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The Colorado Avalanche return to the ice this fall with the same mission as every year: returning Lord Stanley to its rightful home in Denver. 

State of play: The team released its 84-game NHL schedule on Thursday, with the upcoming season featuring the most games in a season since 1993-94. 

Colorado has 28 matchups against Central Division foes, split evenly between home and away.

The Avs will take on Pacific Division opponents 24 times and have 32 games against Eastern Conference teams. 

Zoom in: We wanted to highlight five games both die-hard and casual fans will want to watch. 

Los Angeles Kings (Sept. 30): The franchise's season opener sees Colorado host the rival they swept last season during a dominant first-round playoff series. 

Pittsburgh Penguins (Oct. 16): Colorado hosts superstar Sidney Crosby for a shot at making a statement against a playoff contender. 

Carolina Hurricanes (Dec. 18): The defending Stanley Cup champs visit Ball Arena for an intriguing tilt. 

at Utah Mammoth (Dec. 31): The 2027 Discover NHL Winter Classic pits the division rivals for a marquee matchup at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. 

at Vegas Golden Knights (Jan. 2): It's revenge time in Sin City. 

What's next: The Avs host the Mammoth for a preseason exhibition game Sept. 20. 

5 can't-miss Colorado Avalanche games

The Avs play a regular season NHL game in September for the first time in history.

Ice hockey scene: a goalie in maroon and white guards the net while two players, one in maroon/white and one in gold, battle for a puck midair; crowd and referee in background.

The Avs in action against the Vegas Golden Knights during last season's ill-fated Western Conference Finals. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The Colorado Avalanche return to the ice this fall with the same mission as every year: returning Lord Stanley to its rightful home in Denver. State of play: The team released its 84-game NHL schedule on Thursday, with the upcoming season featuring the most games in a season since 1993-94.

Sports

Things to Do

Denver will stop issuing separate child care business licenses, eliminating one hurdle to opening new centers.

Why it matters: Denver is cutting red tape as child care centers struggle to stay afloat and families face soaring costs.

Reality check: Backers say this change likely won't open the floodgates to new providers.

The changes will lower costs to open facilities, but won't "make or break" a business, OCA policy director Rhett Gutierrez said during a meeting last month.

State of play: The Denver City Council voted unanimously Monday to pass the law to drop the local licensing requirement.

The city will defer to state licensing rules. Local health and safety standards will go unchanged. 

By the numbers: The average cost of infant care in Denver is roughly $20,000 a year, and can consume up to 25% of a family's income, according to a June presentation from the city's Office of Children's Affairs (OCA).

Threat level: "We're in a child care crisis," Gutierrez said last month.

Colorado ranks as the seventh most expensive state in the country to raise a child, a 2025 SmartAsset study showed.

Between the lines: Making Denver a more child-friendly city is among Mayor Mike Johnston's citywide goals, with a focus on providing more affordable and reliable child care, specifically for infants and toddlers.

Zoom out: Nearly half of American families with young kids live in a "child care desert" — a region with a shortage of licensed providers, according to an April analysis from the liberal Center for American Progress, writes Axios' Emily Peck.

Colorado (45%) placed 18th among states with the lowest share of families lacking access. Massachusetts (21%) tops the list, while Alaska and Hawaii (96%) are the states with the biggest deserts.

Denver ditches local child care center licensing

Child care centers are struggling to stay open in Colorado as more families find them increasingly unaffordable.

Illustration of a child guiding a green toy train with dollar sign wheels off the edge of a table

Denver will stop issuing separate child care business licenses, eliminating one hurdle to opening new centers.Why it matters: Denver is cutting red tape as child care centers<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" struggle to stay afloat" data-vars-click-url="https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/15/colorado-child-care-unaffordable-out-of-reach-school-families/" data-vars-content-id="213e4f44-325c-440d-8135-5ac67483e222" data-vars-headline="Denver ditches local child care center licensing" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://coloradosun.com/2026/02/15/colorado-child-care-unaffordable-out-of-reach-school-families/" target="_blank"> struggle to stay afloat</a> and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="families face soaring costs" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/24/child-care-costs" data-vars-content-id="213e4f44-325c-440d-8135-5ac67483e222" data-vars-headline="Denver ditches local child care center licensing" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/24/child-care-costs" target="_self">families face soaring costs</a>.

News

Parenting

City Council members are demanding more accountability for the city's response to homelessness complaints.

Why it matters: The city's street engagement teams are often the public's first point of contact about encampments and other homelessness-related issues.

But officials have little feedback from residents about whether those responses are actually working well.

Driving the news: During a Wednesday briefing, City Council members pressed Erin Atencio, city director for Roads to Recovery, about the multi-agency effort.

The city receives thousands of calls every year to manage low-level violations, including requests to enforce the city's urban camping ban and RV regulations.

Yes, but: Council members want clarity on response times and how the mayor's administration tracks success.

Case in point: Nearly 70% of calls are marked "resolved" because no one is present when a city team arrives at a location, not necessarily because the issue is fixed.

The discrepancy prompted Councilmember Kevin Flynn to add a "resolution" that would require more work to determine whether the issue was resolved.

The intrigue: Officials received nearly 2,500 street engagement requests since February — but just 38 people responded to a survey about the city's services, Wednesday's presentation revealed.

A representative of the mayor's office said the city wants more feedback and is working on a way to get it.

Zoom in: Council members also pressed officials about enforcement involving RVs — an increasingly common method for people to stay sheltered — which can take multiple days to resolve.

Councilmember Amanda Sawyer said the city needs to do more to hold "repeat offenders" accountable.

What we're watching: Council members' questions come as Mayor Mike Johnston's All in Mile High strategy faces frequent scrutiny and criticism over costs and whether its reported results actually reflect conditions on Denver's streets.

The mayor's office earlier this year said it had delivered a 64% drop in street homelessness since Johnston took office.

City response to homelessness calls draws council ire

The city receives thousands of calls every year to help manage low-level law violations, including for unauthorized camping.

Illustration of a sleeping figure on a bench under a spotlight.

City Council members are demanding more accountability for the city&#x27;s response to homelessness complaints.Why it matters: The city&#x27;s street engagement teams are often the public&#x27;s first point of contact about <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="encampments and other homelessness-related issues" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2026/05/20/denver-homelessness-pit-count-2026" data-vars-content-id="6289c992-f82d-4aab-bbfe-ba89e0a670a0" data-vars-headline="City response to homelessness calls draws council ire" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2026/05/20/denver-homelessness-pit-count-2026" target="_self">encampments and other homelessness-related issues</a>.

Public Safety

Colorado Rapids president Pádraig Smith said the environment created by the FIFA World Cup showcases everything good about the sport in the U.S.

Why it matters: Denver didn't host any games. But the official viewing experience, sponsored by the Rapids at Skyline Park, and numerous other watch parties injected a badly needed jolt to local businesses.

State of play: The Rapids partnered with the Downtown Denver Partnership and Street Soccer USA to create a downtown space with a giant screen, food, drinks, prizes and Rapids merchandise.

By the numbers: Roughly 40,000 total people visited the park starting on June 11, Rapids vice president of community impact and fan development Caitlin Kinser said.

The venue reached its 1,900-person capacity multiple times, primarily for games involving Mexico and the U.S. men's national team, Kinser added.

What they're saying: "It's been really successful. We're really proud of how it turned out," Kinser said.

"The big [lesson] from us is that we need to — and we can — do more of these things," Smith told Axios.

Context: Recent record attendances at Colorado Rapids and Summit FC games further illustrate the sport's popularity in Denver. 

Kinser said the club wants to capitalize on the surge in interest by encouraging local attendance, promoting its My First Match program, which provides free Rapids game tickets, during watch parties.

The intrigue: Number Thirty Eight in RiNo ranked first among World Cup watching destinations across the country, Lyft's June trend report shows.

"We were floored" to see the restaurant top the list, general manager Kathryn Anderson said in a statement. Its appearance alongside host cities "says something about how much this city loves soccer."

What's next: Kinser said Skyline Park's success only strengthens Denver's bid to host the 2031 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Rapids celebrate downtown World Cup surge

Roughly 40,000 total people visited the park starting on June 11 to watch the men's tournament.

Crowded city parade scene with spectators in red, white, and blue as a large American flag is waved on a pole; tall buildings behind, cheering crowd and banners.

Skyline Park during a U.S. men's national team game. Photo: Courtesy of Colorado Rapids 

Colorado Rapids president Pádraig Smith said the environment created by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="the FIFA World Cup" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2026/06/04/world-cup-watch-parties-denver" data-vars-content-id="74f18671-6f15-41e9-ae87-e8633a3366e0" data-vars-headline="Rapids celebrate downtown World Cup surge" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2026/06/04/world-cup-watch-parties-denver" target="_self">the FIFA World Cup</a> showcases everything good about the sport in the U.S.Why it matters: Denver didn&#x27;t host any games. But the official viewing experience, sponsored by the Rapids at Skyline Park, and numerous other watch parties injected a badly needed <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="jolt to local businesses" data-vars-click-url="https://coloradosun.com/2026/05/17/denver-restaurants-inflation-opinion-carman/" data-vars-content-id="74f18671-6f15-41e9-ae87-e8633a3366e0" data-vars-headline="Rapids celebrate downtown World Cup surge" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://coloradosun.com/2026/05/17/denver-restaurants-inflation-opinion-carman/" target="_blank">jolt to local businesses</a>.

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Business

MCA Denver's chief curator Miranda Lash visited studios across Colorado to orchestrate a celebration of the state's 150th anniversary.

Zoom in: After nearly two years of planning, the museum next week premieres "Colorado Currents," a gargantuan exhibition bringing together recent works by 28 artists with ties to the Centennial State.

Context: Lash focused on finding artists who hadn't been featured at the museum before, asking them to consider the state in contemporary terms and how they hope to see the state develop in the future, she tells us.

The exhibition is meant to spotlight work from people across the state, not just Denver.

The intrigue: The exhibition is split into three major categories, including Colorado history, local and family legacies, and nature, which explores present-day concerns like water usage, drought and wildfires.

Costumes, drawings, photography, paintings and a 3D-printed adobe structure will also be on display.

What they're saying: "There's a million beautiful stories that we didn't get to, but I find that these types of projects get the conversation going," Lash tells us.

If you go: "Colorado Currents" debuts July 24 at MCA Denver and runs through Nov. 1.

Tickets for the opening celebration start at $32.

MCA Denver readies huge Colorado anniversary exhibition

The massive show brings together works by 28 artists with ties to the Centennial State.

Desert landscape painting: blue-grey jagged mountains left, pale pink rock domes right, gray pyramids in the center, and sparse shrubs across a pale mint sky.

 "This was going to be, the northern most continent, but the plans changed" by Evan Forrest Mann. Photo: Courtesy of Mann

MCA Denver&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="chief curator Miranda Lash" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/09/09/museum-of-contemporary-art-denver-miranda-lash-south" data-vars-content-id="d58b445d-0de7-4a03-9b9a-40da17c98fa6" data-vars-headline="MCA Denver readies huge Colorado anniversary exhibition" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/09/09/museum-of-contemporary-art-denver-miranda-lash-south" target="_self">chief curator Miranda Lash</a> visited studios across Colorado to orchestrate a celebration of the state&#x27;s 150th anniversary.Zoom in: After nearly two years of planning, the museum next week premieres &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Colorado Currents" data-vars-click-url="https://mcadenver.org/exhibitions/colorado-currents" data-vars-content-id="d58b445d-0de7-4a03-9b9a-40da17c98fa6" data-vars-headline="MCA Denver readies huge Colorado anniversary exhibition" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://mcadenver.org/exhibitions/colorado-currents" target="_blank">Colorado Currents</a>,&quot; a gargantuan exhibition bringing together recent works by 28 artists with ties to the Centennial State.

Esteban L. Hernandez

Featured stories

Rapids celebrate downtown World Cup surge

5 can't-miss Colorado Avalanche games

City response to homelessness calls draws council ire

MCA Denver readies huge Colorado anniversary exhibition

Denver ditches local child care center licensing