The Colorado Avalanche are eschewing the morning skate in the second half of the season.

With a schedule that has the club playing almost every other night through the conclusion of the regular season, the team made the decision to go with optional morning skates on game days, in addition to team meetings and video sessions.

"Our schedule has been strange," said first-year head coach Jared Bednar, who asserted the decision was a result of conversation between staff and players. "That's the best way I can put it. You look at the two big breaks at the start of the year, then Christmas break, then the bye week, and we seem to have (had) a lot of space in between games."

Bednar added that his team has had a lot of practice time through the first half of the season, even though it's not showing, as Colorado sits dead last in the NHL in points, with only 28 through 45 games, in what is a lost season.

With a busy schedule the rest of the way, Bednar wants to make sure the players have ample time to rest.

Colorado will have more than a day off between games only twice next month, between Feb. 1 and 4, and Feb. 25 and 28. The rest of the way, it's a game every other night, with five stretches of three games in four nights.

The decision also means practices will be more intense, with the players expected to work hard.

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