Mile High Sticking
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Updated! Colorado Avalanche Historic Night vs Jets

By Nadia Archuleta

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Colorado Avalanche players had big nights against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center.

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3. That wasn’t particularly historic. The team is currently 9-13-1. Shudder.

However, for some of the players, it was a big night. And for one player, it was downright historic.

Chris Wagner Scores Again

In 20 games with the Anaheim Ducks, right wing Chris Wagner never scored a single goal. In just six games with the Colorado Avalanche, he’s scored two.

His first-ever NHL goal came in that terrible loss to the Ottawa Senators. Indeed, it was Wagner who broke the scoring open with this goal:

Last night, he tallied early in the third period to put the Colorado Avalanche up 4-2. Winnipeg got one back, so… Chris Wagner’s goal ended up being the game winner.

Not bad for a kid Colorado picked up off of waivers from the Ducks.

Andrew Agozzino Played his 2nd NHL Game

On Black Friday, the Colorado Avalanche sent winger Dennis Everberg back to the San Antonio Rampage. It wasn’t a really big surprise for me — he was one of the players I’d mentioned needed to step up his game against the Ottawa Senators. Indeed, during a post practice presser, head coach Patrick Roy remarked that Everberg just hadn’t been playing gritty enough and wasn’t finishing his checks.

In any case, left wing Andrew Agozzino got the call up because he’s been tearing it up in San Antonio. He didn’t have a ridiculous second-ever NHL game. He had a little over nine minutes of ice time and recorded just one shot. However, it’s still pretty special to play in the NHL at all.

Next: Evaluating all the Stadium Series Jerseys

Miscellaneous Notes

More from Mile High Sticking

Jarome Iginla got into a fight with Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry. The kid looked pretty hesitant about laying any punches on Iginla, but he eventually landed a few before Iginla hauled him down.

Iginla doesn’t usually fight no-names, but rather players he’s had a long beef with. Some Avs fans wondered why he’d fought this kid. We still don’t know necessarily, but it turns out Iginla has played with and been coached by Lowry’s father. So, basically, Iginla was probably a boyhood idol of Lowry’s — no wonder he was so gun-shy at first.

Just a quick note — Last night’s win marked the first-ever in the new third jerseys, titled the Rockies.

READ MORE: Are the Rockies Cursed?

Matt Duchene Surpasses Claude Lemieux

Former Avalanche right wing Claude Lemieux is usually known for some of his more… infamous plays. (Sorry, Kris Draper.) However, Lemieux was a pretty solid player for Colorado. Indeed, he recorded the Colorado Avalanche’s first-ever hat trick.

READ MORE: Claude Lemiex’s Hat Trick

Lemiex was also known for being the most goal-scoring of players for the month of November, having scored 10 goals in 1995.

Last night, Matt Duchene broke that record:

Indeed, with his one goal and two assists from the Jets game, the red-hot Duchene now has 18 points for the month of November. What I like best about this historic goal for Duchene is that it’s not a pretty goal at all. It’s an empty-netter scored after captain Gabriel Landeskog got hauled down. Sure it goes in the game notes as an empty net goal, but 20 years from now, when Avalanche fans are looking at Duchene’s historic November, nobody’s going to remember this particular one was an empty netter. Ugly goals count the same as pretty ones. A little more history about Duchene’s month:

I’d said in a previous post that Matt Duchene controlled his own fate when it came to the mad trade rumors surrounding him. I’d say his month proves he wants to stay in burgundy and blue. We agree, eh, Avs Nation?

Patrick Roy Records 100th Win

The Winnipeg Jets game also marked head coach Patrick Roy’s 100th win as coach of the Colorado Avalanche, as Avalanche writer Ryan Boulding points out:

The game was the 187th that Patrick Roy coached the Avalanche, not counting the preseason and playoffs.

Fun fact, as a goalie it took Patrick Roy just about 187 games to earn his 100th win.

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