Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C- Quite literally nothing happened with Bellemare on the ice tonight. He took the penalty late in the game, which quite frankly was hard to tell if he really did anything too egregious, but for a fourth-line center, I’ll take a quiet game. Bowen Byram – B Honestly, I thought there were some rough moments for Byram…...

“He was definitely our best player on the ice.” When the guy who scores the game-winning goal in overtime has that definitive of a statement about your night, you know it’s been a good performance. There weren’t a lot of incredible, highlight-reel saves made by Philipp Grubauer as he stopped 36 of 38 shots from the Anaheim Ducks, but when…...

Despite the best efforts of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, the lackluster play of the Avs depth costs them what could have been a routine win. https://youtu.be/rMmpz4OR2OU

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C The penalty, I could really go either way on. There was a good amount of interference in the matchup, but he got caught for it because it was around the puck, making it more noticeable. Made a nice play on the PK to get the puck to Graves for a good chance. Bowen Byram – B-…...

The way winning always papers over flaws is one of the more charming aspects of sports to me. When the outcome is what you set out to achieve, how you got there ends up being a justified journey, even if it wasn’t perfect. See Tuesday night’s win against Los Angeles as a good example of that for the Avalanche. They…...

“I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles To fall down at your door” – The Proclaimers 500 is… A lot. 500 is almost always a lot. Walking 500 miles? You’d be hurting. Probably limping. Eating 500 hot dogs? You’d probably burst. Breaking that five dollar bill…...

Jared Bednar has been pestered by the media for over a week now on when super prospect Bowen Byram would make his long-awaited NHL debut. That wait is over. Byram, along with newly acquired Greg Pateryn, will enter the Avalanche lineup on Thursday evening in place of Erik Johnson and Dennis Gilbert. While Andre Burakovsky was able to hit the…...

The Avs special teams continue to fire on all cylinders as they take down the LA Kings on two Power Play goals. The second unit, in particular, is showing some chemistry on the blue line. https://youtu.be/8ZfeooZ4_e0

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C I think we’ve already gotten the hint that the offense from last season just isn’t going to happen again, but he’s still doing things alright defensively, and with Compher’s line being non-existent at even strength through three games, he’s basically playing as the 3C. Matt Calvert – B+ It’s nice to see someone from the bottom…...

There are a lot of things you can point to in order to make a case for this year’s Colorado Avalanche team as a Stanley Cup contender. Certainly their last game, an 8-0 blowout of the St. Louis Blues, is the kind of thing that gets people’s attention but for me it’s more about nights like tonight. The truth is…...

It’s been a wild 24 hours for Greg Pateryn, who woke up this morning with news from the league that he was being fined $5,000 for a cross-checking incident in last night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. Now, Pateryn is riding the Avs team bus solo from Anaheim to Los Angeles as he and Ian Cole are swapping spots after…...

The Avalanche made it through two whole games before the injury woes of last year began to descend upon them again. With what sounds like very minor injuries for the moment to Pavel Francouz and Andre Burakovsky, the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings is getting some tweaks. With Burakovsky out, the team is running 11 forwards and seven…...

Both Bowen Byram and Erik Johnson practiced with the team for the first time this season, kicking off speculation of when either might get into the lineup. As the Avs head to California for a four-game road trip, the lineup on defense is a major focus as Johnson is a proven regular and Byram is arguably the best defenseman in…...

The Avs sent a message to the St. Louis Blues blowing them out of Ball Arena with ease. Led by the Three-Headed-Monster no one was safe from embarrassment as the Avs pick up their first win of the season. https://youtu.be/xGKfkcNbuLs

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – A- The Avs were up so much in the third that Belly was running the powerplay. That should tell you about all you need to know about this. Great game for him defensively and on the PK. Andre Burakovsky – A I mean, at this point, he should be shooting the puck, like, all the time. Goalies…...

One of the (many) things I love about sports is the obvious opportunity for redemption. Have a bad game where you get embarrassed on home ice against a longtime rival? When you play two days later against the same opponent, you can throw it in the bin and get it back. Sometimes it works, sometimes the other team is just…...

Colorado’s first game of the season didn’t go very well as they looked out of sync and lethargic in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. With the baseball-style series implemented for this season, the Avs will have a chance for revenge tonight at Ball Arena. There wasn’t a lot to come out of morning skate as the same…...

A rusty start to the season for the Avalanche as they have only themselves to blame in a messy loss to the St. Louis Blues on opening night. Correct the obvious mistakes and move on to the next one. https://youtu.be/yD-VUgAeU_4

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – D Bednar said in the post-game that he liked his fourth line, but he specifically named the other two players on it and not Bellemare. Bellemare played 13 minutes at even strength tonight. That won’t happen every night, but as we’ve seen in the past, that’s not the role you want him in. That line had chances…...