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Colorado Avalanche

Best Avalanche Players Of All Time

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The Colorado Avalanche wait is over! Finally, after 21 years, the team won a Stanley Cup again, the third of its existence. The Avs went through a long process to get here. Everything was planned and executed, with successes and mistakes that led to this moment.

From players chosen in drafts, exchanges, and signatures, the maintenance of a project. The team that won the cup in 2022 started earlier. It is a long project that depends on several factors to succeed. 

Until everything lined up, previous events mattered in this journey and shaped the champion team. If you are following the games to bet, check the hockey betting picks on OLBG.com.

Additionally, the squad’s success depended on players besides the current roster. We’ll examine the key figures in the history of Avalanche in today’s post.

Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic spent 13 years in Denver donning the captain’s “C.” He was selected by Quebec as the 15th overall pick in the 1987 NHL Draft and transferred to Colorado when the Nordiques became the Avalanche. He is a rare athlete who has played for the same squad.

With 1,641 points scored in 1,378 regular season games played, Sakic retired after the 2017–18 campaign, ranking eighth all-time in regular season scoring. He tied for seventh place on the all-time playoff scoring chart with 188 points added in 172 playoff games.

Sakic was the face of the Avalanche throughout his entire time in Denver, in addition to being one of the best players ever on the ice. He guided the squad to two Stanley Cup victories in ten playoff appearances and eight division championships. A consistent finalist for the Lady Byng trophy, an athlete who best exemplifies sportsmanlike conduct, Sakic was one of the league’s accurate gentlemanly figures.

Joe Sakic

Gabriel Landeskog

The Swedish winger is the captain of the team and an offensive force that appears in the decisive hours. Landeskog has had an outstanding career, and finally lifted the Stanley Cup last spring.  He’s been a clutch playedr his career, and grew into the captaincy after some early struggles.

In addition to being a great leader, Landeskog is also what he calls a 16-game player, someone who grows in the postseason. He should return to the Avalanche lineup early in 2023, after undergoing knee surgery.

Patrick Roy

Traded to the Avalanche in 1995 by Montreal, Roy would lead the Avalanche to two Stanley Cups and eight straight division titles between 1996-2003.

Roy retired as the NHL’s all-time wins leader, and had to win games without shootouts. His swaggering personality instantly transformed the Avalanche franchise from an also-ran to a perennial power. He later became the team’s coach in 2013-14, leading them to a division title his first year.

Avalanche

Peter Forsberg

Forsberg’s career with the Avalanche was a mix of glory and frustration. He is arguably the team’s most talented player in history. Unbelievable hands, vision, and strength mixed into one player. However, Forsberg’s body suffered greatly from his aggressive play, missing the 2002 regular season.

But in the entire NHL, few players were better than him when he was healthy. Forsberg returned for the postseason during that injury-plagued 2002 year, and despite Colorado missing the Stanley Cup Finals, he led the NHL in points. He won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player the following year.

Cale Makar

The player stayed two years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, better known as Umass, and debuted in the NHL during the 2019 postseason leaving a good impression. The following season, Makar would win the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the best freshman of the season.

Cale Makar has become a force that the entire league recognizes and fears. His defensive ability is top-notch, plus he has a lot of speed and offensive power, being a dangerous weapon in attack. His talent was recognized in the 2021-22 season by winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the season’s best defender who demonstrates ability across the entire length of the ice.

Cale Makar

Nathan MacKinnon

With the first overall choice in the 2013 draft, MacKinnon had succeeded. He immediately debuted in the NHL, helping the team reach the playoffs in the 2013-14 season, but returned to prominence in 2017-18 and has since been one of the best players in the NHL. 

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that MacKinnon is only 27 years old. He’s already been so present and prominent in the league for so long that we may have yet to see his best.

Now, he’s also a Stanley Cup champion.

MacKinnon Avalanche

Conclusion

It is also necessary to highlight the maturing of the players, who learned from their mistakes and learned valuable lessons in order not to despair and do what was needed in the final game. That’s what they did last season.

Facing the challenge of finishing Lightning, they needed to focus and find their game, and they did it by relying on themselves. The Avalanche as a team learned their lessons from eliminations in the past and managed to overcome themselves. Come back and self-redemption are two factors often part of champion team narratives.

Colorado's premier coverage of the Avalanche from professional hockey people. Evan Rawal, Editor-in-Chief. Part of the National Hockey Now family.

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