The final day of training camp for the Colorado Avalanche wrapped up today as the Avs took to the ice to work predominantly on special teams work. Each session was broken into PP/PK units and boy were there some interesting looks. Colorado has more intriguing PP QBs than at any other time that I could recall. Today they had Bowen…...

Like all of the players, Joonas Donskoi found himself huffing and puffing after the annual conditioning testing on Friday morning. Being one of the Avs new additions, and one who has made many trips to the Pepsi Center on the opposing team, I had to ask: Is the altitude effect a real thing? “It’s real,” Donskoi said after the…...

After two days of mostly systems installation work, the Avalanche got into some real competitive situations today with small-team scrimmages. The two sessions ran as normal so the scrimmages weren’t too deep with each team only having a couple defensive pairings and lines each but it provided some of the younger guys real opportunities to shine against NHL competition.…...

With Marner’s new contract, it’s a brave new world for RFA contracts. How will this affect Mikko Rantanen and the Avs?

Most players are happy to answer when you ask how their summer went. The ever polite Sam Girard, still only 21-years-old, doesn’t want it to just be a one-way conversation. “It was good, spent my summer in Quebec back home,” Girard said, before picking his head up and looking at me. “Yours?” That’s the type of person Girard is.…...

The second day of Avalanche training camp saw some players really begin to separate themselves in the battle for opening night third pairing. With Ian Cole still expected out until December and the expected top four to be some combination of Cale Makar, Sam Girard, Erik Johnson and Nikita Zadorov, there could be up to four jobs in play…...

It was an early morning at the rink today as the Avalanche kicked off their training camp with an invigorating 30 minutes of goaltender drills. The large crowd on hand was treated to extremely technical work with goalies Philipp Grubauer and Hunter Miska before any other skaters took the ice. Once the sessions were actually off and running, however, the…...

The first day of training camp is in the books and the Avalanche wrapped it up with a grueling endurance test at the end of each session. Players were pretty thoroughly rocked after the test and you can hear that in some of today’s interviews. We had a slant on the defense today but managed to catch a few other…...

Exhausted and dripping in sweat, Andre Burakovsky sat in his locker with his head down. Just having gotten his first taste of the grueling annual conditioning tests that Jared Bednar likes to give his team, the 24-year-old Swede just needed a minute to recover. As soon as his wind came back to him, he wanted to make one thing clear:…...

When I was a kid and started a sentence with “Yeah, but…”, my dad would always cut me off and say “Yeahbuts come at Easter!” and cackle to himself. Dads, am I right? The Avalanche were kind of like me as a kid last year. Every time someone would talk about Colorado’s elite top line last year, it was inevitably…...

The Avalanche wrapped up media day this morning with a lengthy conversation with head coach Jared Bednar about his expectations for his team this upcoming season. Training camp begins tomorrow morning so we’ll start this mega locker room audio dump with the head coach. BEDNAR Next up is newcomer NAZEM KADRI Then comes captain GABE LANDESKOG Followed by star forward…...

When longtime Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov left in free agency for the New York Islanders, the job of starting goaltender shifted firmly to Philipp Grubauer. This is the shot Grubauer wanted. Last year after coming over from the Washington Capitals, he had to contend with the final year of Varlamov’s tenure in Colorado before winning the job late in the…...

IRVINE, Calif. – The games are over out here in California. The Avalanche went 1-2 in their three games, losing the last two while only managing to score one goal in those two games. It’s certainly a disappointing overall result after an impressive 5-2 win against Vegas in their first game but the results of these things have never really…...

Everyone knows the deal with the Colorado Avalanche. They’re good, they’re young, they’re exciting, and the rest of the NHL is starting to get worried about them. What the rest of the league should really be on the lookout for is what’s happening below the NHL level. Colorado came to the Anaheim Rookie Faceoff with a roster that could…...

IRVINE, Calif. – When the Avalanche were given the distinction of having the second-best farm system in the NHL according to Corey Pronman of The Athletic, it was largely due to the presence of high-end talent. Because they haven’t graduated any top prospects in a few years, there’s now a nice collection of top young players converging at the top…...

IRVINE, Calif. — Every prospect has to take certain steps before breaking into the NHL and making it to the big time. For most, it’s a systematic process that takes years of development and honing of their skills to carve out a specific niche in the world’s most talented league. Even wunderkind and new media darling Cale Makar spent…...

Conor Timmins hasn’t played in a competitive hockey game since May 11, 2018. That night was Game 5 of the OHL Finals and as a member of the Soo Greyhound, the defenseman got rocked just inside the blueline by Riley Stillman. Timmins ultimately returned to the game, raising questions about coach Drew Bannister and his staff’s handling of the…...

Back on the ice today, the Avalanche had their only day of rookie camp before heading to California tomorrow to participate in this year’s Rookie Showcase in Anaheim. That means we have a slew of audio to bring you, beginning with Conor Timmins talking about his road back. CONOR TIMMINS SHANE BOWERS BOWEN BYRAM MARTIN KAUT TRENT MINER NICK HENRY...

Colorado’s failed free agent pursuits of both Brian Boyle and Ryan Carpenter eventually led them to the other Vegas penalty-killing ace, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. For a team that has talked often about its affinity for getting younger and focusing on high-end skating, Bellemare is really neither. The 34-year-old Bellemare has followed a peculiar career path to get to Colorado as he…...