Byram, Timmins dominate in Avalanche’s 5-2 win in Rookie Showcase opener

IRVINE, Calif. – Bo knows hockey.

My goodness, what an exhibition of hockey I saw today from Bo Byram in an exhibition game at a suburban ice rink in this Orange County enclave. Final from Great Park Ice and Fivepoint Arena: Colorado Avalanche rookies/prospects 5, Vegas Golden Knights rookies/prospects/sacrificial lambs 2, in the opener of the Anaheim Rookie Faceoff tourney.

Byram, the fourth overall selection of this year’s NHL draft, was the best player on the ice in a game that had lots of very good players wearing visiting white with burgundy trim. If the lefty Byram wasn’t twirling away from forechecking pressure like a matador on skates waving a red cape, he was deep-dishing saucer passes through hapless Golden Knights sticks to teammates for breakaways or odd-man rushes.

Byram assisted on two of Colorado’s five goals and was pretty near flawless, at least as I could tell, defensively in a victory that wasn’t as close at the final score indicated. And get this: Byram thought he was “rusty” out there.

Bo knows false modesty a bit, too, it would appear.

“No, I don’t think so,” Byram said with a chuckle, when asked about the modesty thing. “It’s good to get that first one out of the way. I think everyone’s a little jittery that first game, so to get it out of the way is good.”

The other big star in this one? That would be Byram’s D partner, Conor Timmins. For a guy who hadn’t played in a game against an opposing team, of any kind, for 15 months? You sure as heck wouldn’t have guessed it. Timmins, who missed all of last season with concussion symptoms, looked great. He not only made the smart decisions with the puck in his own end, he often led the rush offensively in an overall Avs offensive attack that was relentless against the overmatched Golden Knights.

“Felt pretty good out there,” Timmins said. “Took a little bit of getting used to, for the pace. But overall it was good to be a part of. It’s just going to take a little time to adjust. Like (Colorado Eagles and de facto Rookie Showcase Avs coach Greg Cronin) said, the game will slow down. I just have to keep things a little more simple. I did a little too much at times.

Timmins was about a point-a-game guy in his junior career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, including 61 points in 67 games in 2016-17. I didn’t realize his offensive instincts were so strong, though. He was really impressive with the puck off the rush, either splitting defenders up the middle and/or dishing lead passes to others for good chances.

“That was a big part of my game in junior. I tried to be a two-way defenseman, play offense and defense. So, I don’t really want to change my game, moving up a level,” Timmins said. “I can still play the same game.”

Timmins never took any bone-crushing hits, so it’s hard to say “he’s passed all the hurdles he needed to pass!” when it comes to the concussion thing. But the fact is: he’s cleared to play, he’s felt good for quite a while now and – knock on wood – nobody will have to ask him about it much longer.

“Throughout the game, I took some bumps but there were no hits that were too big,” he said. “That’s definitely the angle, to be able to go out there and not have to think about things.”

These were the lines and D pairs in the game:

Here’s how Cronin, who looks a lot like the actor Ed Harris, summarized things:

OTHER NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Hunter Miska and Trent Miner did the goaltending, and looked fine.
• I liked the game of defensive prospect Kevin Davis. He has a big slap shot and has some pretty good size at 6-0, 185.
• Igor Shvyrev made a great play on the empty-netter to seal the win. He muscled a guy right off the puck in the Vegas zone, then fancy-sticked his way to depositing the biscuit in the empty cage.
• Joe Sakic was at the game. He was not available to the media, however.
• Colorado Eagles owner Martin Lind was also at the game. The Eagles have plans for a big new arena in the Loveland area, details of which should be announced soon.
• Martin Kaut drew praise from Cronin for his improved skating. Playing on that first line, with Bowers and Henry, Kaut was engaged throughout and had some good chances.