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Colorado Avalanche: Barrie and MacKinnon Dominating at 2017 IIHF Worlds

By Nadia Archuleta

Sep 18, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team North America Center Nathan MacKinnon (29) battles for a puck with Team Finland Defencemen Olli Maatta (3) during the first period in preliminary round in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team North America Center Nathan MacKinnon (29) battles for a puck with Team Finland Defencemen Olli Maatta (3) during the first period in preliminary round in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Colorado Avalanche players Tyson Barrie and Gabriel Landeskog are doing very well at the 2017 IIHF World Championships. Gabriel Landeskog is as well.

Colorado Avalanche players are beginning to shine at the 2017 IIHL World Championships.

Yesterday several Avalanche players were in action at the tournament in Europe. As reported here, defensman Tyson Barrie scored a goal and earned an assist in the game against the Czech Republic.

Well, he did a lot better today:

Barrie scored a goal and earned three assists in the game against Slovenia. He now leads the whole tournament in scoring.

Well, he’s going to have some tough competition from his own Team Canada and Colorado Avalanche teammate, Nathan MacKinnon. He also talled four points, but three of his came in the form of a hat trick:


MacKinnon spoke after the game:

"“I thought the puck was following me around. I had a couple of greasy goals. Skins [Jeff Skinner] and G [Claude Giroux] made it easy for me out there. Marner made a nice pass to me cross-ice, and I managed to score.”"

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Now, the dominant play of these two players has had some Colorado Avalanche fans asking why they didn’t show up like this for the NHL team. That is a good question. We certainly want to see MacKinnon in particular becoming a force for the Avs.

However, one of the rationalizations is that MacKinnon has superior teammates with Team Canada, including the likes of Mitch Marner, Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux. However, to be honest, these aren’t superstar names like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, both of whom are still playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Well, we all have our opinions about Colorado Avalanche players at IIHF Worlds and why they might do better on that stage. But at least they haven’t started punching each other out, à la Philadelphia Flyer Radko Gudas on his NHL captain, Claude Giroux:

You’ve got to think Gudas is going to hear from his captain come training camp.

Speaking of captains, the Colorado Avalanche captain, though not quite as dominating as Barrie and MacKinnon, is also having a strong tournament. Yesterday the Swedes beat Germany 7-2. Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal and two assists.

The tournament continues tomorrow. Canada is facing Belorussia, Finland is playing against the Czech Republic, and Russia is facing Germany. J.T. Compher, who is playing for Team USA will get to face his NHL captain as USA faces Sweden.

Let’s just say, it’s probably not a good idea to punch Gabe in the face — J.T. might not like getting sat down by Landeskog.

Next: Is Liljegren Still a Viable Option?

If you want to take in the action, there’s a streaming option here. There may be blackouts according to your location. You can also watch highlights here.

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