Ross Colton Talks Trade To Avalanche On Radio

While we await word that he’s signed a new deal with the Colorado Avalanche, Ross Colton called into a radio show in Tampa to say his goodbyes to the city.

The 26 year old was dealt to the Avalanche last month in exchange for the 37th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

At the end of last week, he called into a Tampa Bay radio station and gave a pretty long interview. You can listen to the interview here, but here are the bits that were discussed regarding Colorado. Unfortunately, he didn’t mention anything about his contract negotiations, but that’ll get done eventually.

Colton on why he’s switching to #20:

“I switched back to my original #20. It’s not that I wasn’t fond of #79. It was the number given to me. It was kind of unique, not too many guys are #79. I wore #20 when I first got into hockey. When I first got into hockey, my parents had season tickets to the Trenton Titans of the East Coast league, and I fell in love with this one guy who wore #20, Ben Stafford, and I always wore #20 in my career in other places, so going back to my roots.”

On The Move To Colorado:

“Kind of got the feel for things when we were playing them in the finals, that it’s obviously a lot different than Tampa, with the altitude and what-not. Definitely dries you out. It’s definitely going to be a little bit of a change. Culture shock, but that’s kind of anywhere in the NHL that’s not Tampa Bay. I think being down in Tampa, we’re definitely spoiled with the weather, the fans, and being able to go golfing or go to the beach or do stuff away from the rink that some of these other cities, you obviously can’t do throughout the course of the winter and the season. It’s going to be different. I’ve been out there before. It’s obviously beautiful, being out in the mountains, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Colton on if he knows anyone on the Avalanche:

“There’s not one particular guy. I actually know a couple of guys who play on their American League team, which I feel like will be kind of nice, because once I go out there for training camp, at least I’ll have a couple guys to maybe just talk to right way to make me feel comfortable. A bunch of the guys texted me, called me, just saying they’re super excited to have me, saying I’m going to fit in right away, and fit in well, which always makes me feel a little more at ease. It’s a team that knows how to win, and guys that want to compete and battle. No bad blood for all the stuff we went through in the finals. Just looking forward to getting out there and meeting the guys and going to work, really.”

Colton on what type of player he is:

“Honestly, I just hate to lose. Really, I’m just a competitor, I was always brought up that way. It’s “me vs. you,” I obviously want to do it better. I always tried to just get on the pucks fast, play physical, try and out-work the opponent, and try and score as many goals as I can. That’s just the way I modeled it, the way I was brought up. Someone like Ondrej Palat. I always remember when I was in Syracuse, the coach there, Ben Groulx, always told me to play like Yanni Gourde, because that’s the guy who always hounded the puck, was always doing the right thing, playing smart, but again, hated to lose. That was kind of the mindset I always took when I came to the rink.”

I’m sure once Ross moves to Colorado, he’ll realize it’s pretty easy to play golf 80-90% of the year in Colorado with the amount of sun we get. It doesn’t just snow all winter long!

He also discussed a bit more about the move from Tampa if you do listen to the entire interview.

Stay tuned to CHN for news as the off-season rolls on, and we’ll be on top of everything when Colton does sign a new deal with the Avalanche.