Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche Defenseman Erik Johnson Plays in 700th NHL Game

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 19: Erik Johnson #6 of the Colorado Avalanche skates prior to the game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center on January 19, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Kings 7-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 19: Erik Johnson #6 of the Colorado Avalanche skates prior to the game against the Los Angeles Kings at the Pepsi Center on January 19, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Kings 7-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Colorado Avalanche cornerstone defenseman Erik Johnson played in his 700th NHL game — an incomplete retrospective of the player.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson played in his 700th NHL game on Friday night against the San Jose Sharks. March 1, 2019 — that’s when the 30-year-old blueliner hit the milestone that no other defenseman from his draft class has hit yet.

What’s more, 497 of those games have been with the Colorado Avalanche. He was the first-overall draft pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2006, but he spent just 2 1/2 seasons there before a late-night trade brought him to Colorado on February 19, 2011.

His trade wasn’t quite like the newest Avalanche,

Derick Brassard

, who just had to walk across the hallway to his new dressing room. However, Johnson did end up playing in his old building not too long after the trade — and he even scored a goal on his old team:

Of course, EJ had already scored on that net just a week before his trade in an own goal, but let’s not focus on that.

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Johnson had a whirlwind week before the trade that included his taking a puck to the mouth in practice and losing his three teeth. When he arrived in Denver and gave his first interview, his lip was still raw from the impact. At the time he claimed the lip was the part that hurt the worst of the injury.

Anyway, that was his first goal for the Colorado Avalanche, but not his last. In his eight-and-a-half seasons here, he’s recorded 55 goals. Johnson is also officially the longest-tenured member of the Avalanche right now. Though captain Gabriel Landeskog has more games as an Av (571), Johnson was traded here the season before Colorado chose Landy in the draft. In fact, the two were roommates on the road at first, and Landeskog has said he learned a lot about being an NHLer from Johnson.

Erik spoke about his time before his 700th game:

"“Obviously 700 seems like a lot when you first break into the league when you are 19. Every 100 games you play is a good milestone and it goes by fast, you got to enjoy it and appreciate it. You never know how many you are going to be able to play, so you got to treat every day as a gift and a blessing.”"

He also talked about his changing role on the team:

"“The older you get, I think the more responsibility you feel. I don’t feel like an old guy that is for sure, I still kind of feel like a kid. It is a lot of fun to just come to the rink every day and be yourself. I am one of the older guys on the team now, I am almost 31, but still feel like a kid at heart so it is still a lot of fun.”"

Indeed, Johnson is known for being one of the pranksters on the team.

However, one of my delights has been watching him grow into his role as a leader and a mentor. When he first came to Colorado, he was still struggling with the “first-overall bust” mentality — I just don’t get how some fans and media members can be so petty as to seemingly hope a player is a bust. However, he started coming into his own, and some mentorship from HHOFer Patrick Roy, then his coach, helped get him over the hump.

Now, I like to call him the captain of the blueline. He does such an excellent job of taking his defensive charges under his massive wing and teaching them the ropes of the NHL game — but then, like I said, he did that even with Landy back in their day.

Johnson is in his third year of a seven-year contract. Some fans like to grouse about the length, but you forget that the price for getting a great player in his prime years, as EJ has been since 2013-14, is carrying him the last year or two.


And, when you’re a mentor like Johnson, you still have a lot to offer a team even when you reach “veteran” status — especially for a team like the Avs that are betting all on their young guns. Especially a young cast built around defensemen such as Sam Girard and Cale Makar, not to mention Conor Timmins (fingers crossed).

It’s funny, though, because at the time of signing Johnson was 27, and he joked about how weird it was to see players in their 30s when he came in as a teen — and how he was going to be that player.

He is that player, to his young charge Sammy. And he will be that player-mentor to Makar when he comes up. Circle of Life — it’s important.

Well, as you all know by now I can sit here and was poetic about one of my favorite players forever. And I have:

And an oldie from five years ago (not even my oldest):

I remember when EJ came over from St. Louis, a gangly young man with a fat lip. I liked him instantly. And the more people (especially over at Mile High Hockey — they really hated him at first) criticized him, the more I dug my heels in.


Erik Johnson is an integral part of the Colorado Avalanche. 700 more, Condor.

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