Articles by Mike Chambers
Compher siblings: Avalanche hosts Lightning as U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team prepares for quarterfinals in China Original
Before talking about Thursday’s big game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Avalanche forward J.T. Compher on Wednesday was enthralled to speak about his little sister in China. “It’s nice talking about her game compared to us all the time,” Compher joked.
Bo Byram gaining comfort on Avalanche blue line
Mike Chambers The Denver Post Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, right, celebrates his shootout goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with defenseman Jack Johnson, left, and defenseman Bowen Byram during an NHL hockey game Saturday in Tampa, Florida. Chris O’Meara/The Associated Press Bo Byram’s NHL learning curve is reminiscent of how quickly teammate Cale Makar fit in with the Avalanche two seasons ago. And make no mistake, that’s a rare development cycle.
CSU coach Steve Addazio keen on FBS realignment
Mike Chambers The Denver Post Colorado State head coach Steve Addazio react on a call by referees during an NCAA football game against San Diego State on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020 in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong) FORT COLLINS — Second-year Colorado State coach Steve Addazio on Wednesday seconded what his boss, athletic director Joe Parker, told The Post last weekend about football realignment.
Avalanche’s Philipp Grubauer named Vezina Trophy finalist
Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer on Tuesday was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded “to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position.” The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the league’s general managers at the end of the regular season with the three top vote-getters being named finalists. The winners of the 2021 NHL awards will be announced at a date still to be determined.
Avalanche preparing for rock ’em, sock ’em series against Vegas: ‘Our compete level is going to have be through the roof’
Minnesota or Vegas, the Avalanche was bound to play a physical opponent in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Golden Knights just seem to have more of a bad-boy reputation, and the Avs will prepare accordingly. Colorado finally learned its second-round foe Friday night after the Knights defeated the Wild 6-2 in Game 7 of their series at T-Mobile Arena.
Kiszla vs. Chambers: Nathan MacKinnon or Joe Sakic? Which Avalanche center is better? Original
Kiz: We’ve waited a long time in Colorado for another chance to drink from the Stanley Cup. The current Avalanche team, led by center Nathan MacKinnon, evokes memories of Joe Sakic and the franchise’s glory days. Are the comparisons fair? Let’s start here: Is MacKinnon a better player than Sakic ever was? Chambers: Not in my book. MacKinnon’s 560 career regular-season points are just slightly more than one-third of Sakic’s 1,641. So Great Nate has a ways to go.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong questions NHL COVID-19 testing; league confirms false positives Original
The St. Louis Blues have the only three players currently on the NHL’s COVID protocol absence list, including regular-season leading scorer David Perron, and that number remains three after some anxious hours for the team and the league Wednesday afternoon.
Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues: Who has the edge, 5 things to watch and predictions
Who has the edge? FORWARDS The Avs have nine forwards with at least 10 goals and lead the NHL in scoring, averaging 3.49 goals a game. The guys up front are highly skilled and committed to a relentless system that begins with a strong forecheck. If the forwards don’t have the puck, they hunt it down, and they are determined as a four-line group. This is not a secret style, but some teams don’t have the legs from top to bottom. The Avs do.
A 3-0 finish nets Avalanche the West Division title, Presidents’ Trophy Original
Monday night’s West Division showdown in Las Vegas between the Golden Knights and Avalanche is the NHL’s biggest game in the final week before the playoffs. If the division-leading Knights win at T-Mobile Arena, they win the West and clinch the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. If the Avs win in regulation, then sweep the Los Angeles Kings in the final two games at Ball Arena, they win the West and the Presidents’ Trophy.
Kings games postponed after 3rd member of Avalanche franchise tests positive for COVID-19 Original
The Avalanche is shutting down operations through Tuesday after after a third member of the franchise tested positive for COVID-19. Following the third positive test, Colorado canceled its morning skate Friday ahead of the night’s scheduled game against the Kings at Ball Arena. The NHL later announced the Avs will be on hiatus through Tuesday, postponing three games. Colorado was scheduled to complete a two-game set against the Kings on Sunday and play at St. Louis on Tuesday.
Joe Sakic met Avalanche’s marginal needs at trade deadline while being careful with chemistry
Joe Sakic didn’t do a lot Monday ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline but, because of what he and his staff have previously done, the Avalanche general manager only had to play it safe to improve an already stellar team. The deep-and-talented Avs sit atop the Presidents’ Trophy race and added four players for depth in recent days without disrupting team chemistry. They added two backup goalies and two Swedish players who previously played together in Colorado.
Avalanche games postponed through Feb. 11 after Gabe Landeskog added to COVID-19 absence list
The Colorado Avalanche will not be playing another game for at least a week. The NHL announced Thursday night that all Avs games have been postponed at least through Feb. 11, “as a result of players recently entering the NHL’s COVID Protocols,” a release stated. Medical advisors from the league, NHLPA and Avalanche, in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, determined that the action was needed as additional test results are analyzed in the coming days.
Avalanche-Wild finale postponed after Tyson Jost and five Wild players added to COVID protocol list
The NHL announced on Wednesday that Thursday’s game between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena was postponed after Colorado forward Tyson Jost and five more Wild players were placed on the COVID-19 protocol absence list. The league said all Minnesota games will be postponed through Feb. 9. As for now, the Avs are still scheduled to travel to St. Louis on Friday and play the Blues on Saturday and Sunday.
Avalanche rookie Bo Byram, 19, tied his father in NHL games played Original
Avalanche rookie defenseman Bo Byram, 19, played in his fifth career NHL game Thursday against San Jose at Ball Arena — tying his father for games played in the league. Shawn Byram, 52, was a left wing who played five NHL games in the early 1990s for the New York Islanders (four) and the Chicago Blackhawks (one). He played 15 seasons professionally but mostly in the minor leagues or in Europe.
Why the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup window is wide open: “They’re loaded, everywhere you look”
There is a striking similarity between this year’s Avalanche and the group that first arrived on the Front Range a quarter-century ago. It begins where so many championship teams do, with its young stars — Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar today and the 1995-96 threesome of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote. All entering the prime of their careers. All among the NHL’s best. And all, with the exception of Rantanen, playing under team-friendly contracts.
Gabe Landeskog rejoins Avalanche, doing well after scary injury during playoffs
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog is back on the ice and feeling well after a scary skate-blade cut above his right knee during the playoffs. Landeskog went down in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Stars last September, ending his season.The Avs were eliminated right after that in Game 7. “My knee is good. I feel good,” the left winger said in a video conference call Friday. “Obviously, it was kind of a freak injury. Bottom line, I got very lucky.
Avalanche lands three draft picks on Team Canada’s World Junior roster
All three Avalanche prospects who were competing in Team Canada’s World Junior Championship training camp have made the final 25-man roster, it was announced Friday. Defenseman Bowen Byram, who helped Canada win the gold medal a year ago, was a lock to make the team again. Forward Alex Newhook, a late training-camp cut a year ago, will probably play a big role on the team. And Justin Barron was named among the team’s eight defensemen.
Avalanche re-signs Tyson Jost to one-year deal, closing in on salary cap
The Avalanche are closing in on the NHL salary cap of $81.5 million after Monday’s signing of restricted free-agent forward Tyson Jost, the Avs’ 2016 first-round draft pick who agreed to a one-year contract worth $874,125, according to CapFriendly.com. With 13 forwards, five defensemen and two goalies under contract, the Avs are approximately $5.2 million under the cap.
Avalanche quiet on free-agent front, signing just four minor-league forwards on Day 1
Day 1 of NHL free agency Friday was uneventful for Avalanche fans. The Avalanche — believed to be in the hunt for top free-agent forward Taylor Hall, a gritty depth forward and perhaps a proven goalie — only made modest minor-league signings Friday. But Colorado still has a chance to acquire NHL difference-makers on Saturday or beyond, as just two of TSN’s top-10 free agents were signed as of Friday night.
Avalanche preparing to use or trade 25th pick in Tuesday’s NHL draft
Whatever unfolds Tuesday night in the first round of the NHL’s virtual draft, the Avalanche will be ready. With the draft originally scheduled to take place June 26 in Montreal, the Avs have had more than three extra months to study potential selections from Nos. 20-31. When the NHL paused the season March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado was tied with Tampa Bay for the third-best winning percentage of .657.
Nathan MacKinnon is Avalanche’s ace in Game 6 against Dallas
By Mike Chambers Denver Post The Colorado Avalanche takes on the Dallas Stars tonight in Game 6 of their series. Dallas leads, 3-2. AP photo NHL playoff scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon quietly celebrated his 25th birthday in the Edmonton bubble Tuesday. Without MacKinnon’s team-high plus-4 rating and two points (one goal) in Game 5’s 6-3 win on Monday, the Avalanche might have been returning to Denver on his birthday.
“Grumpy” Avalanche must play physical, block more shots to stave off elimination against Dallas
It’s time to get tougher for the Avs, or they’ll be flying home Tuesday on Nathan MacKinnon’s 25th birthday. The Avalanche delivered a club-record 72 hits in last week’s Game 3 against the Dallas Stars — the only game Colorado has won in the series. In Sunday’s Game 4, a 5-4 loss that put the Avs on the verge of elimination, they were credited with just 36 hits — exactly half as the previous game. A similar decline in blocked shots took place in those two games in Edmonton.
NHL follows NBA in playoff pause to protest racial injustice
An NHL players-led initiative has resulted in the league postponing its second-round playoff games Thursday and Friday to protest racial injustice in the United States. The NHL made its announcement Thursday afternoon but has yet to release a revamped schedule. The Avalanche, coming off a 6-4 win in Game 2 against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday, had an optional practice Thursday in Edmonton. Game 4 of that series was scheduled for Friday. It likely will now be played Saturday.
NHL pauses playoffs to protest racial injustice. “It’s something that needed to be done”
An NHL players-led initiative has resulted in the league postponing its second-round playoff games Thursday and Friday to protest racial injustice in the United States. The NHL made its announcement Thursday afternoon. The four postponed conference semifinals games will resume play Saturday, with the full revamped schedule forthcoming. Avalanche center Nazem Kadri, a Muslim, is a member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, and that group met with NHL executives in a conference call Thursday.
NHL pauses playoffs to protest racial injustice. “It’s something that needed to be done”
An NHL players-led initiative has resulted in the league postponing its second-round playoff games Thursday and Friday to protest racial injustice in the United States. The NHL made its announcement Thursday afternoon. The four postponed conference semifinals games will resume play Saturday, with the full revamped schedule forthcoming. Avalanche center Nazem Kadri, a Muslim, is a member of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, and that group met with NHL executives in a conference call Thursday.
Avalanche depth scoring goes silent in first two games against Dallas Star
Mike Chambers, Denver Post Dallas Stars, top, celebrate a goal against the Colorado Avalanche during second-period NHL Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff hockey game action in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, Aug. 24, 2020. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP) Avalanche Stars Hockey The Avalanche, facing the suddenly red-hot Dallas Stars, has had virtually no offensive production outside of its top line through two games of the Western Conference semifinal series in Edmonton.
Colorado Avalanche advances to second round with dominating victory over Coyotes in Game 5
Colorado Avalanche' J.T. Compher (37), Tyson Jost (17) and Andre Burakovsky (95) celebrate a goal against the Arizona Coyotes during the second period of a first round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series in Edmonton, Alberta, Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP) Coyotes Avalanche Hockey The Avs were again awesome. Again.
NHL is officially back in business: Avs to report to Edmonton for 24-team Stanley Cup playoff
The NHL is back in business — without fans. The league and its players’ association on Friday finalized a collective bargaining agreement extension and ratified protocols of the return-to-play plan in hub cities Edmonton and Toronto for the 24-team Stanley Cup playoffs. The moves pave the way for training camps to open Monday in 24 cities. The Avalanche and the 11 other Western Conference playoff teams will report to Edmonton on July 26, where they will play games before no fans at Rogers Arena.
Former Avs, DU Pioneers to headline Dawg Nation’s 10th charity hockey tournament
As the Avalanche prepares for the Aug. 1 start of the NHL’s 24-team Stanley Cup playoffs, the best hockey players in Colorado not playing for the local NHL team will convene at Edge Ice Arena in Littleton for the state’s biggest annual charity hockey tournament. The Dawg Bowl, celebrating its 10th anniversary with 50 teams over seven divisions July 29 to Aug. 2, won’t feature spectators because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Avalanche’s top prospect Bo Byram will train with team during playoffs, report says Original
Avalanche-signed defenseman Bo Byram, The Hockey News’ top-ranked NHL prospect, will travel to Colorado this weekend and begin training with the club, according to a report from the Vancouver Province/Sun. Byram, 19, can practice with the Avs as the ninth, 10th or 11th defenseman without burning the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract.
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