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Mile High Sticking •

Ilya Nabokov's projected NHL impact, timeline, and role

When the Avs drafted Ilya Nabokov — the son of former NHL netminder Evgeni Nabokov — in the summer of 2024, Chris MacFarland, Joe Sakic, and company believed they had found their goalie of the future. The Kasli, Russia native was fresh off of his first full season as a pro, one that saw him claim a slew of awards. He was voted an All-Star, Rookie of the Year, and playoff MVP as he helped his team, Magnitogorsk Metallurg, claim the KHL's championship trophy, the Gagarin Cup. In the two full seaso...
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Third Round Bound --- analyzing the Avs' seven prior Western Conference Finals appearances

It's a rather well-known bit of bar trivia that Colorado Avalanche are the only team with a perfect Stanley Cup Finals record: they have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals three times (1996, 2001, and 2022), and each time, they've claimed Lord Stanley's Mug and sat atop the mountain after an arduous, grueling NHL season. They do not, however, have a perfect record in their seven Western Conference Finals appearances, which, admittedly, would be a much more impressive feat. After sweeping the Los...
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Injuries — both in Denver and elsewhere — that could impact the Avs' first few playoff rounds

The Avs are the healthiest that they've been all season. Cale Makar just returned to the lineup after missing some time, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton, and Joel Kiviranta are all back and warmed up for a deep playoff push, both goaltenders — Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood — are ready, and Logan O'Connor, who returned to the lineup on May 24 after 10 months of missed games, is all set for Game One against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite this, however, some questions abo...
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Getting to know the new faces in Avs sweaters

As the Colorado Avalanche gear up for another hopefully-long playoff push, the front office in Denver utilized the team's limited cap space and already-depleted draft capital to bolster what might just be one of the most well-rounded rosters in franchise history. The message is clear: one Stanley Cup championship is not enough for this current crop of franchise players; the team is in win-now mode, and the team's future is worth gambling when there is another chance at hockey immortality at stak...
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Potential offseason replacements for Samuel Girard (Life After Girard, Part Four of Four)

If the Avs elect to finish out this season by filling the Girard-sized hole in their lineup with an Eagles call-up but decide to test the free agency waters at season’s end, there are some viable options whom the Avs could snag at a reasonable price.Note: Many of the trade options listed in the previous installment of this article series are ones who will be available once the free agency window opens on July 1, provided they aren’t signed elsewhere by that time. By that same token, many of the...
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Potential trade replacements for Samuel Girard (Life after Girard, Part Three of Four)

If there's one thing NHL clubs' execs like more than a player on a relatively team-friendly deal, it's a player on a relatively team-friendly deal and with term. The NHL salary cap continues to rise, and players' contracts are rising commensurately. Girard, who is in his prime playing years, has the rest of this season and all of next season under contract at $5mil AAV, which, for the skill he possesses and the contributions he can readily provide, make him an exceptional asset that could draw s...
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Potential in-house replacements for Samuel Girard (Life after Girard, Part Two of Four)

If Girard's days in Denver are numbered, the Avs have some interesting defensemen options currently playing in the minor leagues, including, thankfully, a wealth of left-shot defenseman on the Colorado Eagles' roster. If only the Avs could get a guy like Ilya Solovyov, though...Aamodt has never shown enough to crack the Avs roster in any meaningful way. While his numbers in the AHL are respectable, the chances of him being a replacement for Girard are slim. He'll need to continue to bide his tim...
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Why Samuel Girard will be traded before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline (Life After Girard, Part One of Four)

There has been much turnover for the Colorado Avalanche in recent seasons, including both the Justus Anunen and Alexandar Georgiev trades to Nashville and San Jose, respectively, and the trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. It is common for an NHL team to build a roster around its cornerstone, franchise players (like Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar in Colorado, for example), but, despite this, the “open tryouts” that have come to define the Avs’ depth pi...
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Revisiting the greatest fight in Colorado Avalanche history — Joe Sakic versus a snowblower

It's Thursday, November 6, 2008. The Colorado Avalanche are at home at the Pepsi Center for a 6pm bout with their divisional rival, the Minnesota Wild. It's an evening of clear skies and moderate weather; the temperature is in the mid-50s in Denver, gradually dropping as the sun has already set by the time of opening puck-drop. Despite sitting at an unimpressive 5-8-0 at this point in the season, the expectations are high for this Avs team — one that beat the Wild 4-2 in the Western Conference Q...
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A Rally in Raleigh — Brent Burns, Jack Drury, and Martin Nečas shine in Carolina return

On October 23, 2025, the Carolina Hurricanes, donning their Hartford Whalers gear, came to Denver to face off with the Avalanche who debuted their 30th anniversary Quebec Nordiques uniforms. It was a close match, and the Canes ultimately came out on top via a shootout victory, 5-4. It was the first time that the trio of Brent Burns, Jack Drury, and Martin Nečas found themselves facing off against their former club, and for Drury and Nečas, who had never played for another franchise before their...
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Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Bonus, Final Part)

Family is deeply interwoven in the history of professional hockey. The Sutter Brothers (all six of them) and their myriad of hockey-playing offspring, the Howes, the Gretzkys (technically), the Hulls, the Espositos, the Richards, the Staals, the Tkachuks — the list of relatives to all play hockey professionally is long. Dating back to the origins of the Québec Nordiques in the WHA (which, for the purpose...
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Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Part Four of Four)

Family is deeply interwoven in the history of professional hockey. The Sutter Brothers (all six of them) and their myriad of hockey-playing offspring, the Howes, the Gretzkys (technically), the Hulls, the Espositos, the Richards, the Staals, the Tkachuks — the list of relatives to all play hockey professionally is long. Dating back to the origins of the Québec Nordiques in the WHA (which, for the purposes of this article, will be included in this list), there are plenty of bloodlines that reach...
Mile High Sticking •

Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Part Two of Four)

Family is deeply interwoven in the history of professional hockey. The Sutter Brothers (all six of them) and their myriad of hockey-playing offspring, the Howes, the Gretzkys (technically), the Hulls, the Espositos, the Richards, the Staals, the Tkachuks — the list of relatives to all play hockey professionally is long. Dating back to the origins of the Québec Nordiques in the WHA (which, for the purpose...
Mile High Sticking •

Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Part One of Four)

Family is deeply interwoven in the history of professional hockey. The Sutter Brothers (all six of them) and their myriad of hockey-playing offspring, the Howes, the Gretzkys (technically), the Hulls, the Espositos, the Richards, the Staals, the Tkachuks — the list of relatives to all play hockey professionally is long. Dating back to the origins of the Québec Nordiques in the WHA (which, for the purposes of this article, will be included in this list), there are plenty of bloodlines that reach...
Mile High Sticking •

Matt Rempe may have helped form the next generation of Avalanche forwards — here's how

The Colorado Avalanche have been buyers at the NHL trade deadline for more than six consecutive seasons. This has largely served them well, even when they’ve gone after expensive rentals who have continued on to other teams. In 2022, they had their best showing, grabbing players Josh Manson and Arturri Lehkonen, — both of whom are still playing for the Avs. In addition, they added Andrew Cogliano, who ended his career in the Mile High City and now works in the front office, as well as Nico Sturm...
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Homecomings: Projected returns to Denver for recent, former Avalanche players

Jonathan Drouin, who was drafted third overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013 (two picks after Nathan MacKinnon, his Halifax Mooseheads teammate for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons), struggled to replicate his junior-level success on an NHL sheet of ice. His career numbers before landing in Colorado are commendable (77G, 204A, 281P in 485GP), but one would expect more from such a high draft pick, especially with so many other good players picked later on in that same draft: Elias Lindholm, J...
Mile High Sticking •

The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 3

Note: These moments will be presented in chronological order. Additionally, "memorable" does not, in this case, refer exclusively to positive and successful moments. Lastly, there is, admittedly, some definite recency bias towards the 2022 season. The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 1The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 2Friday, April 12, 2019 — After his breakout sophomore campaign with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minutemen, defensive...
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The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 2

Note: These moments will be presented in chronological order. Additionally, "memorable" does not, in this case, refer exclusively to positive and successful moments.The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 1Just two seasons after the Avs players won a collective five awards, five more honors were bestowed on them. Most notably, Peter Forsberg claimed his first and only Hart Memorial Trophy, signaling his MVP status during the 2002-03 NHL season; additionally, Milan Hejduk wa...
Mile High Sticking •

The 30 Most Memorable Moments from 30 Years in Denver — Part 1

Note: These moments will be presented in chronological order. Additionally, "memorable" does not, in this case, refer exclusively to positive and successful moments.In celebration of 30 years of Colorado Avalanche history, here are the 30 most memorable moments from that time. It's been a trajectory unlike any other; this team started its career on top a mountain, gradually tumbled down, and then climbed back up — it's now living at the base camp near the peak, preparing to summit once more.The...
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Revisiting the Cody McLeod/Jarome Iginla Fight from 2017

The 2016-17 Colorado Avalanche team did not have a good year. In fact, statistically, that Avs team had the sixteenth-worst season in NHL history. They finished the year with 48 points after going 22-56-4. Only the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks (with a record of 19-54-9, "good" enough for 47 points) have had a worse season in the salary cap era. It was a campaign littered with misfortune and misadventure; accordingly, there have been plenty of breakdowns, deep-dives, and — with the meteoric rise the A...
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My Old Avs: a lineup comprised of the oldest players to ever play for the Colorado Avalanche

A few notes and stipulations before proceeding:1. The age of the player represents the oldest age the player was when they last played for the Avalanche. So, for example, while Joe Sakic technically retired at age 40, he last played at age 39, so he will be listed at 39.2. No Nordiques players are incorporated on this list, so no 39-year-old Guy Lafleur, sorry.3. The oldest players will appear on the top lines; in the event of players having the same age, it will default to skill level and impac...
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Martin Nečas out, Morgan Geekie in: a proposed offer sheet and sign-and-trade

Next season, the Colorado Avalanche will have a bit of a different look to them. The Avs enter the 2025-26 season with a little less than $9 million in available cap space after trading both Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and there are still some areas — most notably on the right wing — that need some work. In order to re-sign some notable free agents (Jonathan Drouin and Joel Kiviranta chief among them) or bring in new talent from elsewhere in the league, it's likely...
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Five free agent right wingers the Colorado Avalanche can realistically afford — and what they would cost

Seemingly, after years of failed experiments and thorough disappointments, the Colorado Avalanche may have finally found their second-line center in Brock Nelson. With the solidification of that pivotal roster spot, the third and fourth-line center positions are also comfortably filled with Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury, respectively. Now, with the Avs' goaltending woes of recent years finally addressed, and with the team having one of the best defensive cores in the entire NHL, there's one, rema...
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