Tag: Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche has overcome a lot this season, but the playoffs have proven too much

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DENVER – It may have been fitting that Eric Johnson was the last Avalanche player to change his uniform. He sat in his locker, Avalanche’s No. 6 burgundy jacket still on his back. His eyes were red. moisture. The 35-year-old, whose contract expires after this season, is Denver’s tallest athlete. He has been with the team since 2011 and has seen the lows of multiple rebuilds and Stanley Cup wins. He had a veteran’s perspective on Colorado’s 2022-23 season, even moments after losing game seven. “I hate moral victories,” he…

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Cale Makar becomes an unlikely villain as a late Game 4 hit looms: ‘It is what it is’

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SEATTLE – If you claim that Cal Makar appeared as the villain on a first-round bingo card, not many people would believe you. After all, this is the rosy-cheeked player who earlier in the year shook off what he considered an unfair penalty, and who appeared on the Lady Byng ballot in each of the first three seasons of his career. But one strike can change the way the opposing fan base views a player, and Makar had a poor run of form on Wednesday. Late in the first period,…

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Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche stars lead team to first-round series lead: ‘They’re in charge’

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SEATTLE – The Avalanche doesn’t have a team anywhere near as healthy. They don’t have the depth of the last two seasons. They do not have their own leader, a proven goaltender in the playoffs, or a top seed in the Western Conference. But they do have something that few teams in the league can boast of: a trio of professional players performing at or near the peak of their power. Nathan McKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Kal Makar are special people. They are capable of making something out of nothing…

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Avalanche member Valery Nichochkin is stepping away from the team for personal reasons, and there is no schedule for a return

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Colorado Avalanche right winger Valeri Nechushkin was absent from the team for personal reasons, according to coach Jared Bednar after the team’s 6-4 Game 3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Here’s what you need to know: When asked if he expected Nishushkin’s absence to be long-term, Bednar said, “I have no idea.” He is not with the team “at this point”. Bednar also indicated that this was not for disciplinary reasons. Nichushkin played the first two playoff games against the Kraken. He scored the tying goal in Game…

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Avs’ Gabriel Landskog will miss the playoffs and possibly for a while longer. What then?

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DENVER – In mid-September, on the eve of training camp, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landskog sat in front of the backdrop of the Stanley Cup champion, the famous trophy to his right. He was thinking about coming into the season as the defending champions and excited about the new year. “Once you win, you realize how fun it is,” he said. “You just want to do it all over again.” Landeskog wouldn’t get that chance. The team announced Thursday that it has not played this year due to a right knee…

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What Avalanche’s Devon Toews told his alma mater, Quinnipiac, to inspire the NCAA title game

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Tampa, Fla. — Devon Toews walked into the locker room after the first period of the Avalanche game in San Jose Thursday night and immediately looked for a television set. Toews, 29, proud Quinnipiac alum, knew the Bobcats were facing Michigan in the Frozen Four semifinals that night. But when the fifth-year NHL outfielder got on ESPN, it seemed like the game was already over. “I was waiting for someone to be like, ‘Congratulations, they won! Toews recalled on Friday in a phone call with the athlete. “No one said…

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Should Leon Draisaitl finish second to Connor McDavid in Hart Trophy voting?

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So, here’s a question that NHL trophy voters will have to wrestle with when they fill out their ballots next week. Who do you slot behind the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid in the Hart Trophy race, as the player judged to be most valuable to his own team? The expectation is that McDavid will not only win the Hart, but could and should be a unanimous choice, just as he was in 2021. It’s only happened twice in the 99-year history of the award that a player has won the…

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Q&A Sam Malinski: On Avalanche’s casting, a playoff opportunity in Second Life, and more

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Sam Malinsky never expected to be drafted, and the possibility of a professional career wasn’t even on his radar when he arrived on the Cornell campus in 2019. He said: “I am what they call the late bloomer.” the athlete. During a solid new season, the defender is beginning to wonder if he will ever get the chance to turn professional. But then the Ivy League canceled what would have been its sophomore campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Malinsky went a year without playing any games. He thought his…

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Each NHL team’s top priority for the final two weeks of the regular season

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For the Bruins, the NHL’s best regular-season team in decades, the final two weeks of the regular season provide one last chance to fix an unexpected weakness before it haunts them in the playoffs. At the bottom of the standings, meanwhile, the remainder of the schedule is all about lottery odds and a shot at a franchise-changing pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. In between, teams are focused on everything from prospect assessment to division titles to winning the few remaining up-for-grabs playoff spots. What’s your team’s top priority in…

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Jared Bednar calls out “passengers” as the Avalanche misses an opportunity to take first place

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DENVER — With a chance to climb atop the Central Rankings, with the Avalanche poised for an all-season playoff, Colorado made the subtle mistakes early on that teams in the big moments can’t afford. A strong last period could not erase the sins of the first and second. “We handed them two goals,” said coach Jared Bednar on Wednesday after Colorado lost 4-2 to Minnesota. “It’s a game of mistakes, and we made some big mistakes.” Cal Makar added, “It’s not good enough from us.” Minnesota’s strong goaltending neutralized Colorado’s…

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