Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog Should be More Famous

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog deserves to be more famous, which would help him be an ambassador for the sport and the city as a whole.

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog could walk down the center of the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver with a camera crew and a TV host, and he still wouldn’t be recognized. Don’t believe me? Check this out:

True, this video is from three years ago, but Landeskog hasn’t gotten any more famous, and that’s a shame. Why? Because Landeskog is the perfect ambassador for both the sport and our city as a whole.

Landeskog is one of above-and-beyond sorts when it comes to being active in the community. We all appreciate what the players do as part of team-sponsored community activities, and the Colorado Avalanche seem especially active.

However, I was thinking about Landeskog last night and this morning because of today’s impending Avalanche game. Avs games in general don’t make me think of Landy any more than usual. However, I got tickets to today’s game through the Friends Initiative Swedish Heritage Day. Friends is a anti-bullying initiative that started in Sweden, and Landeskog is one of their ambassadors.

He has been a great face for the initiative. And he really should be a more famous ambassador for the team and the sport as a whole.

One of the things that makes Landeskog an ideal ambassador is the fact that he doesn’t shirk the spotlight — and the spotlight loves him. It doesn’t hurt that our captain is classically handsome. More importantly, he’s charismatic and seems to genuinely like interacting with people.

And, let’s face it, he’s dramatic:

In fact, I’d go so far as to say he and the spotlight have a mutual love affair.

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This idea is something I’ve felt for a long time. Indeed, Landeskog’s fame (or lack thereof) seems tied to the Avalanche’s popularity in Denver sports (or lack thereof). I’ve often thought the Avs haven’t done enough to promote Landy because he could help bring the team back into the spotlight.

Well, the Avalanche have certainly done a lot to promote Landy and themselves recently, especially via their excellent social media and P.R. team (as seen above. For more examples, follow Hils’ excellent social media posts).

I think we should take it to the next level. Gabriel Landeskog makes the team and the sport look good. He makes the city look much better than John Elway has recently. And he’s a much, much, much better ambassador of the sport than Patrick Kane could ever hope to be.

And, no offense to our superstar, but Landy’s just a little more naturally suited to being the face (and voice) of the team than Nathan MacKinnon, who does not appear to love the spotlight.

What say you, Colorado Avalanche fans? We got our captain into the All Star Game. Can we get him more fame — and thus promote our favorite team?

Anyway, here are details for today’s game:

Game time: January 19, 5:00 pm MT
TV Networks: ALT, FS-W (Kings’ Feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5)