Avalanche Locker Room: Colton On ‘Special’ Mom’s Trip, Big Goal; Prosvetov On Parkkila

It’s not Ross Colton‘s first goal with the Colorado Avalanche, but you could tell it meant a heck of a lot more than an empty net goal.

The Avalanche center spoke to the media after the game, discussing his first period goal, his celebration, and what it’s like having the Mom’s around the team. Head Coach Jared Bednar said you could tell the goal meant a lot just based off the celebration.

At the other end, Ivan Prosvetov shut the door, and I asked him what it’s like to work with Avalanche goaltender coach Jussi Parkkila.

Take a look at what Colton and Prosvetov had to say, and read what Bednar said in his post-game press conference.

Ross Colton

Colton on the Mom’s Trip:

“It’s pretty special. This will be my first ‘Mom’s Trip.’ Maybe she’s my good luck charm, might need her at plenty more games. It’s awesome to have them here. I know it means a lot to her. She sacrificed a lot for me throughout my entire career, so it’s always special to have them in the building.”

Ivan Prosvetov

Prosvetov on working with Jussi Parkkila:

“One of the best coaches in the league, for sure. Really experienced, if you see what he’s done with Georgie, with Kuemper, with all those guys, he brings them to the next level. I was just really fortunate to come here and have Jussi here.”

Bednar on what he saw from Prosvetov:

“I thought he had a good game. Solid. Made all the saves he was supposed to make, and then some. For me, I liked our checking game. I liked the what we did. I liked the way we played, the energy, the intensity to our game, but there was a 10 minute stretch in the second period where it was a track-meet. We were giving up some chances, and I thought he was excellent.”

Bednar on Colton’s goal and the new-look third line for the Avalanche:

“Well, you can always kind of read it, what the player is feeling by the celebration, right? And he was jazzed up. I thought him, and Wood, and O’C were great tonight. I think O’C helped that line in a lot of ways. Maybe the meetings that we’ve had over the last couple days freed them up to go play a little bit, and relax, knowing it will (come) eventually. They had a great start to the game, obviously they score, but they had multiple opportunities to maybe bang a couple other goals.”

Bednar on the last few games potentially being a wake-up call:

“I think that’s part of it. There’s a lot of pride in that room, and you hate to lose, and then you lose a couple the way we did. A lot of that was, not taking anything away from our opponent’s, but a lot of it was on us, so wanting to make corrections and play, and put our best foot forward in front of our crowd. I thought the crowd was outstanding tonight, right from the get-go. The building was buzzing. All their mom’s are in town, that’s another little added motivation. I think big picture, just wanting to be better than we’ve been, and then responding in the right way from the drop of the puck.”

Bednar on Riley Tufte’s play:

“Liked him. I liked him. I thought he was impactful. Strong on pucks down low, nose is always over the puck at the net front, goes their hard, likes to shoot it. He’s got a great shot, right? That’s why he’s scoring. He’s getting himself into those areas, and is good on the defensive side of it. I thought he had a really good game.”