Everyone was in good spirits at Magness Arena, as the Avalanche and DU Pioneers took part in an Alumni Game to kick off early celebrations for the team’s 30th season in Denver.
I didn’t really have expectations going into this thing. But I’ll admit, it was a lot of fun.
The Pioneers won 8-7 in an entertaining back and forth contest that ended in a shootout.
The Avs were always one of the newer teams in the league growing up. And they still technically are. But it’s nice to see they’ve actually got 30 years of history to celebrate now. They have three Stanley Cups, a long list of Hall of Famers, local legends, and several generations of fans. All of that was present at Magness.
Hearing the roar of the crowd for Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg’s introductions was really nice to see. They’ll forever be legends around here. But it was also great to see how well represented DU was in the crowd — how Denver has very much become a great college hockey town with a storied Pioneers club that has become one of the best in the nation. Matt Davis got an incredible cheer from the crowd when he was introduced. That was cool.
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As for the game, there were quite a few things that stuck out.
Dan Hinote was having so much fun. I mean the guy smiled when he was introduced before the opening puck drop and didn’t lose that smile for the entire game. You could see it from every seat in the house. Even when he was dropping guys behind the Avs net in a no-contact Alumni Game.
Andrew Cogliano still looks like he loves playing hockey. He scored the Avs’ first goal and did an overexaggerated celebration. It felt like he was out there for more than 20 minutes, which was probably good for some of the older guys. He was, of course, reunited with Darren Helm. But he got to play with Milan Hejduk and Forsberg.
Speaking of which, Hejduk with pads on looks like he did 15 years ago. He truly hasn’t aged. Forsberg on the other hand, has aged, but it’ll never not be fun to watch him skate. He was getting more competitive as the game went on. Davis stopped him on the breakaway during the second period.
The jumbotron was doing tributes to some of the team’s legends all throughout the game during commercial breaks. When they did Forsberg’s, the crowd erupted and celebrated the legend. It was much deserved.
I enjoyed seeing John-Michael Liles and Tyson Barrie out there. Those are two guys who played similar games, wearing the same number, for different eras.
Peter Mueller recently retired from professional hockey and he was here to be part of this thing. That was honestly one of my favorite random appearances. He’ll always be a story of what could have been. But in his short time with the Avs, he became a fan favorite from the moment he took off after the trade from Phoenix.
It was also funny that he wore No. 8 instead of No. 88. That was a mistake by whoever had the jerseys made.
If this is a sign for what’s to come this year, I’m excited to see what the team has in store when it comes to celebrating 30 years of Colorado Avalanche hockey.
