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Avalanche on pace to be among worst teams in recent history

Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports

It's never a good day when you're being compared to the Atlanta Thrashers.

If the Colorado Avalanche lose to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, it will mark their third straight defeat, and continue a historically bad season.

Just how gruesome have things gotten in Colorado?

With 27 points through 41 games, the Avs are on pace for 54 points - a number that would drop to 53 with a loss to the Blackhawks. Last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs finished in the NHL's basement while still managing to put up 69.

In fact, only 14 teams have finished with less than 60 points since the Thrashers joined the NHL in 1999-00 - a stretch of 16 full seasons.

Season Team Points
2014-15 Sabres 54
2014-15 Coyotes 56
2013-14 Sabres 52
2006-07 Flyers 56
2005-06 Blues 57
2005-06 Penguins 58
2003-04 Penguins 59
2003-04 Blackhawks 59
2003-04 Capitals 59
2001-02 Thrashers 54
2001-02 Blue Jackets 57
2000-01 Islanders 52
2000-01 Lightning 59
1999-00 Thrashers 39

Meanwhile, just three clubs - the 2013-14 Buffalo Sabres, the 2000-01 New York Islanders, and those same Thrashers - were worse than Colorado's current pace.

If life in Denver is bad now, how ugly will things get if Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog are wearing different colors following the March 1 trade deadline?

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