Colorado Avalanche: Which Player would be GoT’s Jon Snow?

Several Colorado Avalanche players could be the Jon Snow of the team. However, only one really fits.

Some Colorado Avalanche players are representing their countries at IIHF Worlds, other are convalescing, while yet others are… probably on vacation. In other words, it’s already the offseason for the team.

Meanwhile, another popular pastime has reached its own conclusion, the epic fantasy drama Game of Thrones. SPOILER ALERT: I’m probably going to give things away from the end of the series.

Game of Thrones fans… have had very mixed reactions with how the series ended. I personally thought the ending was a bit rushed, but the final episode was exactly what it needed to be.

One of the most central characters is Jon Snow. If the show has a male hero, that man is Jon Snow. But he’s no classic hero — he’s a Byronic hero if ever there was one. Indeed, I’d say he’s my latest favorite tragic hero. Dark, brooding, pained — yep, classic Byron.

Well, while we’re passing the time waiting for the draft and free agency — oh, and the Stanley Cup Finals between two unlikable teams — let’s think about who best represents Jon Snow on the Colorado Avalanche.

When you think hero of the team, you’re drawn automatically to the captain of the team. Our captain, Gabriel Landeskog, is certainly heroic. But I don’t think anyone is going to accuse our sunshine cap of being dark and brooding or pained:

He’s just a happy sort.

For hero, you might also think of the best player on the team. Well, without a doubt, that man is Nathan MacKinnon. Jon Snow carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, much the way MacKinnon has carried the team on his back at times. And Nate can be a bit… moody at times. But you just don’t get that sense of tragedy.

Now, we do have three players who resemble Jon Snow in looks a little bit, meaning they have dark hair and dark eyes:

Those men are Derick Brassard:

Matthew Nieto:

And, especially, Mark Barberio:

Besides the superficial resemblance, none of them are really the Jon Snow of the Colorado Avalanche. Indeed, a couple of them are probably not Avs players at all anymore.

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No, there’s one player who’s the misunderstood, sometimes broody hero of the Avalanche — defenseman Erik Johnson. The parallels are uncanny. Snow has long been the misunderstood outcast, thought to be Ned Stark’s bastard child when in reality he was the secret love child of royalty — Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

Johnson is similarly misunderstood in that he was St. Louis’ first-overall pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, but many pundits never considered that he lived up to his destiny. Indeed, just like Jon Snow changed identities, EJ changed teams, coming from the Blues to the Avs in February 2012.

Just like Jon Snow, our Condor does everything that’s asked of him and follows his duty. He’s supremely loyal to the team in the way that Jon is loyal to the Starks. And, just like Jon, EJ often gets little enough credit for all that he’s done.

Jon has a tight connection to his direwolf, Ghost, while EJ has a tight connection with all his horses — and dogs.

At the end of the series, Jon Snow got banished to Castle Black and will live out his days with the Wildlings. If some Avs fans had their way, Johnson would be similarly banished from Avs Nation.

Tragic.

Even the Colorado Avalanche know the real way the story should play out, at least here in Avs Nation:

Our hero.

Special mention for defenseman Ian Cole, who’s a big Game of Thrones fan. He definitely resembles Tormund Giantsbane more than Jon Snow:

Look at that beard. However, he’s enough of a fan to have narrated his reaction to Episode 3 of the final season:

Anyway, it sounds like HBO has plans for Game of Thrones spinoffs, so we might not have to be without Jon Snow forever.

As for the Colorado Avalanche’s Jon Snow, and all the other characters, er, players, they’ll be back come September (training camp).