The entire Cale Makar experience was legitimately one of the more thrilling things I’ve had the pleasure of covering in my short career covering the Colorado Avalanche. From the draft to his UMass career, which started off with a “meh” freshman season, to leading the Minutemen to the national championship and playing in Game 3 of Colorado’s first-round series 48…...
“That’s what I want to do.” It was nothing short of a disastrous start for Brandon Saad in Colorado, scoring just one goal in his first six games and repeatedly being on the ice when the opposing team found the back of the net. Following a two-goal performance in Colorado’s 7-3 beatdown of the San Jose Sharks, Saad was upbeat…...
In terms of effort, this was the kind of game we expected to see a lot more of from the Colorado Avalanche this season. In terms of execution, this was the kind of game we expected would happen going against a goaltender of John Gibson’s ilk this season. The Avalanche outshot the Anaheim Ducks 33-15, allowing just a single shot…...
Bowen Byram was the spark for the Avs in the third period as Philipp Grubauer outdueled John Gibson in an overtime nail biter. https://youtu.be/kciBqU3CIZI
“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
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…...
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 Avalanche finalized their opening night roster yesterday and officially announced it today. Because of salary cap restrictions, they are not utilizing the full 23-player allotment, instead going with 21 players but using a full six-player taxi squad. The breakdown of the roster is: 12 forwards Burakovsky MacKinnon Rantanen Saad Kadri Landeskog Nichushkin Compher Donskoi Jost Bellemare Calvert 7 defensemen…...
The dust has settled on the biggest U20 tournament of the year and after all four Avs prospects at the tournament played in the final match, the USA brought home the gold over Canada. The Avs players ranged from rock-solid to downright stunning throughout and on this edition of The Tape we breakdown some of their top plays. 1. Justin…...
The Avs have a number of young talented players trying to carve out an NHL role fore themselves coming into this season. Will Bowen Byram make the roster out of camp? Will Martin Kaut find his way to consistent playing time? These questions and many more answered on the Rookie Season Preview. https://youtu.be/Mj4h12YuFp4
When the Colorado Avalanche released their training camp roster on Saturday, there were very few surprises. No PTOs, no deals signed we hadn’t heard about, no shenanigans of any sort. Yet, at the very top sporting the new number four was Bowen Byram. Given he’s arguably the best defenseman in the world not currently in the NHL, it wasn’t a…...
When the NHL announced it had reached an agreement with the players on a plan for the upcoming season, one of the most intriguing details to emerge from the talks was the creation of a “taxi squad.” After watching MLB successfully use this concept to help make up for the lack of minor league play, the NHL has decided to…...
The World Junior Championships kick off next week on Christmas Day, the first meaningful competitive hockey most of us will get to enjoy since the end of the Stanley Cup Finals in late September. While the NHL and NHLPA continue working their way through the complicated details of the upcoming season, the hockey world gets to kick back and for…...
The top half of the Avs prospect pyramid may be the most crowded it’s ever been. With many graduations on the horizon now is the time to jump on the pyramid bandwagon. https://youtu.be/ir_ugg2AuBA
If the Avalanche offseason was a sitcom, it could be titled “But What About Bo?” The interest in what comes next for Bowen Byram, the fourth overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft and the guy who spent the first half of his return to the WHL last year appearing more bored than challenged by not making the NHL team,…...
A defense over a decade in the making. It was worth the wait. https://youtu.be/qocc9BM-BxE
One of the great advantages of this weird playoff restart following a four-month shutdown is the expanded rosters teams are taking to their bubble cities. While Conor Timmins certainly would have benefitted plenty from whatever playoff run a very good Colorado Eagles team was set to make, him tagging along with the Avs in their quest for the Stanley Cup…...
Training camps open up across the NHL tomorrow morning and with that, the Avs released their full roster of participants. The 34-player roster has some interesting names included that will lead to an interesting two weeks of battling for spots in the pecking order when injuries inevitably hit during the postseason. The Avs are slated to leave for the “bubble”…...
Let’s just straight into it today. Conor Timmins is an exciting young prospect on defense with a bright future ahead of him. He’s weathered the storm of concussions that cost him an entire season of development and is coming off a strong debut season in pro hockey. In a normal organization under normal circumstances, it would be a straight line…...
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