Evan’s NHL Daily: Former Avalanche Star Retires, Veteran Scratch Coming

Paul Stastny played for four different NHL organizations after leaving the Colorado Avalanche in the summer of 2014, but his best years always came in Colorado. On Tuesday, he made it official that he’s calling it a career.

When it comes to the current version of the Avalanche, changes are coming after back-to-back shutout losses.

All that and more in this Wednesday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Tuesday morning the Avalanche recalled Riley Tufte and Caleb Jones, signaling some lineup changes were coming on Wednesday.

After a dangerous play sent him violently into the boards on Sunday, Cale Makar missed practice for the Avalanche, but he wasn’t alone.

When the Avalanche take on the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, it appears a veteran NHL forward is getting scratched, and it seems like it’s going to be between Jonathan Drouin and Tomas Tatar.

On Wednesday, we’ll be live at Ball Arena for Colorado’s home game. Stay tuned for pre-game and post-game coverage. I may look into live game stories for everyone to converse mid-game. Would that be something that might interest people?

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Stastny Retires

It wasn’t official, but when Paul Stastny didn’t sign with an NHL team over the summer, it seemed clear his career was coming to an end. On Tuesday, he let the cat out of the bag – he’s done.

Stastny ends his career with 1145 NHL games, and 822 points. After leaving Colorado, he played for the Blues, Winnipeg Jets, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes, but he never played as many games for those teams as he did for the Avalanche.

Back during Stastny’s rookie year, he broke the NHL record for longest point streak by a rookie, getting all the way up to 20 games. The only reason he didn’t win the Calder Trophy is because that rookie class was absolutely stacked.

However, my favorite Stastny memory is one of his last ones in an Avalanche uniform. Game 1, round 1, 2014 against the Minnesota Wild. Stastny tied the game late in regulation, and then scored the winner in overtime. I was in the building, and it was a wild night. Up until the Cup run, it was the loudest I’d heard the building in a long time.

What are some of your favorite Stastny memories?

National Hockey Now

It’s been a nightmare start for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Can Sidney Crosby and company lead them out of it?

Is the NHL Department of Player Safety finally starting to get a little tougher? Charlie McAvoy is getting four games for his nasty hit on OEL the other day. That’s two in a row.

After retiring, what’s next for Joe Thornton?

Does Elias Lindholm make sense for the Washington Capitals?

The Montreal Canadiens face a real conundrum regarding the future of Sean Monahan.

Should the NHL mandate neck guards after the death of Adam Johnson?