Colorado Avalanche: Colin Wilson Established As Team Dad

Colorado Avalanche forward Colin Wilson recently established himself in the role of Team Dad. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

Team Dad is an important but not easily defined role on an NHL roster. It’s not always the oldest player on the team, or even someone who is a leader on the ice. More often than not it’s a veteran who the younger players can look up to, and it’s not an assigned role but rather one that just seems to develop naturally.

Some teams have an obvious player who falls into the role of Team Dad. The Pittsburgh Penguins have Matt Cullen (again).

The Toronto Maple Leafs have Patrick Marleau, whose wife appears to be very accepting of the additions to the family.

Though an honourable mention also has to go to Morgan Rielly, who is seemingly very concerned about the lack of actual plates in Auston Matthews’ home.

But, until recently, no one on the Colorado Avalanche stood out in this role. It’s not entirely surprising given they have one of the youngest rosters in the NHL.

The team has its leaders, of course, with Gabriel Landeskog doing an excellent job as captain with help from his alternates Erik Johnson and Nathan Mackinnon. While they could fall under consideration for the role of Team Dad, they’ve mostly proven themselves to be not quite father-ish.

While there are several veteran contenders for the position they have proven themselves to also be mostly unsuitable.

Captain Gabriel Landeskog is the second youngest captain in the NHL and has displayed a maturity not often seen in players of his age. He regularly takes younger players under his wing, off the ice as well as on it. For example, he taught Mikko Rantanen how to tie a tie.

But this act of dadness is undone by all the mischief Gabe and Mikko get up to in the locker room. He’s more of a big brother than a dad, especially when he leads Mikko into trouble with him.

Conducting interviews without a shirt on is also not very dad-like behavior.

Tyson Barrie can’t be trusted around tools so he’s definitely not under consideration for Team Dad.

Nathan Mackinnon lead the team in points last season, served as an alternate captain, and definitely had the maturity, despite his age, to be a Team Dad. But then he started smashing glass on a regular basis and hooliganism is not a quality you want in your Team Dad.

Erik Johnson, again, is a veteran on the team and is the other alternate captain. But he thinks ABBA is an American rock artist and therefore cannot be trusted to teach the rookies outside of hockey.

Enter Colin Wilson. Although he’s only been on the Avs roster for a year, and it’s uncertain whether he will remain with the team once he hits free agency at the end of the upcoming season, he’s demonstrated that he is capable of teasing the younger guys while also being concerned about their safety.

If you read the comments section, Wilson adds, “Looking Shredded… but you should still be wearing a life jacket james taylor #safetyfirst #mentor.”

He’s also offered up tips for meditation and mindfulness.

It’s not much to go on, but of the available players Wilson looks like the one most likely to step up and fill this vital fatherly role for the Colorado Avalanche. From what I’ve seen he looks well suited to it and I look forward to seeing what develops next season.