Colorado Avalanche: JT Compher to Represent Team in Player Game Challenge

During the pause, the Colorado Avalanche will be represented by JT Compher in the NHL Player Gaming Challenge. He’ll play NHL20 against other NHLers.

The Colorado Avalanche will be taking part in the first-ever NHL Player Gaming Challenge (presented by Honda), a tournament that will feature players working the controls of NHL20 against each other.

All 31 teams will participate. One or two current players will man the controls in honor of their club. They will faceoff in a one time matchup against another team. The tournament starts next Thursday.

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The games are part of the NHL’s #HockeyAtHome initiative. ESL Gaming is coordinating with the plan. The NHL will release the details of weekly matchups, including broadcast details. All games will be broadcast across multiple platforms, including Sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet NOW, Twitch, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. You can also follow along with the #HockeyAtHome hashtag.

Los Angeles Kings TV play-by-play announcer Alex Faust will host the series of weekly matchups. Thursday, April 30, will see Calgary vs Ottawa and Columbus vs Winnipet at 3 pm MDT as part of the Hockey Happy Hour programming.

Chris Golier, NHL Vice President of Business Development and Innovation, said of the programming:

"“Over the past several weeks, the NHL, its Clubs and player community have been very active with gaming initiatives in an effort to connect with fans while social distancing – such as charity tournaments, simulated games and nightly streams. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge presented by Honda will take gaming to another level. We know how competitive our players are, and coupled with the interaction between players, these series of competitions will be extremely fun to watch.”"

The NHL and Electronic Arts will donate a combined $100,000 in support of the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 relief efforts.

Forward J.T. Compher will be representing the Colorado Avalanche in the games. He, like all other players, will be playing NHL20 from the comfort of his home to show how he’s keeping up his skills (at least virtually) while the NHL season is on pause.

You can see who some of the other representatives are here:

I don’t know how Compher’s NHL20 skills are — he apparently had a Fortnite addiction at one time — but surely he’s got to be better than Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild.

The Colorado Avalanche, along with everyone else in the NHL, is waiting to see what will happen with the rest of the season. But, at least we’ll have some live action hockey, of a sort.