Hockey is back.
Four months after the NHL’s 2019-20 regular season was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Avalanche opened training camp at the Pepsi Center on Monday, Phase 3 of the league’s Return to Play Plan.
Coach Jared Bednar welcomed 34 players, putting them through their paces in two sessions in preparation for the team’s round-robin games against St. Louis (Aug. 2), Dallas (Aug. 5) and Vegas (Aug. 8) at the Rogers Centre in Edmonton to determine the top four Western Conference seeds for the Stanley Cup playoffs. They'll leave for Edmonton on July 26 and play an exhibition game before round-robin play.
The Avalanche finished the regular season in second place in the West with a 42-20-8 record, 92 points and a .657 points percentage. They were two points behind the Blues (42-19-10) and had a game in hand when the season was put on hold March 12; the Blues wound up in first with a .662 points percentage.
It's actually happening. 👀#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/EmcJQPUCNc
— x-Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 13, 2020
“I loved our energy on the ice today,… Bednar said during a Zoom interview, which is how all interviews will be held for the remainder of camp, and before and after practices and games. “I thought both groups worked hard, had good juice, pretty vocal, everyone’s smiling to get back to their teammates and get back to training camp.
“Everyone’s looking forward to getting to Edmonton and starting the playoffs. We’re looking forward to it, we know it’s going to be a lot of fun.…
Veteran forward Colin Wilson, who missed all but nine games after undergoing surgery for a lower-body injury, isn’t on the roster. Bednar said Wilson “is unfit to play at this time.… He said the NHL and NHL Players Association have an agreement that will prevent teams from addressing injuries through the rest of the playoffs.
Other than Wilson, all the players who were injured when the Avalanche defeated the New York Rangers on March 11 in what proved to be the final regular-season game are healthy.
“Everyone is being evaluated,… Bednar said. “Everyone has the opportunity here and the possibility to play for us. We're just trying to bring all of our guys up to speed, and get practice in, and get competitive here over a short period of time. It should be easier because we don't have as many guys we would (have) for main training camp.…
Mikko Rantanen, who missed the final 12 games with a shoulder injury, skated in the first group Monday with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon.
"It's nice,… Rantanen said. “Everybody is healthy, everybody is feeling good, so it's fun to be back together. Playing with Nate and Landy, obviously we've played a lot of games together, we have good chemistry, we know each other really well on the ice. Obviously there are a lot of good players on our team. We have four good lines, so there might be a time when we have to switch it up and it's not a problem. But I'm happy to start with those two guys.…
Rantanen missed 16 games earlier in the season with a lower-body injury. He returned Nov. 30 against Chicago and had a goal and three assists in the Avalanche’s 7-3 win.
“It's been a weird year,… he said. “Two pretty major injuries and trying to get back. I was just kind of coming back before the season was paused, so bad timing for that. But I took time, the three or four months we had, just to get myself healthy.
“My shoulder feels good, everything is feeling good. Just training in Finland -- Finland was closed from March to the first week of June, pretty much like here. So I was just working out and rehabbing my shoulder, making sure that I was ready when we came back. And I'm feeling pretty good right now.…
See you tomorrow! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/YgUKQSOHRa
— x-Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 13, 2020
The Avalanche will be on the ice again Tuesday with two sessions, all of which are closed to the public and permitting limited media to keep everyone safe.