The Colorado Avalanche Season: Five Favorite Moments from 2014-15

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The Colorado Avalanche season was not completely successful. If you judge them by the playoffs alone, then the season was an utter failure — they didn’t make it.

However, there were plenty of high points in the season. Yes, the Avalanche got off to a slow start. Yes, certain players didn’t make the leap we had hoped for. Yes, the Avs New Age looked an awful lot like the Avs Old Age, or pre-Roy years.

However, on New Year’s Eve things really turned around for the Avalanche, and they became the team we all expected. It was too late for the playoffs, but it wasn’t too late for me to be delighted. Let’s look at some of the highlights of the 2014-15 Colorado Avalanche season.

Gabriel Landeskog Captain Fight

Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog has the captain’s touch. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog actually participated in two captain fights. He fought Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd on December 11, 2014, an Avalanche win in the shootout. He also fought Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber.

However, it is the Ladd fight that was my favorite. I felt then, and I feel now, that it was the turning point of the season for the Avalanche spirit-wise. Up until then, they had been talking a lot about changing their game, playing the full 60 and having heart. I felt that moment was when it became real — and Landeskog’s fight with Ladd was the catalyst.

Besides the impact of Landeskog’s fight with Ladd, the action itself was pretty good:

Next: Impact of Landy's Fight

Emergence of Calvin Pickard

Dec 11, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard (31) reacts to the shootout win against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche defeated the Jets 4-3 in a shootout period. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

How about that Calvin Pickard? He barely got any notice at training camp, and the next thing you know he’s the Colorado Avalanche’s clutch goalie.

We already know the Colorado Avalanche season was deterred by injuries. Pickard came in as a result of not one but two. Semyon Varlamov‘s groin was starting to go wonky, and Reto Berra was injured early in a game against the Ottawa Senators.

Probably the iconic moment — besides a huge save on Pittsburgh Penguins sniper Evgeny Malkin — was when Pickard backstopped the Avalanche to their first shootout win on December 11, against the Winnipeg Jets. In celebration Picks turned himself into a five-point star and then did the wave with his shoulders! However, I love the interview he gave afterward. He’s bristling with confidence — which is gold in a goalie:

Next: 6 Picks A'Saving

Erik Johnson All Star

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson has been named to the NHL All Star team. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson was the best player for the first half of the season. Head coach Patrick Roy praised him highly — calling him the best player on the team — and predicted Johnson would be invited to the All Star Weekend. Indeed, on January 11, 2015, Johnson was named to the All Star team.

For me I saw it as a culmination of years of hard work and disappointments for EJ. He is such a talented and skilled player, but he’s had some bad breaks in his career. Alas, he suffered another bad break as arthroscopic knee surgery prevented him from being able to attend the weekend’s activities.

At the beginning of the 2014-15 Avalanche season, though, Johnson showed his true capabilities — an ability to dominate games, to both score goals and prevent them, to play the big minutes against the big lines and help the Avs succeed against them. Johnson is sure to be nominated as an All Star again.

Next: The Curse on EJ's Career

Nathan MacKinnon‘s Hattie

Feb 22, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) (center) reacts to his hat trick goal in the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon did not have the sophomore year everyone wanted for him. He went through long stretches of time when he just couldn’t score. He was one of the few players shooting the puck, but they just weren’t going in for him.

That didn’t exactly change in February — except for one golden night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. MacKinnon scored three different ways to help the Avalanche take a commanding lead over the Lightning.

The goals — and all the hats — were great. (See below.) I loved his giddiness afterwards though, when he spoke with Altitude TV’s Julie Browman, laughing that he didn’t think linemate Ryan O’Reilly expected him to tip in the second goal, “But I tipped it anyway.”

Next: The Ups and Downs of being MacKinnon

Avs Win Final 3 for Fans

Apr 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Members of the Colorado Avalanche celebrate the win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche defeated the Blackhawks 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

By the first weekend in April, we knew the Avalanche season was ending in a week — it was confirmed when the Winnipeg Jets clinched a playoff spot. (They didn’t do much with it, but that’s a different story.) As Avalanche fans, we were heartbroken but unsurprised. It sounded like the feeling was the same in the Avalanche locker room.

That’s when a captain steps up. I obviously don’t know what Landeskog said in the locker room, but I know what he said to the media. The Avalanche were not going to give in for the final three games of the season. All three games were scheduled to be played at home, and Landeskog promised the players would put forth their very best effort — for the fans’ sake.

And that’s exactly what they did. The players played Colorado Avalanche hockey, that exciting mix of speed, skill and heavy hitting. They played their best even though the games meant nothing to the playoffs. They played with heart because they were playing in front of their fans.

And they won — against three teams heading into the playoffs, they won. They beat the Nashville Predators 3-2, the Winnipeg Jets 1-0 and the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. It was the most inspiring end to the Avalanche season possible, and it makes me even more excited to see what comes next for these guys.

Next: Avs Fans' Highlights of the Season

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