Colorado Avalanche: 5 Amazing Rookie Goals from 2017-18
The Colorado Avalanche were in full youth movement for the 2017-18 season. They got some amazing rookie goals out of their commitment.
The Colorado Avalanche showed full commitment to their youth movement last year. At any given time last season, the Avs were dressing four or five rookies. They were consistently in the top three for youngest NHL team.
When you’re dressing that many rookies, you’re bound to get some scoring out of them. Indeed, the team got 49 goals out of their rookies last year.
Rookies are still learning their way in the NHL. That certainly was true with the Avs youngsters last season. They scored all kinds of goals, from the dirty to the beautiful to the downright weird.
Following are the five most amazing rookie goals of the 2017-18 season. Let’s start with a novelty goal perhaps never to be seen again.
Andrei Mironov’s One and Only Avalanche Goal
I don’t know what the deal was with the Colorado Avalanche and Andrei Mironov. The team selected Mironov in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Last season, much was made of the Russian defenseman coming to North America to learn the game here and make his NHL debut.
Mironov came in with some fanfare because apparently he was leaving a lucrative career with the Dynamo Moskva — who, apparently, has a full four massage therapists on staff. I guess he expected to step into an NHL role pretty quickly.
To be fair, when the defenseman got his chance, he made the most of it. In 10 games with the Avalanche, he earned one goal and two assists. That’s not bad for a rookie defenseman.
For some reason, it didn’t seem to be enough for coach Jared Bednar. He sent Mironov back down to the minors pretty much right after he scored his first NHL goal. Disgusted, Mironov eventually left back for his money and masseuses in Russia.
So, let’s start off this list with a look at Mironov’s one and only goal for the Colorado Avalanche.
To be fair, that’s not a bad goal at all. I really don’t know why he got sent back down to the AHL after this game — except maybe for attitude.
Ah, well, let’s look at someone who has the exact opposite of Russian passion.
Sam Girard’s Final Avs Goal of the Season
Defenseman Samuel Girard opened up scoring in the most important game of the season. It was the game that would determine which team would go to the playoffs.
Sam “Cool as a Cucumber” Girard was the first to score, in the first period with under a minute left to go. Though Girard isn’t known for his slapshot, he unleashed one from the blueline that beat Blues goalie Jake Allen:
That’s a lot of celebration from our young defenseman. He usually twitches and eyebrow and calls it good.
Fun Fact: That goal was Girard’s third as an Avalanche player. Two of those three goals came against the St. Louis Blues. Sometimes players just have luck scoring against certain teams.
Another fun fact: Sam Girard was the youngest defenseman to ever play for the Colorado Avalanche.
Let’s now look at the team’s oldest rookie from last season, 23-year-old geezer Alexander Kerfoot.
Alexander Kerfoot’s Sweater Goal
Maybe Harvard boys have got to do things different. I get that Alexander Kerfoot went to Harvard to play hockey, but he graduated from the Ivy League university, and they don’t just give away those diplomas for being good at sports.
Whatever the rationale, Kerfoot scored some… weird goals last season. The goal he tallied against the Edmonton Oilers on February 18 was perhaps the weirdest.
The goal came midway through the second period with the score tied at one apiece. Defenseman Anton Lindholm cycles at the blueline and takes a slapshot. Meanwhile, Kerfoot has taken up office just to the left of Allen.
Watch as the puck slingshots across Kerfoot’s jersey and into the net:
Alexander Kerfoot knows immediately that the goal is his. He knows what he’s done. Being a Harvard grad, he may even understand the physics behind how he’s done it. The rest of us… not so much.
Tyson Jost’s Game-Winning Goal
Center Tyson Jost didn’t have the season he wanted. He incurred an abdominal injury in training camp, which put him behind in the preseason. He then suffered a bone bruise at the hands of Adam McQuaid. No penalty, no supplemental discipline. Maybe we need to return to the days of Frontier Justice if the officials and Department of Player “Safety” aren’t going to do their jobs.
Anyway, the two early-season injuries set Jost back a step or three. He eventually got his NHL legs under him. And when you’re a rookie, you start recording your firsts.
Now, Jost already recorded his first goal in the (lamentable) 2016-17 season against the Minnesota Wild. Below is his first-ever game-winning goal in the NHL:
The goal came early in the second period with the Colorado Avalanche up 1-0. San Jose Sharks winger Joel Ward scored midway through the period, but Colorado ended up winning 3-1, making Jost’s goal the game-winner.
It’s a pretty one, too, with Jost splitting the defense and sniping the shot past goalie Martin Jones. May we see infinitely more of these from Josty.
It’s not a competition, but Tyson’s (not) big brother went pretty big on game-winners against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
J.T. Compher’s Overtime Winner
Colorado Avalanche forward J.T. Compher is our new Mr. Clutch. He had three game-winning goals last season. Two of them came in overtime. (Career-wise, Compher has four game-winning goals.)
The most exciting game-winning goal of the season for Compher was his second.
The Colorado Avalanche were hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 289, 2017. The game saw a lot of back and forth action, with first Avs players scoring and Leafs players answering. At the end of three periods, the score was tied at three.
As the overtime period was winding down, Toronto forward Connor Brown took a penalty for interference against Nathan MacKinnon. The Colorado Avalanche went on the power play.
It’s pretty telling that coach Jared Bednar decided to put JT Compher out for this all-important power play. Yet there the rookie was, enjoying a four-on-three advantage.
He walks into the slot and wires a wrister past the Leafs goalie:
Alas, said Leafs goalie is none other than former Avalanche Calvin Pickard. If only another net minder had been in net. Nonetheless, this was an impressive display of skill that we’ve seen flashes of from Compher — and that we obviously want to see more of.
Next: 5 Awesome Defenseman Goals
I think Colorado Avalanche fans can agree we’d all like to see more of the above goals from our players as they continue to develop into the NHL game. Next season, we won’t have as many rookies — probably just Conor Timmins and maybe a college grad if the Avs pick one up.
But the above players, with the exception of Russina-bound Mironov, should take the next step forward in their development. And that’s nothing but good news for the team.