DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche realize history isn't exactly on their side and they're just fine with that.
Fresh off winning the Presidents' Trophy, they now contend with this stat: Just eight teams since 1986 have earned the NHL's top overall seed and proceeded to capture the Stanley Cup title.
But that's not a sign so much as a reminder to keep them focused. The franchise is 1 for 3 in winning both — a cast led by Joe Sakic accomplished the feat in 2001 — with this one pending.
“I don’t know if history necessarily means anything,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said after a 3-1 win over Calgary on Thursday night to clinch the top spot. “Listen, you’re trying to prove yourself every single day. There have been plenty of people and teams have done things that nobody’s done before, haven’t been done in a long time. So those things aren’t necessarily something that we’re thinking about much.”
The last time a team captured the Presidents' Trophy and then the Stanley Cup title was the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13. That season was abbreviated to 48 games because of a lockout. The last team to play a full 82-game schedule to earn the best record and then win the title was the Detroit Red Wings in 2008.
It's not like a team wants to avoid the top seed or anything. A Game 7 at home certainly could've come in handy last season when the Avalanche lost to the Stars in Dallas during a first-round series that went seven.
“You want home ice,” said defenseman Josh Manson, whose team is 25-9-5 at Ball Arena this season. “But you're going to have to do well home and away if you want to win the Cup. It’s just the way it goes.”
Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and several others have been in this position before when they won the Presidents' Trophy in 2021. Colorado lost to Vegas in six games in the second round.
The Avalanche were up 2-0 in the series going heading Vegas and had a late lead in Game 3, only to see the Golden Knights rally for four straight wins.
“That was the lesson for us: You have a chance to step on a team, step on a team,” Landeskog said.
The following season they went 16-4 over their playoff run to hoist the Stanley Cup.
“Individual playoff runs and playoff series gives you lessons that can apply throughout your career, after the fact,” Landeskog said. “It had nothing to do with the Presidents’ Trophy that year (2021). It had nothing to do with anything but just some lessons here and there, some things you take from it. I think this group is more experienced than that one, hungrier than that one.”
Colorado has won at least one playoff round in all three seasons where it was the Presidents' Trophy winner. In 1996-97, the Avalanche reached the conference final before losing to Detroit — the eventual Stanley Cup winner — in six games.
Once the playoffs start, records of any sort no longer matter — a point of emphasis to coach Jared Bednar.
“This game has a way of humbling you if you don’t play your best hockey,” Bednar said. "If you’re not playing your best and you’re making too many mistakes, or you’re not dialed in as a group of 20-plus, then you can expect it to be a tough road.”
The Avalanche are getting closer to full strength, missing only Nazem Kadri (finger) and Makar (upper body). With four games remaining, Bednar will hold meetings and talk to the players about who needs rest and who may want to play.
MacKinnon is currently the league's goal-scoring leader with a career-best 52 this season. He's three goals away from tying Mikko Rantanen for the most in a season in Colorado history and five away from matching Quebec's Michel Goulet for most in franchise history.
On the team front, the Avalanche (114 points) have a chance at their first 120-point season. There have been only 12 teams that have reached 120 or more points, with the most recent being Boston in 2022-23. The Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy and lost in the first round.
“It fuels us knowing that we’ve won a lot of hockey games in a lot of different ways,” Landeskog said. "That’s important to remember. You’re not winning the Presidents’ Trophy if you haven’t been finding ways to win hockey games.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, front, puts a shot on Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, center, redirects the puck past Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf, left, after driving past Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, right, in the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Calgary Flames left wing Victor Olofsson, front left, pursues the puck with Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and Lithuania's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern flank over incursions related to Russia's war with Ukraine.
An emergency announcement from the military told people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”
The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.
It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday's alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s reaction to several drone incidents in recent days, saying that they had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.” Rutte said: “This is exactly what we planned and prepared for,” and he blamed Russia’s war on Ukraine for the problem.
In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.
On Tuesday evening, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on social media that “Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting Russian military machine hard.”
Budrys' comment came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.
Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following an argument over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine. The defense minister was forced to quit after his party withdrew its support for him, and the prime minister then resigned. The governing coalition had been under strain for months over several other issues.
In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.
Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia’s vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.
Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn’t confirm any direct hit.
The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine's war effort, has loosened strict sanctions on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise due to the Iran war.
The waiver begins Wednesday and reflects growing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.
That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a 30-day extension for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea, a move that is meant to reduce the oil supply shortages.
The announcement marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)
People take shelter in an underground car park during an air raid alert in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (Vygintas Skaraitis/Lrytas via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Konotop, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
