Colorado Avalanche Prospects Update; Shane Bowers Off To Good Start (+)

There won’t be much Colorado Avalanche news in the next couple of days, as the team settles into Finland for the Global Series games with Columbus. Next game isn’t all the way til Friday. So, I thought it would be a good time to catch up on now some top Avalanche prospects are faring, not to mention some updates on the Eagles and DU hockey.

But first, a little wrap-up from the week-long trip to NY/NJ that just concluded. Let me just say, first off, that I did, indeed, lose a couple of things on the trip – just like I said I would, and that if anybody guessed correctly, I’d send a copy of “Blood Feud” to them. I don’t think anybody guessed it correctly, but what I lost were: A nice pair of dress slacks and a towel that I use to put under my lower back when sitting on a plane or arena seats.

I think I left the slacks in my Best Western hotel room in Monmouth County, N.J., where I stayed for two nights while covering the Avs-Rangers game. I didn’t pack all that much to begin with (I pack very light, never, ever checking a bag. My opinion on checking bags with airlines is: Go for it, if your idea of wasting money and time is your thing) but somehow I left the damn slacks in the room. So dumb. The towel? I left that on the JetBlue plane that flew from LaGuardia to DIA at 6:39 a.m. yesterday. I must have knocked it off my seats while sleeping vertically in the whole row for most of the flight. It was a very light passenger list for the flight, so most of us al had rows to ourselves, which was JetBlue’s loss and our gain. I was able to squeeze my 6-foot-6, 245-pound body across the seats and actually slept most of the flight.

Again, I want to thank those who gave to the Avs Travel Tip Jar for the trip. I stayed in cheap hotels for three of the six nights on the road. Two others, I stayed with my pal Chris in N.H., and on the last night, I stayed up through the night. The Avalanche-Islanders game got over at about 10:30 p.m., and I got out of the UBS Center at about 11:30 (it’s a nice building, by the way, and the media meal was free – pork loin, salad and roasted squash). I then parked myself at a cool bar and grill in Hempstead, ate some more food and had one cold one, then tried to nap in the car from 2 to 3 a.m., which wasn’t so successful. From there, I drove the rental car back to LaGuardia, dropped it off at about 4 a.m. and trudged to the JetBlue gate.

OK, on to some prospects, Eagles and DU updates:

Oskar Olausson – It’s been a slow start for the former first-round pick of the Avalanche. Just one goal and one assist in his first seven games so far for the Colorado Eagles. He’s also a minus-4. He’s just got to keep working on things at the pro level. He’s still just a kid at 19, so let’s all be patient.

Shane Bowers – It’s been a very good start for Bowers with the Eagles. He’s got two goals and six points in the first seven games, and a plus-4. You’ve got to think his chances at being a call-up by the Avalanche at some point are improving. He still has yet to play his first NHL game.

Sampo Ranta – Not good. Seven games, no points, a minus-4. After so much promise at the start of last season, things haven’t gone so well for the Finnish forward prospect. He was an early cut in training camp by the Avalanche. He’s still only 22, but the statistical drop in his output is starting to grow alarming with the third-round pick from 2018.

Alex Beaucage – He is off to a good start with the Eagles. He had kind of a rough first year as a pro with the Eagles last season, but has five points in seven games for coach Greg Cronin’s club. He’s got a good shot and has some size. He just has to keep gaining confidence in what his strengths are at this level, and I can see him getting a shot with the Avalanche at some point.

Ben Meyers – He has one assist for the Eagles in the two games he’s played since getting sent down by the Avalanche. I haven’t seen the Eagles play yet this season, but plan to soon.

Jean-Luc Foudy – The Avalanche third-round pick (75th overall) from the 2020 draft is out to an excellent start with the Eagles. He’s got three goals and seven points in seven games. He’s only 5-11, 177 pounds, but has some real talent with the puck. The Avalanche have to be happy with his development so far.

Cal Burke – A good start so far for the former Notre Dame prospect, who went undrafted but who the Avalanche re-signed last summer. He’s got two goals and four points in the seven Eagles games.

Justus Annunen – Kind of a mixed bag so far with the Eagles. A 3-2-0 record, but the save percentage is only .892. He’s got to get that over the .900 level with consistency, at any level of pro hockey, if he wants to be a real player in the NHL. His save percentage all of last season with the Eagles was .893.

Sean Behrens – The lefty defenseman who plays at DU, drafted in the second round in 2021 by the Avalanche, has three assists in eight games for the Pioneers. I saw him play on DU’s opening-night game this season and came away impressed. He’s not flashy, but plays a steady game on the blue line and can run the power play effectively.

Taylor Makar – The brother of some guy who plays for the Avalanche is off to a good start with the UMass Minutemen, with three goals and an assist in seven games. He only had one one point (a goal) in 17 games for UMass last season, so this is good progress for the seventh-round Avalanche pick in 2021.

Ivan Zhigalov – This kid could be a real diamond in the rough for the Colorado Avalanche hockey club. The goalie, drafted in the seventh round this year, has a solid .919 save percentage for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. I liked what I saw of him in training camp too, so maybe the Avalanche have a goalie for the future here.

Matthew Stienburg – In his junior season at Cornell, the 6-2 center has one assist in two games so far. I haven’t seen him play much, so just going by the stat sheet here. He’s a third-round pick from 2019, so I’m sure he’s going to get a legit shot with the Avalanche or the Eagles, perhaps by next season.

COLORADO EAGLES 

The Eagles currently sit with a 3-4-0 record, in sixth place in the Pacific Division of the AHL. They have 23 goals scored, 24 against. Their last game, against the Henderson Silver Knights, finished in a 4-2 loss. Jonas Johansson allowed three goals in the loss, but made 33 saves, with the Knights getting an empty-netter. Their next game is Thursday at home against the Ontario Reign. Tickets here.

DU PIONEERS

The defending NCAA champion PIoneers are off to a 6-2-0 start. They got swept in a weekend series at UMass, but have rebounded to win four in a row, including a sweep Miami of Ohio over the weekend. The Pioneers are currently ranked third in the nation.

The Pioneers return to Magness Arena this weekend as they host No. 2 St. Cloud State on Friday and Saturday night in their first home conference games of the season. Tickets here.