Evan Rawal
The last few years, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram has been a popular pick in the media to be one of the breakout players in the NHL.
It’s easy to understand why.
The 22 year old defensemen has a little bit of everything. He can skate, he’s got incredible puck skill, he can defend, and on top of it all, he’s got a bit of feistiness to his game.
Unfortunately, everyone knows why he’s still getting picked as a player just waiting to breakout this season.
Injuries. There’s really no need to dig further into it, because we all know the history, but it’s probably the only reason he hasn’t truly broken out.
When it comes to personal goals, you would never hear an NHL player talk about how they’re looking to “break out.” For Byram, he doesn’t even want to look at the big picture. Control what you can control, and go from there.
“I think my biggest goal is to just prepare myself as best I can for every game,” Byram told me. “If I’m well prepared, I should preform accordingly. I don’t really set too many goals for myself in terms of numbers and stuff like that, but just preparing properly every night and being ready to go when the puck drops.”
If Byram had indeed played a full season last year, it certainly would have been considered his breakout season. He was on pace for nearly 20 goals over an 82 game schedule.
What’s most impressive about his goal scoring numbers from last year is that most of it came at even strength. With Cale Makar running the top powerplay unit, there’s little opportunity for Byram to chip in with the man advantage, but he was dangerous at even strength.
Even with those numbers, he wasn’t satisfied, and looked to improve in all facets this summer.
“I think there’s lots of things (he focused on over the summer),” he said. “I think when you stop trying to improve, you kind of start to sink. My shot, there’s been a lot of things I tried to work on, honestly. I can’t really just name one.”
The Avalanche open their season in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and will be tested. The Kings are a team that has given them issues in the past, partly because they play a “unique” system, according to head coach Jared Bednar.
Still, for the players, there’s nothing like the excitement of opening night.
“A little bit of nerves, a little bit of excitement,” Byram said. “It’s awesome. I think that’s how you know you’re ready to play, so I just try to enjoy it. The first game of the year is always a pretty fun one.”
Colorado will be spending most of the first month on the road. Of the eight games they play in October, six of them will be away from Ball Arena.
With a large chunk of new players joining the Avalanche this summer, that might be a good thing.
“I think all the new guys have meshed really well with us so far,” he said. “It’s kind of been a seamless transition, in my opinion. It’s been good, but some time on the road never hurts, just to get a few team dinners and have some fun together. I think it’s important not only for us to get off to a good start on the road here, but grow as a group and become tight knit.”
The Avalanche will take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight at Crypto.com Arena. CHN is on-site, so stay tuned for updates and reaction from the locker room.