Colorado Avalanche

Daniel Collins

Written by: Daniel Collins

Published:

Read Time: 3 minutes

The Colorado Avalanche started out as the Quebec Nordiques from 1972-1995. They then moved to Colorado afterwards and became the Avalanche. In the 1995-1996 season, they won their first Stanley Cup Title that season against the Florida Panthers in a four-game sweep. During the 2000-2001 season, Colorado won the Stanley Cup Title in seven games against the New Jersey Devils, after trailing in the series 3-2.

Raymond Bourque was acquired in the trade deadline that season from the Boston Bruins. Bourque was only their for a short period of time, but he will always be remembered as one of the most iconic players in franchise history. Some of the other most iconic players in franchise history are: Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Milan Hejudk, and Peter Forsberg.

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar have the potential to join that group as well one day. They currently trail the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Semifinals 3-2. Mikko Rantanen also has a chance to belong in that group as well with great players.

The current head coach of the Colorado Avalanche is Jared Bednar. The current general manager for the Colorado Avalanche is Joe Sakic. The current owner of the Colorado Avalanche is Ann Walton Kroenke.

Some of the forwards on this roster are: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky, Matt Calvert, J.T. Compher, Joonas Donskoi, Sheldon Dries, Tyson Jost, Nazem Kadri, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan McKinnon, Vladislav Namestnikov, Matt Nieto, Mikko Rantanen, and Colin Wilson.

Some of the key defenseman on this roster are: Bowen Byram, Ian Cole, Kevin Connauton, Samuel Girard, Ryan Graves, Erik Johnson, Cale Makar, and Nikita Zadorov.

The goalies that are on this roster are: Pavel Francouz, Philipp Grubauer, Michael Hutchinson, and Hunter Miska.

A couple of big trades that this franchise has had was when Matt Duchene was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2018 from Colorado. Another big trade that happened was when Colorado acquired Philipp Grubauer from the Washington Capitals, along with defenseman Brooks Orpik during the 2018 offseason.

Nathan MacKinnon played in 69 games this past season for the Colorado Avalanche. He is one of the assistant captains for the Colorado Avalanche. MacKinnon is also one of the best young players in the NHL. This is the second time in his career that he has been a finalist for the Hart Trophy. MacKinnon was nominated in 2018, but Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils won it.

This season, Nathan MacKinnon is a finalist along with Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.

MacKinnon scored 35 goals and recorded 58 assists. His plus/minus was 13.

Cale Makar is an up and coming superstar in this league. He is a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Candidate. Makar played in 57 games this past season. He scored 12 goals and recorded 38 assists. His plus/minus was 12.

Andre Burakovsky scored 20 goals and recorded 25 assists, in 58 games this season. His plus/minus was 11.

Gabriel Landeskog is the captain for the Colorado Avalanche. In 54 games this past season, he scored 20 goals and recorded 25 assists. His plus/minus was -2.

Mikko Rantanen was dealing with injuries for most of the season. He is one of the best young players in the league. Rantanen-MacKinnon-Landeskog might be one of the best first lines in the NHL, along with Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Teuvo Tervainen of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Rantanen scored 19 goals and recorded 22 assists in 42 games. His plus/minus was -2.

Philipp Grubauer played and started in 36 games this past season. His record was 18-12-4 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.63 GAA, along with two shutouts.

Pavel Francouz played in 34 games and started in 31 of them this past season. His record was 21-7-4 with a .923 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA, along with one shutout.