Avalanche Practice Notebook: Avs get first look at Climate Pledge Arena

Boy oh boy. What a day. I tell ya, I have never once enjoyed getting out of bed for a 5 AM alarm. Then you add in the fact that it came just a few hours after we wrapped up a late-night DNVR Avalanche Postgame Show… pain.

See, I’m always in a tough spot. When I travel, I try my hardest to get on the earliest flight I can find. Get it all out of the way, you know? Airports are exhausting, and I never like to have to sit around all day and dread what lies ahead.

So I once again dragged myself, half-awake, out of bed and got in the car in the wee hours of the day. Thankfully Chick-Fil-A breakfast saved the day. As it always does.

Yes, that chicken biscuit gave me the energy I needed to fight through a surprisingly busy airport in Denver, and I made it to Seattle with plenty of time to spare before the Colorado Avalanche took to the ice for their first-ever skate at the newly renovated Climate Pledge Arena.

Before we get to what came out of today’s on-ice session for the Avs, I want to park just a few moments to talk about the NHL’s newest arena. Well… technically it’s now the NHL’s oldest area. But you would never know that based on how it looks.

When Climate Pledge Arena first opened in April of 1962, at the time it was called the Washington State Pavilion, it primarily served as a venue for traveling attractions. The City of Seattle eventually purchased the multi-purpose venue in 1964 and gave it a facelift before welcoming the Seattle University Men’s basketball program as the first large-scale organization to have a permanent home under the iconic roof.

Later that same year the WHL’s Seattle Totems also moved in and became the first hockey team since 1924 to plant roots in downtown Seattle.

Since then it has undergone several name changes, multiple remodels and housed almost a dozen full-time tenants, including the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics from 1967-2008.

Now for the first time since the Sonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City, it is once again home to a major league franchise and with it came a major league upgrade.

This time, it was not just replacing seats and giving a fresh coat of paint. The roof is considered a historical landmark in the State of Washington, so that had to remain unchanged. And that’s about where the list of original items more or less ends. In fact, this arena is actually bigger than it was before.

How is that possible without changing the size or shape of the roof, you might ask? Well, Climate Pledge Arena actually sits below ground and the engineers who updated it took it an additional 15’ (that’s one and a half stories) underground. So when you come in the main entrance at street level, you are actually at the very top of the seating bowl.

It honestly trips you out a bit when you first walk in.

Make no mistake, even though Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar technically played a couple WHL games of his own in the location where the arena still stands, this is a brand new, state-of-the-art facility.

“It didn’t look anything like this” Bednar said with a chuckle. “I haven’t gotten to see all of it, but it’s nice. They’ve done a really nice job with this”.

Here’s as long of a walk through as Twitter will let me post. https://t.co/ZgHfp8vRXc pic.twitter.com/BK1ucbvK3k

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) November 19, 2021

It would’ve been easy to be distracted this morning by all of the amazing things there are to see in this arena. Thankfully, I can’t be distracted and was laser-focused on the hockey on the i…. Hmm I wonder what other pro arenas have weird historical landmark status and can’t be altered.

Did you guys know that Casa Bonita has historical landmark status?

Oh right right… hockey. The Avs beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Wednesday in what Jared Bednar described as an “emotional” game. So while today wasn’t an optional practice, they gave Devon Toews and Mikko Rantanen the day off to shake some bumps and bruises.

Maybe the best part of the Avs’ trip to Vancouver was the fact that no new injuries came as a result of their game. Something the team hadn’t been able to say for almost three weeks.

And is there maybe hope that one of the team’s presently injured superstars could be returning soon? Perhaps. Bowen Byram skated this morning ahead of the full-team practice in a red non-contact jersey. While he skated for a good 20 minutes with some of his teammates, Byram left the ice before any drills got going.

When I asked Bednar if Byram was starting to feel better, he was quick to respond that he is, but also made sure to note that the plan hasn’t changed. Bo will be the one who decides how hard to push things, and Bednar was also clear in saying that if they need to take a step back because Byram isn’t feeling 100%, they will absolutely do that.

It’s refreshing to listen to the way the Avs’ bench boss talks about this situation. You can tell his priority is Bowen Byram’s health, and nothing else.

The Avs’ coaching staff gave us little to go on today in terms of what lines will look like for tomorrow, as everyone skated in either a black or white jersey today, meaning no line combos on the ice.

Bednar did say however that he really liked Logan O’Connor on the top line.

“I thought [O’Connor] was awesome yesterday.” Bednar said, “Arguably our best forward in a lot of areas”.

Given that, I expect a very similar looking lineup as to what we saw in Vancouver. Could this finally be the first time the Avs ice the same lineup in multiple games this season?

Keep following along, I will be bringing you everything from the Avs morning skate, all the way through post-game press conferences, including some fun content from around this new building. For now I’m off to find some dinner on this cold, rainy evening.