The Colorado Avalanche has released their preseason schedule and what does it tell us? The usual suspects are there. We have two games against each opponent with the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Mammoth.

The preseason is where the coaches and staff can get some of their best looks at some of the young prospects. And for some AHL players, it could make or break their career. If they work hard enough and impress the coaches, it could have a lasting effect. Joel Kiviranta is one recent player that comes to mind. The Avalanche invited him to training camp on a professional tryout, subsequently released him, and then offered him an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles. His hard work led to a new NHL deal and now he became a regular on the Avalanche.

The preseason schedule will be a little different this season. The Avalanche will see two games on the road against the Stars and Golden Knights. They will also see two games at home against those same two teams.

Since you will see mostly AHL prospects during these games, the Eagles played well against both the Texas Stars and the Henderson Silver Knights. Against the Stars they had a 3–0–1 record and against the Silver Knights they had a 5–2–1 record. So both games could be interesting and a victory.

The Utah Mammoth games are where the schedule gets interesting. September 21st is the date listed for both games, split-squad games that every coach hates. Both games are also in Denver, according to the schedule. This could be because of the construstion that is happening at the Delta Center right now.  The schedule lists one game at Ball Arena, but the location of the other remains to be decided. So we could see a new location in the Denver metro area host a game this fall.

With the dates of the preseason games set, this gives us the dates of the Training Camp. The Avalanche will probably start their training camp on September 17th for on-ice activities. So mark your calendars. Hockey is not that far off!