Adrian Dater
For Mikko Rantanen, the 10-day break from all official hockey activities with the Avalanche that started Monday night, will be a chance to head up to Aspen. Not for any skiing – things like that are strictly prohibited in the contracts of NHL players during a season – but to watch the X Games.
Rantanen plans to spend part of the break with teammates such as Tyson Jost and Andre Burakovsky – and maybe a couple more – taking in the X Games, something he said he has “always wanted to do.”
“I’ve never been to Aspen, and they say it’s really nice,” Rantanen said. “It should be fun. It’ll be a nice break from the rink, but we know it’s all business once we get back.”
The Avs won’t return to practice until Jan. 30th. Indeed, it’s a nice, long break, unusual in any hockey season. The Avs went into the break feeling even better about life, having won their third game in a row, 6-3 over Detroit.
While I didn’t go up to every player on the Avs roster to ask them their plans for the break, I did go up to several. Matt Calvert was one.
“The family and I are going to Scottsdale for four days,” Calvert said.
Calvert and his wife are parents of two boys, age 2 and 4, but he hopes to sneak in at least “one solo round” of golf during the getaway.
Ryan Graves?
“I just hope to come back with a suntan,” he said. “I actually haven’t booked anything yet. I’m not going to go away for the whole break. I’ll go away for half of it. The break is so long, it’ll be good to get away, relax some of it. But you’ve got to keep in mind that you’re in the middle of a season. I think everybody plans to work out during it, but it’ll be nice for a chance to rest the body.”
Sam Girard said he will spend about three days back in Quebec, where he grew up, but another five days where the weather figures to be considerably warmer.
“The Bahamas,” Girard said. “Looking forward to it. Some sun, take care of the body a little bit.”
Ian Cole wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do when I asked him.
“I’ll figure something out,” he said.
Jared Bednar? He’ll spend a lot of the break in South Carolina, where his family resides most of the season.
“It’ll be nice for everybody to get away from the rink a little bit and enjoy time with friends or family,” he said.