colorado		Pickard	18,085	13–14–8	34	Recap
36	December 29	Colorado	0–3	St. Louis		Varlamov	19,749	13–15–8	34	Recap
37	December 31	Philadelphia	3–4	Colorado	OT	Varlamov	18,007	14–15–8	36	Recap

January: 7–3–3 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 2–2–3)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
38	January 2	Edmonton	1–2	Colorado	SO		16,050	15–15–8	38	Recap
39	January 4	Columbus	3–4	Colorado		Varlamov	14,780	15–16–8	38	Recap
40	January 6	Colorado	2–0	Chicago		Varlamov	21,492	16–16–8	40	Recap
41	January 8	Ottawa	2–5	Colorado		Varlamov	14,697	17–16–8	42	Recap
42	January 10	Dallas	3–4	Colorado		Varlamov	18,007	18–16–8	44	Recap
43	January 12	Colorado	1–2	Washington		Varlamov	18,506	18–17–8	44	Recap
44	January 13	Colorado	2–3	Carolina	SO		12,965	18–17–9	45	Recap
45	January 15	Colorado	4–2	Florida		Varlamov	9,584	19–17–9	47	Recap
46	January 17	Colorado	2–3	Tampa Bay	SO	Varlamov	19,204	19–17–10	48	Recap
47	January 19	Colorado	1–3	St. Louis		Varlamov	19,187	19–18–10	48	Recap
48	January 21	Boston	2–3	Colorado	SO	Varlamov	16,832	20–18–10	50	Recap
49	January 27	Colorado	3–4	Nashville	OT	Varlamov	15,566	20–18–11	51	Recap
50	January 30	Nashville	0–3	Colorado		Varlamov	18,064	21–18–11	53	Recap

February: 6–7–0 (Home: 3–4–0 ; Road: 3–3–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
51	February 3	Colorado	3–2	Dallas	SO		16,521	22–18–11	55	Recap
52	February 5	Detroit	3–0	Colorado		Varlamov	18,087	22–19–11	55	Recap
53	February 7	Colorado	0–1	Minnesota		Varlamov	19,244	22–20–11	55	Recap
54	February 8	Colorado	3–5	Winnipeg		Varlamov	15,016	22–21–11	55	Recap
55	February 12	NY Rangers	6–3	Colorado		Varlamov	17,378	22–22–11	55	Recap
56	February 14	Dallas	1–4	Colorado		Varlamov	18,087	23–22–11	57	Recap
57	February 16	Arizona	2–5	Colorado		Varlamov	14,132	24–22–11	59	Recap
58	February 18	Los Angeles	4–1	Colorado		Varlamov	15,786	24–23–11	59	Recap
59	February 20	Colorado	4–1	Chicago		Varlamov	22,103	25–23–11	61	Recap
60	February 22	Tampa Bay	4–5	Colorado		Varlamov	17,385	26–23–11	63	Recap
61	February 24	Colorado	2–5	Nashville		Varlamov	17,113	26–24–11	63	Recap
62	February 27	Colorado	5–4	Dallas	SO	Varlamov	15,431	27–24–11	65	Recap
63	February 28	Minnesota	3–1	Colorado		Varlamov	18,087	27–25–11	65	Recap

March: 8–4–1 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 4–2–1)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
64	March 4	Pittsburgh	1–3	Colorado			16,905	28–25–11	67	Recap
65	March 7	Colorado	4–0	Columbus		Varlamov	16,599	29–25–11	69	Recap
66	March 8	Colorado	3–2	Minnesota		Varlamov	19,119	30–25–11	71	Recap
67	March 10	Los Angeles	5–2	Colorado			15,724	30–26–11	71	Recap
68	March 12	New Jersey	1–2	Colorado	SO	Varlamov	14,607	31–26–11	73	Recap
69	March 14	Calgary	2–3	Colorado		Varlamov	18,007	32–26–11	75	Recap
70	March 19	Colorado	5–2	Arizona		Varlamov	11,684	33–26–11	77	Recap
71	March 20	Colorado	2–3	Anaheim	OT	Varlamov	17,313	33–26–12	78	Recap
72	March 23	Colorado	2–3	Calgary		Varlamov	18,613	33–27–12	78	Recap
73	March 25	Colorado	3–4	Edmonton			16,839	33–28–12	78	Recap
74	March 26	Colorado	4–1	Vancouver		Berra	18,870	34–28–12	80	Recap
75	March 28	Buffalo	3–5	Colorado		Varlamov	18,007	35–28–12	82	Recap
76	March 30	Edmonton	4–1	Colorado		Varlamov	15,493	35–29–12	82	Recap

April: 4–2–0 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 1–2–0)
	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
77	April 1	Colorado	1–5	San Jose			17,562	35–30–12	82	Recap
78	April 3	Colorado	4–2	Anaheim		Berra	17,201	36–30–12	84	Recap
79	April 4	Colorado	1–3	Los Angeles			18,230	36–31–12	84	Recap
80	April 7	Nashville	2–3	Colorado		Varlamov	13,561	37–31–12	86	Recap
81	April 9	Winnipeg	0–1	Colorado	SO	Berra	14,802	38–31–12	88	Recap
82	April 11	Chicago	2–3	Colorado		Varlamov	18,049	39–31–12	90	Recap

Legend:

Player statistics

Final^[5]

Skaters

Regular season
Player					data-sort-type="number"
	82	29	30	59	0	42
	82	23	36	59	−2	79
	80	22	33	55	−1	40
	82	21	34	55	3	16
	82	17	38	55	−5	12
	80	12	41	53	5	26
	64	14	24	38	−7	34
	68	11	15	26	−9	32
	47	12	11	23	2	33
	59	5	15	20	−1	24
^‡	63	5	10	15	2	27
	76	2	13	15	−1	32
	78	5	9	14	−11	28
	65	3	10	13	−4	16
	81	1	12	13	−12	42
	57	8	4	12	−7	18
	82	7	5	12	−2	191
	55	3	9	12	−7	10
	74	2	5	7	−2	17
	19	4	2	6	−9	6
	13	1	1	2	−1	0
	11	1	1	2	1	6
^†	17	1	0	1	−1	0
	7	0	1	1	−1	2
	1	0	1	1	1	0
^‡	10	0	1	1	2	0
^‡	3	0	1	1	0	10
	1	0	0	0	0	0
	3	0	0	0	−3	0
^†	19	0	0	0	−1	2
	5	0	0	0	−2	2
	3	0	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0
^‡	5	0	0	0	3	2

Goaltenders

Regular season

57	57	3,307	28	20	8	141	2.56	1791	.921	5	4
16	13	895	6	7	3	35	2.35	511	.932	0	0
19	12	748	5	4	1	33	2.65	403	.918	1	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Avalanche. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Notable achievements

Regular season
Player	Award	Awarded
	NHL All-Star game selection^[6]	January 10, 2015
	NHL Second Star of the Week^[7]	January 12, 2015
	NHL Second Star of the Week^[8]	March 9, 2015
	NHL Third Star of the Week^[9]	March 30, 2015

Milestones

Regular season
Player	Milestone	Reached
	1st career NHL game	October 9, 2014
	300th career NHL goal	October 13, 2014
	1st career NHL game	October 16, 2014
	100th career NHL assist	October 24, 2014
	1000th career NHL PIM	October 24, 2014
	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	November 2, 2014
	1st career NHL assist	November 4, 2014
	600th career NHL game	November 6, 2014
	200th career NHL point	November 6, 2014
	100th career NHL game	November 13, 2014
	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	November 22, 2014
	1st career NHL win	November 22, 2014
	100th career NHL game	November 29, 2014
	1st career NHL game	December 1, 2014
	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	December 4, 2014
	1st career NHL game	December 9, 2014
	1,000th career NHL game	December 18, 2014
	100th career NHL assist	December 20, 2014
	500th career NHL game	December 21, 2014
	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	December 31, 2014
	800th career NHL point	January 8, 2015
	1st career NHL assist	January 10, 2015
	100th career NHL game	January 12, 2015
	1,200th career NHL point	January 30, 2015
	600th career NHL game	February 8, 2015
	400th career NHL game	February 12, 2015
	100th career NHL point	February 16, 2015
	1st career NHL assist 1st career NHL point	February 16, 2015
	300th career NHL point	February 16, 2015
	100th career NHL assist	February 22, 2015
	1st career NHL hat-trick	February 22, 2015
	100th career NHL point	February 24, 2015
	400th career NHL game	February 28, 2015
	1,000th career NHL game	March 4, 2015
	400th career NHL game	March 19, 2015
	1st career NHL goal 1st career NHL point	March 19, 2015
	100th career NHL point	March 28, 2015
	1st career NHL shutout	April 9, 2015

Transactions

The following transactions took place during the 2014–15 NHL season.

Trades

Date
June 30, 2014^[10]	To Montreal Canadiens----P. A. Parenteau 5th-round pick in 2015	To Colorado Avalanche----Daniel Briere
July 1, 2014^[11]	To San Jose Sharks----2nd-round pick in 2016 6th-round pick in 2017	To Colorado Avalanche----Brad Stuart
March 2, 2015^[12]	To Boston Bruins----Paul Carey Maxime Talbot	To Colorado Avalanche----Jordan Caron 6th-round pick in 2016
March 2, 2015	To San Jose Sharks----Karl Stollery	To Colorado Avalanche----Freddie Hamilton
March 2, 2015	To Anaheim Ducks----Michael Sgarbossa	To Colorado Avalanche----Mat Clark
June 25, 2015^[13]	To Boston Bruins----BOS's 6th-round pick in 2016	To Colorado Avalanche----Carl Soderberg (rights)

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014			3 years, $16 million	^[14]
July 1, 2014	Bruno Gervais		1 year, $650,000	^[15]
July 1, 2014			1 year, $650,000
July 1, 2014			2 years, $1.5 million
July 1, 2014			2 years, $1.8 million
July 7, 2014			2 years, $1.25 million	^[16]
May 15, 2015			1 year, entry-level contract	^[17]

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014			4 years, $28 million	^[18]
July 1, 2014			2 years, $1.3 million	^[19]
July 1, 2014	David Van der Gulik		1 year, $550,000	^[20]
July 1, 2014			1 year, $600,000	^[21]
July 23, 2014			1 year, $800,000	^[22]

Lost via retirement

Date	Player	Ref
August 21, 2014	Jean Sebastien Giguere	^[23]

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2014		3 years, $4.95 million contract extension	^[24]
July 23, 2014		2 years, $12 million contract	^[25]
September 4, 2014		2 years, $5.2 million contract	^[26]
September 29, 2014		3 years, $4 million contract extension	^[27]
September 29, 2014		2 years, $7.2 million contract extension
March 24, 2015		3 years, entry-level contract	^[28]
May 15, 2015		1 year, entry-level contract

Draft picks

See also: List of Colorado Avalanche draft picks. The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Round		Player	Pos	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
align=center	1	align=center	23	Conner Bleackley	C	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
align=center	3	align=center	84	Kyle Wood	D	North Bay Battalion (OHL)
align=center	4	align=center	93	Nicholas Magyar	RW	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
align=center	4	align=center	114	Alexis Pepin	LW	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
align=center	5	align=center	144	Anton Lindholm	D	Skelleftea (SHL)
align=center	6	align=center	174	Maximilian Pajpach	G	Slovakia U18 (Slovakia-2)
align=center	7	align=center	204	Julien Nantel	LW	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)

Draft notes

Colorado's second-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014, that sent Reto Berra to Colorado in exchange for this pick.^[29]
Edmonton's fourth-round pick (previously acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs) went to Colorado as the result of a trade on April 3, 2013, that sent Ryan O'Byrne to Toronto in exchange for this pick.^[30]

Notes and References

Web site: 2014–2015 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League – ESPN. ESPN.
Book: National Hockey League. The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. 2013. Diamond Sports Data, Inc.. 45. 978-1-894801-26-3.
Web site: Avalanche goalie Giguere to retire: Report.
Web site: Avalanche's McLeod, Landeskog fined for actions at end of Feb. 28 game vs. Wild. NHL. March 3, 2015.
Web site: Avalanche 2014-2015 Regular Season Stats. March 17, 2015.
Web site: 2015 NHL All-Star selections highlighted by three Columbus Blue Jackets. NHL. January 10, 2015.
Web site: Backes, Varlamov and Huberdeau named week's stars . NHL . January 12, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150112201942/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=748278 . January 12, 2015 . mdy .
Web site: Hudler, Varlamov and Talbot named stars of week. NHL. March 9, 2015.
Web site: Dubnyk, Atkinson and O'Reilly named stars of week. NHL. March 30, 2015.
Web site: Avalanche Acquires Briere from Montreal. avalanche.nhl.com. Colorado Avalanche. June 30, 2014.
Web site: Avalanche Acquires Brad Stuart. avalanche.nhl.com. Colorado Avalanche. July 1, 2014.
Web site: Avalanche Acquires Jordan Caron. avalanche.nhl.com. Colorado Avalanche. July 1, 2014.
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=772192 Avalanche Acquires Carl Soderberg
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724830 Avalanche Signs Jarome Iginla
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724754 Avalanche Signs Four Players
http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_26104562/maxim-noreau-signed-by-avalanche-two-year-1 Maxim Noreau signed by Avalanche
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=767770 Avalanche Signs Andreas Martinsen
http://blues.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724774 Blues Sign Stastny to 4-Year Deal
http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724788 Canes Agree to Terms with Brad Malone
http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724968 Kings Sign Adam Cracknell And David Van Der Gulik To One-Year Contracts
http://rangers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=725021 Rangers Agree To Terms With Free Agent Defenseman Matt Hunwick
http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=726992 SABRES SIGN BENOIT TO 1-YEAR DEAL
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=728903 Jean-Sebastien Giguere Announces Retirement
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=724815 Avalanche Signs Nick Holden To Extension
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=726980 AVALANCHE SIGNS O’REILLY
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=729603 Avalanche Signs Tyson Barrie
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=732237 Avalanche Signs McLeod, Stuart to Extensions
http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=759604 Avalanche Signs Mason Geertsen
Web site: Avalanche Acquires Berra from Flames. March 5, 2014. May 19, 2014.
News: Maple Leafs swing deal for Ryan O'Byrne. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 3, 2013.