When it comes to hockey, my first love will always be the Colorado Rockies

Denver was a three-sport town before it was a two-sport town before it eventually became a four-sport town. And when it was a three-sport town in my childhood, I knew a fair bit about football, and even a little more about basketball, but I knew jack-all about the Colorado Rockies. No, the other ones, our hockey team.

My five-foot-barely mom had won a pair of tickets to a Rockies hockey game, and decided her awkward kid might be the perfect date to learn a new sport with. In the first period, the Rockies scored a goal, and I-wish-he-hadn’t-turned-out-to-be-a-pedophile Gary Glitter told us all about it. I didn’t know the song, but knew that the hundreds of people jumping up and down around me… HEY!… seemed very… HEY!… excited… HEY!

In the second period, in addition to a couple more goals, and several more HEYs, a Rockies defenseman checked an Islanders forward into the boards so hard, he sent him through the glass and into the lap of a nice little old lady. I jumped up and screamed so loud, I think I fully went through puberty.

By the time they scored their sole goal in the third, I was pretty familiar with my HEYs. And I was also a huge hockey fan. When Rockies hockey eventually left town for New Jersey, I was pretty crushed. By the time the Rockies returned to Colorado, they were carrying bats instead of sticks. When the Avalanche arrived and finally made Denver a four-sport town, I was thrilled to live in one of the few cities that could claim such a thing, not to mention ecstatic that hockey was back in Colorado. When they won that Stanley Cup that first season well past midnight, my first child, who was three at the time, was rudely awakened as she slept on my lap.

Current-day Avs Captain Gabriel Landeskog was exposed to hockey at a much younger age, as his dad Tony played defense in the Swedish Hockey League, and Gabe and his twin sister may well have been in skates before he can even remember. Gabe’s NHL exposure was also pretty limited, even years later, as the games came in rarely on a single TV channel his family didn’t even receive. To watch his hero, Avs forward Peter Forsberg, his grandmother would record NHL games on VHS tape. Landy would watch the tapes over and over again.

Hockey was a part of both of our families. Maybe a little more his. OK, maybe a lot. Though it’s closer than you may think.

My dad was head over heels with the piss-and-vinegar that fueled Patrick Roy, and still watches the team avidly. I was nearly as enamored of Forsberg as Gabe. My sister… Well, my sister got her first tattoo when those first-year Avalanche brought Colorado their first championship. Her second came years later, when Ray Bourque helped the Avs notch a second Cup. And yes, they are Avalanche tattoos. Though I desperately want the team to win a third Cup, I worry what tattoo three might be.

When my own kids came along, I tried to pass along my love of all-sports-Colorado. It took with them to some degree. My youngest is also a Broncos maniac. My eldest, the one I startled awake so long ago, now loves the Nuggets, Rockies, and… Patriots? Man, talk about breaking your old man’s heart. But the thing we both agree upon is that there is no pro hockey team to compare with the Colorado Avalanche. She was born just three months after Gabriel, and had her “A” jersey on before she could walk. And of all of the Avalanche players that have come down the pipe, her very favorite is the guy who was also the youngest captain in NHL history, Gabe Landeskog. I called her last night while she was in her hospital bed to ask her what it was about him that she liked so much. I’ll give her the floor for a second from here.

“I’ve actually gotten to meet him in person a few times, and he is a truly humble, kind, and genuine person. Every interview I see him give, he always defers to his teammates skills. When something goes wrong, and he could throw someone else under the bus for their faults, he never does it publicly. For all of his skills, he’d rather log an assist than score a goal any day. He’s a wonderful leader, and I couldn’t imagine a better Captain.”

Couldn’t say it much better than that. Gabe is passing the Avs passion down the line as well, having gotten married last summer, and had their first child, daughter Linnea, a few weeks back. Here’s to great things coming for a truly great guy who has been a major part of the reemergence of this Avalanche squad.

Oh… and the hospital bed? I’d neglected to mention my daughter has also converted her husband into quite an Avs fan as well, with the evidence no clearer than their very-recently-arrived second son. Everybody, this is Landy. Landy, this is everybody.

Papa loves you already, buddy. Your mom is probably going to have you in skates pretty soon. And you’re only a couple weeks younger than Gabe’s daughter, and I hear in-laws get pretty great tickets, so… let’s just talk about it when you can talk. Until then, go Landy. And go other grown-up Landy. And as Landy’s two year old brother says… GO AVS, GO!