Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche announced Saturday that a second member of their team has tested positive for COVID-19.

The statement read as follows:

"The Colorado Avalanche were advised late last night that a second player has tested positive for COVID-19. The player is in self-isolation. All other Avalanche players, staff and others who might have had close contact with the player have been informed and remain isolated as per prior League direction and are monitoring their health and will be in touch with Club medical staff as necessary. No other Avalanche player or staff member has shown symptoms at this time."

That announcement followed another two days prior, when the Avs released information regarding the first confirmed COVID-19 case in their organization: "The player has been at home in isolation since the first symptoms appeared, has recovered and is back to normal. The Avalanche have notified anyone who has had known close contact with the athlete."

News of the NHL's first confirmed COVID-19 case was released March 17, when the Ottawa Senators stated that one of their players tested positive. On March 21, the Sens announced that a second player on their team also had COVID-19.

There are no known confirmed COVID-19 cases in the NHL outside the two each from the Avs and Sens.

According to the World Health Organization on Saturday, there are at least 571,678 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide. At least 26,495 have died as a result of the virus.

The United States has the second-most cases with at least 85,228, and there have been at least 1,243 deaths.

The Colorado Avalanche announced on Thursday that an unnamed player has tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a team statement, the club was recently informed of the confirmed case and that the player has apparently recovered. The team says the athlete had been in home isolation since symptoms began appearing, and the club had notified anyone who had been in close contact with the player. 

The World Health Organization's latest report from Thursday states that 462,684 confirmed COVID-19 cases exist worldwide. At least 20,834 have died as a result of COVID-19.

In the United States alone, 63,570 cases have been confirmed, resulting in 884 deaths.

"The health and safety of our players, staff, fans, and community remains our highest priority," the team statement said. "The Avalanche organization will continue to work in conjunction with our medical staff and public health officials to do everything we can to help the Avalanche community remain safe and healthy during this time."

The National Hockey League has previously advised players, coaches and staff to self-quarantine through April 4; however, that timeline may be extended. Two members of the Ottawa Senators have already tested positive for the disease. 

Sports returning in the summer seems like the best-case scenario. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski used that time period when reporting on March 15 about a possible NBA return date and said that owners and executives believe mid-to-late June is the most optimistic outlook.

The NHL, for its part, has been much more noncommittal about a return to play. While the April 4 date remains a benchmark in the response process, the league hasn't been willing to make official plans beyond that time.

"As we get closer to the date, we're going to have to make decisions as to what to do then," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com's Nicholas Cotsonika on Wednesday. "We're biting this off in chunks."

The Colorado Avalanche announced Wednesday that superstar forward Nathan MacKinnon will miss one to two weeks with a lower body injury.

MacKinnon has been a force the past few seasons, notching 97 points on 39 goals and 58 assists in 2017-18 and 99 points on 41 goals and 58 assists last season. He's emerged as one of the game's bright young stars and the most dangerous player in Colorado's attack.

This year, the 24-year-old has registered 35 goals and 58 assists for 93 points in 69 games.

While MacKinnon—the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft—didn't initially have the impact of some of the recent No. 1 selections, such as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, that narrative changed the past few years, and his loss will be felt.

Until MacKinnon returns, the recently acquired Vladislav Namestnikov is likely to center the top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin as his wingers.

Since other key forwards in Mikko Rantanen (upper body), Nazem Kadri (lower body) and Andre Burakovsky (lower body) are also injured, the second line of J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost and Joonas Donskoi will be leaned upon heavily as well.

Head coach Jared Bednar will also look for defensemen Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Ryan Graves to contribute offensively.

Still, the Avs are in good shape as far as the Western Conference playoff race goes. They are second in the Central Division with 90 points through 69 games, and they hold an eight-point lead on the third-place Dallas Stars, plus a 12-point lead on ninth place in the conference.

That cushion should allow the Avalanche to take a cautious approach with MacKinnon and get him healthy in time for the playoffs.

Former Colorado Rockies star Larry Walker, who was elected into the Hall of Fame this year, will serve as the Colorado Avalanche's honorary emergency goalie on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights, per Joe Nguyen of the Denver Post. 

Walker grew up playing hockey as a goalie, so the honor should particularly resonate with him.

"Being Canadian, you're born into this world with a stick in your hand and skates on your feet," he said in January, per Kyle Newman and Jeff Bailey of the Denver Post. "So that's how I was as a kid. You played hockey, and that's all that really mattered."

"When hockey didn't quite go the way I wanted, baseball more or less found me," he added.

Walker, 53, hit .313 for his career with 383 home runs, 1,311 RBI, 1,355 runs and a .965 OPS. He was a five-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner, three-time batting champion and the 1997 NL MVP. 

Colorado Avalanche star Gabriel Landeskog was introspective about the costly offside that wiped away Colin Wilson's goal against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

"I'm going to take blame for that because I could have done a lot of things different," Landeskog told reporters. "Ultimately my skates were on the ice. It's a clumsy mistake, you know. Get off the ice."

With the Avalanche trailing 2-1 in the second period, Wilson appeared to tie the game by beating Martin Jones with a wrist shot.

However, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer challenged the goal. Subsequent replay footage showed Landeskog was in an offside position as he headed to the bench for a line change.

Joonas Donskoi scored in the period to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead, and his goal proved decisive after Tyson Jost halved the deficit in the third period.

The officials' decision was met with criticism on social media.

Serious question here.

Landeskog is no longer part of the play, according to the rules. If his skate on the ice doesn’t constitute too-many-men, how does it constitute offside?

He’s either part of play or he isn’t.

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) May 9, 2019

Landeskog is clearly standing inside the blue-line upon puck entry by MacKinnon but what confuses me is that the Avs captain is no longer part of the five active players on the ice since he's changing?

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 9, 2019

Did Landeskog only need to touch the blue line to tag up? And if so, have we seen any definitive view that he didn't?

— Jason Brough 🙁 (@SadClubCommish) May 9, 2019

Landeskog's offside was undoubtedly a blow for Colorado, but it didn't decide the outcome. The Avs dug themselves into a big hole by allowing two goals to the Sharks in the opening period. They left themselves in a position where Wilson's nullified goal had a material impact in the game.

When Cale Makar scored in Game 3 of the Colorado Avalanche's first-round series against the Calgary Flames, it was the kind of moment a television network would script if it could. The shot came in Makar's NHL debut in the Stanley Cup playoffs—a first for a defenseman—against the very team he grew up loving. It was a game-winner, but it was arguably even more notable—a sign of how good he is and how fast he's grown up.

"You gotta be mature when you're in these situations," Makar says. "It's changing levels and everything, but at the end of the day, you gotta have fun with it."

Just three days earlier, he had accepted the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given to college hockey's best player. The following night, Makar had played for UMass in the NCAA championship game. His team lost to Minnesota Duluth, but the fact that the Minutemen were there in the first place was a miracle.

The program had been historically lousy. It had reached the NCAA tournament just once in its history (2006-07) and from 2013-14 to 2016-17 had a combined record of 13-64-9 in conference play.

Makar changed all that when he joined the team after being selected fourth overall in the 2017 NHL draft.

"I thought he deserved to be No. 1, and I didn't even know who his competition was," says Greg Carvel, who coached Makar at UMass.

To Carvel, Makar's goal was dramatic but not surprising.

"The fact that he scored didn't shock me at all," Carvel says. "There's really nothing he'll do that will shock me."

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When Carvel took the job at UMass in 2016, the name Cale Makar didn't mean anything to him, but athletics director Ryan Bamford had been following the recruit closely. "The first thing out of his mouth was, 'You need to call Cale Makar,'" Carvel says.

Carvel went to see Makar play early that season and knew immediately he was a star.

"I watched him spin around for warm-ups, and before warm-ups was over I called my assistant coaches and I said, 'We have Erik Karlsson coming to our team this year,'" Carvel says. "At that time, he wasn't highly regarded. As the season went on, he went from a C to a B to an A to a first-round to a top-10. When we got to the draft, I would not have been surprised if he went No. 1 overall. When they do the look-back at drafts, I won't be surprised if Cale leads the way out of that."

From the outside, UMass was no place for a player of Makar's ability. He could have probably played at any school he wanted. But he and his parents liked UMass.

"He's a very different kid," Carvel says. "He didn't rush to the NHL. Everybody's rushing to get there. He's one of the very few kids that because of the guidance of his parents—they were going to do it right. They turned down the Canadian Olympic team because they didn't think it was the right time or place. They didn't sign with Colorado after one year because Cale knew he still had to get better. And I think he did it the right way: when he was ready to play in the NHL and be very effective. And there's not many kids that have the patience or maturity to do that."

When Makar committed to UMass, he was 5'8". But Makar's dad and the rest of his relatives are big, and Carvel figured Cale would keep growing. Sure enough, he did all through high school, reaching 5'11" and 187 pounds.

"I think he's still growing," Carvel says.

When he arrived at UMass, Makar changed the culture of the program, though it didn't immediately translate to the win column. (UMass had a losing record, 17-20-2, Makar's freshman year.) As a freshman he was named co-Rookie of the Year by the New England Hockey Writers Association, and the Avalanche made a pass at calling him up. He declined, and then as a sophomore led the Minutemen to their best season ever.

"I think Cale stayed loyal to UMass because it's the type of person he is," Carvel says.

Nobody would have questioned Makar had he accepted the call-up. He was a blue-chip recruit who had an awesome freshman year and had already been drafted.

"But I think they were comfortable and confident that I had coached in the NHL and the development was going to be in good hands," Carvel says.

Makar was clearly good enough for the NHL, but he wasn't in a hurry.

"You have to be emotionally mature to tell your NHL team: 'I'm your first-round pick, but I'm not going to sign with you; I need another year,'" Carvel said. "Everything in his life has been about process, a growth mindset."

Makar looks young because he is. (He was born in 1998.) He is extremely good, and he knows it. He gives off an air of bored confidence, like a veteran quarterback or an airline pilot. Physically, he is just as impressive.

"His skating is so elite, and he combines it with a physical edge that most offensive-minded defensemen I don't think have at the level he does," Carvel says.

In UMass' first exhibition game, against a U Sports team, Makar had the puck when an opposing player lined him up, ready to connect on a big hit. "Cale did one of these counter-hits where he jumped his shoulder, and the kid went flying," Carvel recalls. Another time, Makar was on a breakaway, with an opponent hot in pursuit. "In the middle of the breakaway, Cale stopped and hit the kid with his shoulder in the chest and kept going on the breakaway," Carvel says. "He's very sneaky, very effective physically."

Carvel felt lucky to have him.

"He brought credibility to our program, the fact that we had a first-round pick willing to go to a last-place team," Carvel said. "We marketed the hell out of him. ... He turned this program around. He did a ton, and he did it with class, and he did it completely humble."

It's not difficult to imagine Makar going down as the best player in UMass history. Those who know him aren't surprised he is already having an impact at the next level.

"I guess we're all...I don't know if 'shocked' is the right word...that he performed like he did in that game and as he has," Carvel said. "He's just popping off the screen just like he did every game at the college level."

He is not so much an overnight success as one years in the making. His ascent may look sudden to others, but to Makar it was a long time coming, even if it was all part of the plan. He wasn't nervous in his debut.

"Not really," Makar says. "I'm a guy who likes to put pressure on himself."

The Colorado Avalanche have acquired center Derick Brassard and a conditional 2020 sixth-round pick from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Colorado will only receive the sixth-round pick if Brassard, a free agent at season's end, does not re-sign with the team.

Oddly enough, the deal comes as the Avalanche prepare to host the Panthers on Monday night.

This marks the third trade that the 31-year-old has been involved in over the last year. He was acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deadline deal last season before being traded to Florida earlier this month.

The center wound appearing in just 10 games for the Panthers.

Brassard has tallied 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 50 games between Pittsburgh and Florida this season. Also of note, he has recorded a plus/minus of negative-12 this season.

The sixth overall pick in 2006, Brassard will now join the sixth organization of his career. He spent six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets and four years with the New York Rangers. Since 2016-17, though, he has hopped around from the Ottawa Senators to Pittsburgh to Florida and now to Colorado.

The Avalanche (27-24-11, 65 points) are just one point out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference, although they do have a game in hand on the Minnesota Wild (66 points).

https://twitter.com/eswany33/status/850171292288528384

Colorado Avalanche rookie Tyson Jost's grandfather is an emotional guy.

When the 19-year-old out of North Dakota was drafted over the summer, his grandpa, Jim, shed some tears. Last week, when Jost took the ice for the first time in the NHL, Jim cried from pure happiness.

Seeing your grandson take the ice for his first ever NHL game is a memory you'll never forget...#GoAvsGo https://t.co/KuWYPIisCg

— x - Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 1, 2017

On Thursday, Jost scored his first goal.

You know what happened next.

Who is cutting onions?

How can you not love Tyson Jost's grandfather? @PeteBlackburn pic.twitter.com/7C8s8jZEjj

— Bat Flip Sports (@BatFlipSports) April 7, 2017

After a few emotional seconds, Jim went back to his popcorn.

Love Jim Jost. My new favorite Grandpa. @josty_17 pic.twitter.com/xHUQQp0pL0

— Kyle Keefe (@kylekeefetv) April 7, 2017

After falling to the Minnesota Wild, 4-3, the Avalanche forward praised his grandpa. 

"It's great to have my grandpa in the stands," Jost said, per Cole Hamilton of BSN Denver. "He's kind of my secret weapon throughout my whole life. He knows a lot about hockey. I don't think people realize how great of a hockey mind he is. I owe him a lot."

[Twitter] 

The Colorado Avalanche have turned into the NHL's laughingstock, a once-proud franchise that is 4-22-1 in its last 27 games, a team openly advertising some of its remaining top players on the trade market. At 13-33-2, the Avs have the NHL's worst record, by a wide margin. They are in desperate need of a rebuild, and there is one man out there who thinks he could restore the franchise back to prosperity.

He just so happens to be the man who built the Avalanche into a multiple Stanley Cup winner his first time around: Pierre Lacroix.

Two NHL sources close to Lacroix told Bleacher Report the 68-year-old former Avs president and general manager, having regained his health after several ailing years, is open to an NHL comeback, preferably with Colorado. Lacroix, the sources say, believes he would be effective guiding a team again and has the passion to do the work required.

The question is: Would the Avalanche take him back? Perhaps the better question is: Wouldn't the Avs be crazy not to welcome him back?

In his time as GM with Quebec and Colorado, starting with the Nordiques in 1994-95, Lacroix won division titles his first nine seasons on the job—something no one else in NHL history can say. Along the way, his Avalanche teams won Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001 and went to the Western Conference Final four other times, going to a seventh game in three of them before losing. 

He made some of the best trades in NHL history, including the heist of Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens in 1995, a deal that cemented the Avs as an NHL powerhouse for the next eight years. He developed some health problems starting around 2006, however, and in May of that year stepped down as GM in favor of Francois Giguere, remaining as team president until retiring in 2013.

Cynics might say Lacroix is too old to resume the high-stress activities of being an NHL GM, but some said the same thing about Jim Rutherford in 2014 when he was hired at 65 to be the GM in Pittsburgh. Two years later, the Penguins were Stanley Cup winners and Rutherford was named GM of the year. Lou Lamoriello is 74, and some mocked Toronto's hiring of him as GM in 2015, but he has helped restore the Maple Leafs to respectability in under two years.

Lacroix, in Denver on some personal business, quietly attended an Avalanche game against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 23, sitting in the fifth row closest to the ice off to the side of one of the goals. I sat with him for a while, and he had more energy and high spirits than I'd seen in years. The native of Montreal lives most of the year in Nevada with his wife, Colombe, and has spent much of the last decade battling health issues, one of which threatened the removal of a leg.

But he now has a clean bill of health and, while not actively soliciting job offers, has let it be known he would return to the Avalanche or possibly another team if the right offer presented itself. 

The Avs currently are led by franchise icon Joe Sakic, and it might be too awkward for owner Josh Kroenke to oust him in favor of his old boss, Lacroix. Many critics of the way the Avs have run things the past few years say the team has gone back to the well of nostalgia too much already, bringing in Sakic as GM and Roy as coach for three years. 

This would be a bit different, though. Unlike Sakic and Roy at the time of their respective hires by Colorado, Lacroix has plenty of experience at the job. He also deeply cares about the franchise and, the NHL sources said, is saddened by its decline. He is a man of immense pride, so he would not even consider coming back and tarnishing his great legacy if he thought he wasn't up to the job.

The Avs are in such a sad state of affairs that some of their remaining top players have spoken publicly of being open to being traded. Under rookie coach Jared Bednar, Colorado is last or near last in numerous NHL statistical categories, including power-play percentage, goals-against and goals-for per game. Sakic says he remains committed to the job of turning things around, but things keep getting worse.

Lacroix is a man of action and a proven winner. He should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame already as a builder, but he has yet to receive such an honor. A return to the Avalanche and a rescue from oblivion would be the ultimate capper to an already legendary career. 

Will it happen? The way things are going for the Avs, it would be crazy for them not to at least give it some very serious consideration.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report.

Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov will miss the remainder of the 2016-17 season to undergo hip surgery, the team announced Thursday.

Continue for updates.

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Varlamov's Surgery to Address Groin Ailment

Thursday, Jan. 26

According to the announcement, the surgery will repair Varlamov's groin, which caused him to miss 12 of the team's past 18 games.

The 2016-17 campaign was the worst of Varlamov's career, as he went just 6-17 with a 3.38 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.

Calvin Pickard will take over full-time starting duties in his place, while the recently called-up Spencer Martin will serve as the backup.

Varlamov is a former first-round pick of the Washington Capitals and has 26 career playoff appearances to his credit, but the 28-year-old Russian has been a big part of the Avalanche's struggles this season.

Colorado ranks last in the NHL with just 28 points, which puts it eight points behind the 29th-place Arizona Coyotes (36 points).