Avalanche coach Jared Bednar made the contrast, and even when he’s right, he has to be kidding. But hear him out. 1. The top defensive set for the Sharks: Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns. 2. The top defensive set for the Avalanche: Sam Girard and Cale Makar. “If you look at the change in the
-> Continue reading Avalanche pairing of 20-year-olds Cale Makar, Sam Girard outperforming their age
First, the good news: If you want to watch the Nuggets and Avalanche keep making history, seats are available. Less good: Those seats won’t come cheap — particularly. Denver’s NBA and NHL franchises advanced into the next round of the respective playoff brackets in precisely the identical spring for the first time late last week,
-> Continue reading Avalanche and Nuggets playoff tickets are still available, but why does hockey cost twice as much?
Cale’s strengths are his overall foundational hockey abilities (skating, puck handling, checking, etc.). Cale also has a love and passion for the game. He loves to play and he loves to practice. — Crowchild Pee Wee coach John Smith’s end-of-season report card on Cale Makar, April 2010 It wasn the way Cale Makar toed the
-> Continue reading For Avalanche rookie sensation Cale Makar, the sky’s the limit
Denver Post hockey writer Mike Chambers visits with former Avalanche great Milan Hejduk at the latest episode of Traffic In Front of the Net. Hejduk, with his No. 23 retired from the Pepsi Center rafters, discusses the Avs’ first playoff-series victory since 2008 — when he was the right winger on a line with Joe
-> Continue reading Avalanche podcast: Avs win first NHL playoff series since 2008, what’s next and Milan Hejduk
CALGARY, Alberta — The grounded Cale Makar won’t make waves with Avalanche. Character counts in hockey, and the Avs wouldn’t have introduced Makar into the lineup at the Stanley Cup Playoffs if they believed he would interrupt chemistry. Makar, 20, didn’t perform in a single shift in Colorado’s season but is currently a defenseman for
-> Continue reading Chambers: Cale Makar making seamless transition from NCAA to NHL, and impressing off the ice
The script felt like total fiction, a dream made up for a college sophomore and a No. 8-seeded playoff team who played in different countries 24 hours earlier. Defenseman Cale Makar skated in the NCAA championship game in Buffalo on Saturday while the underdog Avalanche was preparing for Game 2 of its first-round series at
-> Continue reading Avalanche, Cale Makar provide memorable moments in dominating Game 3 victory over Calgary Flames
He tries his best to tune it out. He can’t. What begins as a hum grows to a buzz, louder and louder, until the roar in Pepsi Center makes its way inside the mask of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer. GRUUUUU! “It’s something that’s been with me and the fans for quite a long time now,
-> Continue reading The secret to Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer’s redemption in Colorado? It’s all in the roar.
Avalanche Trainer Jared Bednar and standout defenseman Tyson Barrie used the same Term to describe goalie Philipp Grubauer after Wednesday morning’s skate at the Pepsi Center. “He’s at a zone,” they said. “It’s really helpful to get into a rhythm, for sure,” Grubauer said of his busiest stretch of the season. Semyon Varlamov, who started
-> Continue reading Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer is in that special place: “The zone”
Coloradoan Brad Watson called it a career Saturday, concluding a 23-year stint as an NHL referee before family and friends at the Pepsi Center. I feel fortunate to have been among those friends. A scratch golfer, good hockey player, and terrific story-teller, Watson hand-picked his 1,393rd and last NHL game — choosing his adopted hometown
-> Continue reading Chambers: Coloradoan Brad Watson, NHL referee, retires with honors
Its unstructured lineup become a polished parade for the Avalanche on Sunday, meaning the beer-league look might get another try Tuesday night at Minnesota. The Avs used one less forward (11) and an extra defenseman (seven) in defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-0 at the Pepsi Center, together with the line combinations and defensive pairings
-> Continue reading Avalanche might stick with hodgepodge lineup at Minnesota