Colorado Avalanche: Tyson Jost and Cale Makar do PR for the Team

Colorado Avalanche players Tyson Jost and Cale Makar participated in a media tour today that took them to two radio stations and Falcon Stadium.

Colorado Avalanche forward Tyson Jost and defenseman Cale Makar made the rounds today to help promote the team as part of the Prospect Development Camp festivities. First, they joined Marc Moser, Vic Lombardi, and Brett Kane on Altitude Radio.

And hilarity ensued. First, the crew at the radio wanted to hit the young men with a wiffle bat. Apparently it’s a rite of passage for entering the studio. Jost very firmly said he’d take a pass, at which time Vic Lombardi observed, “I’m old enough to be your dad.”

Jost quipped, “Then you shouldn’t be hitting me.”

He’s not wrong.

The crew backed off of actually whacking either of the players with the bat — Moser gave the excuse that he didn’t want to put one of them in the hospital. Later, though, they got up the nerve to let Makar hit Lombardi with the wiffle bat:

Looks like Vic might be the one who needs the hospital! I mean, what did he expect — the kid probably has more power in one wrist than most men do in both arms.

Also, can we take a moment to appreciate the chaotic glee on Makar’s face? He’s not sorry. Not sorry at all.

The radio show hosts did go through some more serious-minded hockey topics. Obviously that Game 7 loss, especially the (bogus) overturned goal was a hot topic. Both Makar and Jost followed their captain’s lead — Gabriel Landeskog famously took the blame on himself rather than point the finger at the officials.

A theme that came out in their talk was how much the players, along with the media, think the Avalanche are on the cusp of achieving what the St. Louis Blues did this season. Indeed, Jost said that throughout the last two series, he and some of the other guys were texting each other about how that could have been them.

The radio show hosts also asked Makar about his experience coming from college playoff hockey straight to NHL playoff hockey. He remarked that the game was fast at both, but he saw a big difference in the physicality, especially the Calgary Flames series.

It was quite the whirlwind, according to Makar:

He even went on to say he probably blanked out a lot the three weeks because there was so much going on. (Also, look at how sweet and innocent Makar looks in the beginning — you’d never guess he’d be gleefully whacking a man with a wiffle bat in a few minutes.)

Here’s the first part of the interview:

Something else that stood out for me is the hosts asked Jost about what it’s like injury-wise after you finish the playoffs. We all know some of the big injuries players were playing through, including whatever necessitated Erik Johnson getting surgery on his shoulder and Ian Cole on both hips.

Apparently even when you don’t have the big injuries, there’s still a big recovery period. Jost remarked that he spent about two weeks “on my couch” in between visits to physiotherapists, “just trying to get my body back to 100%.”

Two more tidbits. One, Lombardi asked Jost if his facial hair was the best attempt at a beard he could make, and Jost retorted, “First you want to whack me with a wiffle bat, then you chirp my beard?!”

Later, while praising his captain, he casually announced that Landeskog and his wife are expecting a baby girl. Remember, Jost is also the one who spilled the beans about Sheldon Dries’ engagement. In other words, don’t tell Josty your secrets. 😳

(Also, congratulations, Captain!)

Here’s Part 2:

The radio show was just the beginning of the day for the Jost and Makar Media Tour. They showed up at the South Suburban Parks and Recreation facility for development camp:

They watched the prospects participate in drills for a while, then they decided to get their own workouts in — even when you’re on a media tour, you have to keep up the training:

I’m not joking when I say it’s a media tour. After their sojourn at development camp, the team drove them all the way down to Colorado Springs to check out the Air Force Academy facilities. They’ll be playing their outdoor game there in March. En route, the social media team gave over the team Instrgram to the young men:

Unfortunately, Instagram stories only last for 24 hours, so there’s no point in linking it here. However, the boys came up with some pretty good answers.  My favorite was someone asked what their favorite team was besides the Avalanche. Jost, ever the quick thinker, quipped, “The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.” He wasn’t going to get tricked into saying his childhood team of the Edmonton Oilers!

At one point, Sam Girard made a cameo appearance. He didn’t magically appear in the car, but he did join in on the conversation via the comments section. Jost chirped him that he should be working out. Nonetheless, Girard still sent love their way.

Someone also randomly asked how many holes a straw has. (Is this a thing?) Cale immediately answered, “One.” Tyson decided, “Two.” Cale snapped, “Dude, it’s the same straw.” Apparently Makar has strong feelings about straws.

One they arrived at the Air Force Academy, the players got a tour of all the facilities. They started out with the dressing rooms and, hoo boy, are they luxe!

NHLers don’t get padded leather seats, but apparently the cadets do. (That might be for the football players, but that’s still pretty bougie.

They conducted more media scrum, talking about their excitement for the upcoming outdoor game:

Falcom Stadium is going to be transformed into an ice rink similar to how Coors Field was a couple years ago. Here are Tyson and Cale walking out onto the field that will be their rink in a few months:

Meanwhile, they’re athletes, so they have to participate in a little sports hijinks:

In the Instagram story, they show Jost and Makar doing their “touchdown dance.” Cale did some cool sidestep-chicken dance hybrid. Tyson just wiggled his butt. No idea.

The grand finale of the stadium tour:

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So, I don’t know if you saw the hullaballoo earlier in the season when the Broncos-centric The Fan radio station tried to get back into covering hockey. To be fair, they used to cover hockey and even used to do a weekly morning show with Patrick Roy when he was still coach. Well, earlier in the year, as they were trying to get back into hockey, they decided the best way to do so was by denigrating the team, acting like the players had no desire to win playoff games and that they’d actually taken a step back.

I don’t know — is that how you win fans in the NFL? Because that’s how you gain the ire of hockey fans who are delighted at the strides their young team is making.

Anyway, to give credit where credit is due, it appears The Fan is taking a more measured approach. As part of the Media Tour, Jost and Makar stopped by to talk hockey. (I assume. I can’t find a recording.)

They looked pretty professional while doing the interviews:

Maybe Jost and Makar were teaching The Fan about hockey.  We can only hope.

Tonight the Media Tour winds up at The Viewhouse with some of the… let’s just say team benefactors. Props to Tyson and Cale, that’s a heckuva long day.

Tomorrow the Colorado Avalanche youngsters will be back at it again. They’re supposed to go to Coors Field. Batting practice has been mentioned. What good sports!