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.