Colorado Avalanche
Training camp schedule set – here are your dates and times
Three more weeks. Twenty one more days. Five hundred and four more hours.
That’s the amount of time remaining before we see Avalanche players on skates again at Family Sports Center. On Friday, Sept. 6, Avalanche rookies will hold a practice at the longtime suburban facility. It’ll be free and open to the public, starting at 9:30 a.m. mountain time.
That’ll be the start of an Avs schedule where we’ll see hockey on a daily basis, the effective start to the 2019-20 season.
Sorry I’ve been a been quiet here the last few days, as I’ve been traveling back east, a bit of r’n’r. Don’t worry, you’ll be besieged by Avalanche content here soon enough. After I post the training camp schedule, I’ll go over a couple of things happening with the site.
Here’s the training camp sked, which includes the “Rookie Showcase” in Anaheim this year:
Friday, Sept. 6
Rookies practice – 9:30 a.m.
Family Sports – Centennial, Colorado
Media availability after practice
Rookies depart for California
Saturday, Sept. 7
Rookies vs. Vegas Golden Knights – 1 p.m. PDT
FivePoint Arena (Rink 4) – Great Park Ice (Irvine, Calif.)
Media availability after the game
Sunday, Sept. 8
Rookies vs. Los Angeles Kings – 1 p.m. PDT
FivePoint Arena (Rink 4) – Great Park Ice (Irvine, Calif.)
Media availability after the game
Monday, Sept. 9
Rookies practice – 9 a.m. PDT
FivePoint Arena (Rink 4) – Great Park Ice (Irvine, Calif.)
Media availability after practice
Tuesday, Sept. 10
Rookies vs. Arizona Coyotes – 11 a.m. PDT
FivePoint Arena (Rink 4) – Great Park Ice (Irvine, Calif.)
Media availability after the game
Rookies depart for Denver
Wednesday, Sept. 11
No scheduled events
Thursday, Sept. 12
Medicals/Physicals
Pepsi Center
Avalanche players available to media – approximately 9 a.m.
Jared Bednar available to media – approximately 10 a.m.
Friday, Sept. 13
Training Camp at Family Sports
Group 1 on ice: 8:15 – 10:15 a.m. (media availability to follow)
Group 2 on ice: 10:25 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (media availability to follow)
Jared Bednar available following the second session
Saturday, Sept. 14
Training Camp at Family Sports
Group 2 on ice: 8:15 – 10:15 a.m. (media availability to follow)
Group 1 on ice: 10:25 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (media availability to follow)
Jared Bednar available following the second session
Sunday, Sept. 15
Training Camp at Family Sports
Group 1 on ice: 8:15 – 10:15 a.m. (media availability to follow)
Group 2 on ice: 10:25 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (media availability to follow)
Jared Bednar available following the second session
Monday, Sept. 16
Training Camp at Family Sports
Group 2 on ice: 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. (media availability to follow)
Group 1 on ice: 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (media availability to follow)
Jared Bednar available following the second session
No rosters announced yet, that’ll come soon.
A couple things about the site:
- I’m going to feature cartoons occasionally from the brilliant Drew Litton. For you youngsters out there who don’t know Drew’s work, check out his website here. It’ll be a huge honor to have cartoons tailor-made for Colorado Hockey Now by him.
- A podcast will start some time in September. I’m still trying to think of a name for it. I welcome your suggestions. It’ll be a minimum of once a week, but probably no more than twice.
- There will be a freelancer or two on the site.
- Some of you have been generous about the Avs Travel Tip Jar. Hey, don’t be shy about putting more in. The more in that tip jar, the more travel I can do. And, as always, a portion of any donation goes to the Thornton Food Bank. We’ve already made one nice donation to it already.
- Don’t be surprised if you see a billboard around town soon advertising the site. You read right.
- I still want more of your ideas on the kind of stuff you really want to read. Do you want more analytics, with -fancy charts and stuff? Do you want more video? More meat-and-potatoes, just-the-facts kind of coverage? I mean, I know you want insider-y, well-written stories. I think I’ll always provide that. But maybe just an idea or two about more of what you really want. Keep one thing in mind: times have changed in the sports/media world. I can’t just go hang out at a player’s house and detail all I see, or spend a week riding the team plane/buses like I actually once could do back in the day. Things are much more stage-managed today, where you only get so much time to actually be around the players. I wish that were different, but times change. But I really just want this site to be how YOU want it. I work for YOU, the subscriber. I don’t want for a different company anymore. You, in essence, are the company now. So, I want as much feedback/direction/directives as you can give me. OK? Don’t be shy.
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Now, Pavel Francouz is out too *(Updated)
HI AD!! Here are some suggestions on things for the site..
1. Maybe at some point get some player profiles on the guys? I like learning about them and I know its gonna be tougher to get the nitty gritty on each member.
2. I’m not well known on corsi numbers and the analytics so maybe a post about what all those means and how important they are to the game?
Hope this helps and enjoy your rest!
Nicci/Avs Queen!
Thanks Nicci, good suggestions
I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy.
That said, I enjoy understanding strategies and tactics, so on a site like this, I guess that falls under analysis. A solid understanding of how they generally want to play. Maybe the occasional explanation of why they played a game a certain way. Another time a deep dive into the details of why they chose to attack or defend a certain play. Include the goalies. You can never have enough of that kind of content.
AD,
How easy is it to go watch the Avs training camp? Super crowded? Any tips? Hoping to take the kids down this year.
For me, every time I’ve gone to training camp it’s a good-sized crowd and a great vibe. I have a hunch this will be crowded camp this year with all the hype around this team.
Free, open to the public, usually plenty of seats, though some days can be crowded
Dater – do you plan to be out in SoCal to watch the rookies?
Do you see the Avs signing anyone to a PTO? Is Valeri Nichushkin a possible young player the Avs might take a chance with?
Adrian, do you plan on having Simon Boisvert as a freelancer during the season?
One thing that I would love to see (and I recognize this might be quite difficult considering the Avs aversion to the media), is more in-depth profiles on the Avs management, analytic staff, scouts, and coaching staff. But not just “how did you get the NHL” and “how did you join the Avalanche”, but also what their current responsibilities are, what are their philosophy for building a championship team, how are they evolving with the rapidly changing times, where do they believe the game/league is heading, etc.
Had to think some on this. I like podcasts so I am looking forward to those. Maybe setup interviews and guests on the pods along with content. Once a week is good along with breaking news pods. I like analytics in how it relates to what we are seeing on ice. Not a big fan of analytics in how it relates to fantasy hockey.