It’s the bye week for most of the teams in the NHL as they also flock to Florida for the All-Star Game festivities this weekend. With not a whole lot going on this week and the trade deadline looming as the last opportunity for teams to shape their rosters for the playoff run (or Connor Bedard sweepstakes), I wanted to…
Colorado heads into their bye week and the All-Star break on a high note after defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in a game the Avs nearly blew a three-goal lead but eventually held on for the win. Studs Alex Newhook On his birthday, Newhook scored the game’s opening goal on a bit of fantastic play in the neutral zone.…
Colorado’s six-game winning streak ended in disastrous fashion as they took a game they were completely dominating via process and leading 3-1 in and threw it all in the trash can with a terrible 15 minutes that allowed the Anaheim Ducks to win 5-3. Studs Sam Girard A goal and an assist tonight are the headlines, but both points are…
The Colorado Avalanche brought an old friend back to the fold as they completed a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Matt Nieto and defenseman Ryan Merkley are now members of the Avalanche organization while Jacob MacDonald and Martin Kaut head to San Jose to continue their careers. On the surface, this deal can be broken into two pieces: Nieto…
Colorado’s winning streak hit six games with their 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. It turns out winning is more fun than losing. Studs Alexandar Georgiev I sure do keep putting goalies in this spot a lot, don’t I? Colorado has gotten elite goaltending from their duo this year so I feel pretty justified in showing them love. Georgiev was…
Colorado wrapped their three-game road trip out west with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken. It pushes their winning streak to five games as they had back home for a challenging three-game slate before heading into the bye week/All-Star break. Studs Pavel Francouz in the shootout Francouz was great again in this game, allowing a single goal to…
Colorado’s 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks put the Avalanche on a four-game winning streak as they head into a tough matchup tomorrow night at the Seattle Kraken. Studs Nathan MacKinnon/Mikko Rantanen They combined for one goal, three assists, 14 shots on goal (Colorado had 29), and a bunch of highlights. MacKinnon was more in the zone of the two,…
Colorado opened their three-game road trip with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames, inching them closer to a playoff spot. Studs Alexandar Georgiev He missed three straight starts as the team gave him a chance to reset following a long stretch of starts. Pavel Francouz performed well in his absence, but against three lower-tier teams. Georgiev got the net…
The Avs dominated their second straight team at Ball Arena as they easily dismissed the Detroit Red Wings in a 6-3 beatdown that was 5-0 at one point. Unlike against Ottawa, there were a few things I’d consider “Duds” in this one, so it’ll be a more thorough piece. Let’s talk superstars. Studs Cale Makar Two goals, one assist and…
Colorado’s 7-0 obliteration of the Ottawa Senators reminded both Avalanche players and fans alike that hockey can, in fact, still be fun. It was a party at Ball Arena, the exact kind of shindig everyone needed after the incredibly disappointing and disheartening loss to the Chicago Blackhawks two nights ago. Because we’re on the other extreme side of a pendulum…
Colorado’s embarrassing, ugly, nearly apathetic 3-2 loss to the Patrick Kane-less Chicago Blackhawks leaves only bitterness in its wake. There are almost no positives to pull from this game except for them leaving the game without an additional injury. So, cheers to that, I suppose. Studs The only player worth considering in this category was Evan Rodrigues. He played hard,…
What do you even say about Colorado’s 5-4 loss to Florida tonight? They started the game well, fell apart with a couple of very lazy shifts, and found themselves down 4-1 entering the third period. The Avs mounted a respectable comeback but another self-inflicted wound at the end cost them in regulation. Let’s get into the difference makers from this…
2022 went down as one of the best in Colorado Avalanche history but also saw one of the league’s most dominant postseason performances in the salary cap era. The price of that championship has been extensive, from player departures to injury recovery times that have stretched into the new year. The Avs still have a bevy of enviable talent on…
Finally, a win to talk about! Turns out in a game where the Avalanche plays really well and come from behind on the scoreboard, there are a lot more good things to say than bad. Let’s get to it. Studs Alexandar Georgiev This is my third edition writing this piece and each game has included Georgiev. Well, tonight that isn’t…
/waves Back to try this again. I took in a lot of the feedback and have decided I’ll try to add in an “Unsung Hero” type of thing for guys who typically get overlooked but so that a depth guy (or more!) gets some love along the way. Those who hated the format and just want their grades back are…
Things were fine. The Colorado Avalanche appeared to be in control of a game they should have been as they were cruising up 2-0 against the Vancouver Canucks. The Avs had their two-goal lead and shots were relatively even and the Avs’ penalty issues were matched only by Vancouver’s tendency to take a penalty while on the power play, thus…
Hi, friends! As you know, Evan Rawal recently made the departure from DNVR over to a full-time gig covering the Avalanche at Colorado Hockey Now. He’s been our resident Avalanche grades writer for the last few years, so with him leaving we decided we wanted to try some different things out. After years of grading every player, we’ve come to…
Andrew Cogliano – D+ He scored a goal and that was great, but it was an incredibly soft one that shouldn’t beat an NHL goaltender. It was Cogliano’s penalty that Brad Hunt kept from happening with the weird interference call. Lazy feet in the neutral zone helped create the mess that was LA’s fourth goal. Hard to believe Cogliano would…
Andrew Cogliano – D He was back to being the warrior we have become accustomed to seeing since his arrival, but he just wasn’t very effective tonight. His line didn’t do much offensively and had the rare bad night defensively. J.T. Compher – C This is one of those games where Compher treaded water as a 1C but also was…
As far as game recaps from me go, this one should be pretty tidy. I’m going to try to keep it under 1,000 words for once and let everyone get into their holiday weekends (myself included!) as we are about to go multiple days without Avalanche hockey for the first time since November 27-28. Starting with the game in Winnipeg…
Broncos
Avalanche
Nuggets
Rockies
Buffs
Rams
Rapids
Rugby
DNVR Golf