Avalanche Phase 4 Round-Robin Schedule Announced

The Colorado Avalanche's first Stanley Cup Qualifier game of Phase 4 of the NHL Return to Play Plan will be against the division-rival St. Louis Blues on Aug. 2 in Edmonton, Alberta.

The league and NHL Players' Association announced the full schedule on Friday for the 24 teams taking part in the Stanley Cup Qualifier (qualifying round and round-robin games) beginning next month in two hub cities, Edmonton and Toronto, Ontario. For the early rounds of the qualifier, Western clubs will play at Rogers Place in Edmonton while the Eastern teams will face off at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will be held in Edmonton.

After facing the Blues, Colorado takes on fellow division foe the Dallas Stars on Aug. 5 and the Pacific Division's Vegas Golden Knights on Aug. 8. The Avalanche, Blues, Golden Knights and Stars are in the round-robin part of the qualifier to determine the top four seeds in the Western Conference for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals are facing off in the Eastern Conference's round-robin format. The remaining eight teams from each conference are playing a best-of-five series to earn a berth into the postseason.

The Avs finished the regular season in second place in the West with a 42-20-8 record and a .657 points percentage. St. Louis (42-19-10) ended up being first with a .662 percentage, but the defending Stanley Cup champions played one more game than Colorado prior to the NHL pausing the season on March 12.

Prior to the Stanley Cup Qualifier, exhibition games will be played from July 28-30 in the hub cities, with clubs traveling to their destinations on July 26. A full schedule with times and broadcast information will be announced in the coming days, but games will be held at 12 p.m. MT, 4:30 p.m. MT or 8:30 p.m. MT in Edmonton (puck drops might fluctuate up to 30 minutes during qualifying round).

Since June 15, Colorado players have been taking part in Phase 2 of the Return to Play Plan--small-group, voluntary skates at Pepsi Center. The Avalanche will open Phase 3, training camp-style team practices, on Monday at Pepsi Center. The sessions are closed to the general public.

Avalanche Stanley Cup Qualifier Schedule

All games played at Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta