Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Part Two of Four)

Flesh and blood and vulcanized rubber — a Colorado Avalanche family legacy (Part One of Four)

Family is deeply interwoven in the history of professional hockey. The Sutter Brothers (all six of them) and their myriad of hockey-playing offspring, the Howes, the Gretzkys (technically), the Hulls, the Espositos, the Richards, the Staals, the Tkachuks — the list of relatives to all play hockey professionally is long.

Dating back to the origins of the Québec Nordiques in the WHA (which, for the purposes of this article, will be included in this list), there are plenty of bloodlines that reach through the minor leagues, up to the NHL, and across the span of a half-century; based on extensive research, there are 61 total families and 131 total individuals within them who have been at least peripherally connected to the Québec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche and the franchise's various affiliate teams. This quartet of articles, presented alphabetically by last name, attempts to serve as a hopefully-complete compendium of the families that have represented the Avs franchise since 1972. Each player is given a brief summary of their connection to the team; the focus of each player's bio is to identify their connection and to provide a baseline summary of their career, as a whole.

Four quick notes before beginning:

1. Finding familial data is not as straightforward as one might think. There may be people missing from this list, but, with the information available — and hundreds of hours of research amassed — it should be largely accurate and complete.

2. After introducing each player's full name, their first name will be used subsequently to refer to them as a way to avoid confusion with other, mentioned relatives throughout the article.

3. While some names on this list are players who did play for an Avalanche/Nordiques affiliate but were signed only to AHL deals, they will still be included because of their ties to the Avs.

4. For each stat table, every player's respective numbers illustrate values for both the Avs franchise and for their total NHL stats, presented in that specific order.
Example:

The "591" represents his games played with Québec and Colorado; the "708" represents his total stats as an NHLer.

Wendel Clark, Barry Melrose, and Bob Stephenson

Relation:
Cousins (Wendel, Barry, and Bob)

Wendel Clark

A stalwart staple on some tough-to-watch Leafs lineups, Wendel Clark, known as "Captain Crunch," had three different stints in Canada's most populous city. He spent parts of 13 seasons in Toronto, but he also made stops with the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Québec Nordiques. While he played for an impressive 15 seasons in the NHL, his games-played numbers (793) illustrate how much time he missed due to injuries. Throughout his career, he was plagued by recurrent back problems, which led to his retirement at age 33. He is still much beloved by Leafs fans, though, and his number 17 hangs in the rafters of the Scotiabank Arena.

With the Nordiques for the entirety of the 1994-95 season, Wendel's only full season on a team not named the Toronto Maple Leafs came during the 1994-95 season, which he spent with the Nordiques. Aforementioned injury woes restricted him to playing in just 37 games. If he had played a full season, he was on track to set career-best offensive numbers. The following season, as the Nords relocated to Denver, Wendel was on the team, but he was dealt to the Islanders before the season started in a three-team-trade involving the New Jersey Devils that brought Claude Lemieux to the Mile High City. This proved to be a deal that set in motion much of the ensuing decade's drama and success for Colorado Avalanche.

Barry Melrose

Barry Melrose's connection to the Colorado Avalanche organization lasted less than three weeks. On June 9, 1979, the Québec Nordiques selected Barry from the Cincinnati Stingers during the WHA Dispersal Draft. Just 19 days later, the Nords traded him to the Winnipeg Jets for Barry Legge and Jamie Hislop. Legge was later traded back to Winnipeg for cash. He was a physical defensively-minded defenseman more prone to taking a penalty than scoring a goal, but this was his role: to be a reliable rearguard capable of playing a physical style of hockey.

After his playing days ended following the 1986-87, Barry immediately began his coaching career; he coached in the WHL for the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Seattle Thunderbirds before making the jump to the AHL and, shortly thereafter, the NHL, where he served as the head coach for the Los Angeles Kings for three seasons, beginning with the 1992-93 season. He then moved on to a third career, this time as a broadcaster; he worked for ESPN from 1996 to 2008, after which he took the head coaching gig with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he stayed for a single season. He then returned to ESPN until he retired in 2023 after he went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis.

Bob Stephenson

Bob Stephenson played in 18 NHL games level and 117 WHA games. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native only played four seasons as a pro, but his resume in that time is quite impressive. In the 1977-78 season alone, he played for four different teams in four different leagues: nine games with the Tulsa Oilers (CHL), six games with the Flint Generals (IHL), one game with the Hampton Gulls (AHL), and 39 games with the Birmingham Bulls (WHA).

His connection to the Avs is slight, but his one game he played with the Hampton Gulls (who were, at the time, the AHL affiliate of the Nordiques) during that 1977-78 season qualifies him for this list and enables him to appear alongside his relatives, Wendel Clark and Barry Melrose. This trio's connection top professional hockey runs quite deep, and is one of the deepest of any family included as part of this research project.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Les Clark, Kody Clark, Kerry Clark, Donn Clark,

Joey Kocur, Kory Kocur, Jackson Kocur, Logan Stephenson, Shay Stephenson, Chandler Stephenson, Colton Stephenson, Cullen Stephenson, Rhett Ewan, Braydn Melrose, Cole Melrose

Alain Côté, Jean-Philippe Côté, and Luc Dufour

Relation:
Father (Alain) and son (Jean-Philippe)
Brothers-in-law (Alain and Luc)
Uncle (Luc) and nephew (JP)

Alain Côté

Much like fellow Québécois Pierre Brassard, Alain Côté was drafted by both the Québec Nordiques and the Montréal Canadiens; Pierre was drafted in 1976, and Alain was drafted the following season. Unlike Pierre, however, Alain elected to join up with the WHA Nordiques. His custody battle with the Canadiens wouldn't end there, however: when the WHA and the NHL merged in the summer of 1979, the NHL held a Reclamation Draft on June 9, 1979. This draft dictated that the players whose NHL rights were already held by a pre-existing team were subject to "reclamation" and could be added to their respective NHL team's roster. Accordingly, Alain's rights were reclaimed by the Canadiens. Despite this, when a subsequent Expansion Draft took place on June 13, 1979 (in which the now-pilfered WHA expansion teams could fill out their rosters), the Canadiens left Alain unprotected, so the Nordiques re-reclaimed him, and he remained a Nordique.

With the NHL Nordiques, Alain put up numbers that allowed him to remain on the team's roster for a decade. In a statistically-averaged 82-game season, he registered 35 points per season; his true value came in his versatility and ability to play a number of important roles on both ends of the ice. Accordingly, in the 1985-86 season, he finished 9th place in the Frank J. Selke Trophy, given annually to the forward who best exemplifies defensive talent. Oddly enough, in the history of the Québec Nordiques, there were two, separate Alain Côtés to dress for the team, which was definitely not a constant source of confusion when writing this article.

Jean-Philippe Côté

Jean-Philippe Côté's career began in the QMJHL, and he played for three teams (the Québec Remparts, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan) in a five-year span there from 1998-99 to 2002-03. Across the following fifteen seasons, JP played in the AHL (first with the Hamilton Bulldogs and later with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Norfolk Admirals, and Syracuse Crunch), the NHL (eight games with the Montréal Canadiens in 2005-06; 19 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013-14), the DEL (with the Kassel Huskies in 2009-10, the Hamburg Freezers in 2010-11, and the Iserlohn Roosters in 2015-16), the ECHL (the Ontario Reign in 2011-12), and the Ligue Magnus in France (with Bordeaux Boxers and the Grenoble Brûleurs de Loups in 2016-17 and 2018-18, respectively). He is still involved in professional hockey; he is now the Director of Player Development for his former team, the Syracuse Crunch.

While he never lived up to his father's NHL legacy, JP still managed to have a respectable and lengthy professional hockey career that allowed him to live in multiple countries and make a living playing ice hockey. Unlike Alain, JP never actually played for the Avs franchise, but he did appear in both the 2002 and 2008 training camps with the Avalanche, thus connecting him, tangentially, to the history of the Avs forever. His other tie to the franchise is the collective time he spent in the Nordiques' locker room as a child. Alain was known as "The Bull." His teammates on the Nordiques began calling the infant JP "Little Bull," which would, ultimately, be an apt bit of foreshadowing for the kind of physical and tough hockey JP grew up to play. 

Luc Dufour

As the brother-in-law of Alain, Luc Dufour had big skates to fill if he wanted to establish himself as a comparable player. This was especially true because of how well he played, just like the other players from the province of Québec named on this list, during his time in the QMJHL. In 1981-82 — his second and final QMJHL season (both of which were played with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens) — he finished the year with the fourth-most goals (55) and seventh-most points (115). 

While he was unable to bring those numbers to an NHL sheet of ice (and was unable to be the kind of difference-maker that Alain was), he still dressed for three NHL teams after his selection, 35th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. During his two seasons in Beantown, Luc played alongside future Avs Stanley Cup-winners Dave Reid and Ray Bourque, as well as the late, great Peter McNab, who was the heart and soul of Avs hockey since the team relocated to the Mile High City in 1995. After a few seasons in the AHL, Luc was traded to the Québec Nordiques, and he registered five points in 30 games before getting traded again, this time to the St. Louis Blues. He finished his pro career overseas with Auronzo di Cadore HC of the Italy Serie A league.

Other, notable family members in hockey: N/A

Chris Drury and Jack Drury

Relation:
Uncle (Chris) and nephew (Jack)

Chris Drury

Chris Drury was one of the first homegrown stars in the history of exclusively the Colorado Avalanche; while players like Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Adam Foote were all drafted and developed by the franchise, they began their careers in 'la belle province,' and followed the team as it ventured stateside. While Chris was, indeed, drafted by the Québec Nordiques (72nd overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft), he debuted after the relocation and became a bona fide star with the Avs, which began with a Calder Memorial Trophy win after the 1998-99 season. During the 2000-01 season, in which the Avs won their second Stanley Cup, Chris recorded 65 points in 70 regular season games — and an additional 16 points in 23 playoff games.

After four seasons in the Mile High City, he was traded to the Calgary Flames, where he played one season before spending the last seven seasons of his career in the Empire State (three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres and four with the New York Rangers). He retired at age 34 because of a career-ending, lingering injury to his knee. He played only 24 games in the 2010-11 season, and necessary, invasive surgeries were needed to repair damage done to his left knee; his contract was bought out for the following season, and he retired. Four years later, he was named the Rangers' director of player development. From there, he worked his way up to the team's assistant general manager, associate general manager, and, ultimately, president and general manager as of May 5, 2021. He still serves as the Ranger's GM, and he has helped facilitate a number of trades with the Avs in the last four seasons.

Jack Drury

Jack Drury is one of the only players on this list who is actively playing for the Colorado Avalanche. He came over last season from Carolina in the deal that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes, and he's been an excellent addition to the team's bottom-six. He kills penalties, wins faceoffs, and provides a lot of other value in some intangible areas of play. With the injury to Logan O'Connor and the Avs looking to give young players like Zakhar Bardakov, Gavin Brindley, and Taylor Makar (more on him later) a shot, he's been playing on the third line this season alongside Victor Olofsson and Ross Colton/Gabriel Landeskog. The New York City native — who was born there while his father, Ted, played for the New York Islanders — has four points in 13 games this season. 

Much like his uncle and his father (who has no ties to the Avalanche), Jack had a strong college hockey career. Like Ted, Jack went to Harvard and was drafted 42nd overall into the NHL. Unlike his father (and his uncle, who played for the Boston University Terriers, with whom he won the 1997-98 Hobey Baker Award), though, Jack only played two years of college hockey before making the jump to the NHL. Time will tell whether or not Jack ever surpasses his family's legacy in the NHL, but he — still at just 26 years old — is well on his way to making his mark on the Avs and on the the NHL, as a whole.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Ted Drury (Jack's father; Chris' brother), Jim Drury (Jack's uncle; Chris' brother), Lilly Drury (Jack's sister; Chris' niece), Owen Drury (Jack's brother; Chris' nephew), Ryan Drury (Jack's brother; Chris' nephew), Teddy Drury (Jack's brother; Chris' nephew), Luke Drury (Chris' son; Jack's cousin)

Matt Duchene and Newell Brown

Relation:
Uncle (Newell) and nephew (Matt)

Matt Duchene

Matt Duchene was one of the biggest stars the Avs had in the post-Sakic/Forsberg/Roy era. He was an electrifying prospect who immediately established himself as one of the most entertaining playmakers and explosive skaters in the league. In his rookie campaign, the 2009-10 season, he finished third in the Calder Memorial Triophy voting (behind Tyler Myers and Jimmy Howard) after registering 24 goals, 31 assists, and 55 points in 81 games. Matt spent nearly a decade in the burgundy and blue and was an All-Star in both the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons.

His contributions to the Avalanche were immeasurable — none the least of which being his unceremonious exit, mid-game, after he was dealt to the Ottawa Senators in the three-team trade that changed the entire trajectory of the Avs' team and sent the franchise careening toward its third Stanley Cup. Despite any initial ill-will directed toward Matt after his Denver departure — and despite his double-overtime goal in Game of the 2023-24 Western Conference Semifinals that ended the Avs' season — scores of Duchene jerseys still fill much of Ball Arena on gameday.

Newell Brown

Most people who read this article will know Matt Duchene. Many will not know that he's not the first person in his family to have been associated with the Colorado Avalanche/Québec Nordiques, however. His uncle, Newell Brown, spent the 1984-85 season with the Fredericton Express after four seasons with Michigan State University, the final of which he served as the team's captain. The Express was the Québec Nordiques' AHL affiliate from 1981-82 through 1987-88.

The technicality here is that Newell was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, who shared their AHL affiliate with the Nordiques, so he was never actually in the Nords' system. But the parameters for these articles is set up to illustrate even the most tangential connections, so, for the purposes of this series, it qualifies. Newell finished off his hockey career as a representative for the Canadian National Team during the 1985-86 season, in which he played 72 games.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Adam Brown (Matt's cousin; Newell's son), Al Brown (Matt's uncle; Newell's brother), Phil Brown (Matt's uncle; Newell's brother)

Brandon Duhaime and Dominic Maltais

Relation:
Uncle (Dominic) and nephew (Brandon)

Brandon Duhaime

Brandon Duhaime's time with the Avs was short; he played in the final 18 games for the Avs in the 2023-24 regular season, and he dressed for all 11 of the team's playoff games, too. He played The trade that brought him to the Avalanche at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline was one of a handful of risks the team took in pursuit of hockey immortality. Like most of the rest of the players added to the lineup on that season's deadline day, Brandon now plays elsewhere; he now plays left wing on the Washington Capitals' fourth line.

Brandon has carved out a role for himself in the NHL — one as a hard-checking, defensively-responsible, high-energy player. He doesn't play a ton of minutes (his career average is just under 11 and a half minutes per game), but he does play an important role as a penalty killer, which is a key facet of his game. Throughout a pair of seasons in both the USHL and the BCHL — as well as his three collegiate seasons with the Providence College Friars — before getting drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, "Dewey" showcased his offensive aptitude; like so many players who fill out the bottom-six on every NHL team, however, he has adapted his game to be much more well-rounded and has accepted a diminished role that consists of more selective deployment and less eye-catching statistics like goal scoring and powerplay time.

Dominic Maltais

Dominic Maltais, a native of Boucherville, Québec, spent over 15 years playing in various minor league teams after a strong QMJHL career with the Trois-Rivières Draveurs, the Saint-Jean Lynx, and the Beauport Harfangs. His impressive play didn't earn him an NHL contract, however (the QMJHL is widely considered the least developmentally-strong CHL league), so he made a career as a minor leaguer. While he never broke into the NHL or played on any notable international stage, Dominic was dedicated enough to the game of hockey that his career spanned parts of four decades.

His tie to the Avs is as miniscule as possible: During the 2000-01 season, he played a single game for the Hershey Bears — who were, at the time, the Avs' AHL affiliate — in which he logged zero points and finished the game minus-one. He also played in both the United Hockey League (UHL) and the Québec Semi-Pro Hockey League (QSPHL), now known as the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH), during that 2000-01 season. After his one game with the Bears, he would never play in a league higher than semi-pro for the remainder of his career. He retired after the 2009-10 season at 37 years old.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Trevor Duhaime (Brandon's father; Dominic's brother), Olivier Maltais (Brandon's uncle; Dominic's brother), Jason Maltais (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's son), Éliott Dalpé (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's nephew), Félix Maltais (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's nephew), Matthew Maltais (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's son), Éliott Dalpé (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's nephew), Will Lebel (Brandon's cousin; Dominic's nephew), Victor Dalpé (Complicated)

Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Alexandre Fortin

Relation:
Uncle (Jean-Sébastien) and nephew (Alexandre)

Jean-Sébastien Giguère

Long before Jean-Sébastien Giguère ever donned an Avs sweater, he had already made a name for himself as one of the premier netminders in the NHL. He kicked off his career in 1996-97 with eight games as a Hartford Whaler; the next two seasons were spent with the Calgary Flames, but much of his time was spent with the Saint John Flames of the AHL. His big break came with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2000-01 after the Ducks traded for him in the offseason. They acquired him to backup their original goaltender, Guy Herbert, whom they had claimed from the St. Louis Blues in the 1993-94 Expansion Draft. "Jiggy" played so well in his first season in Orange County that the Ducks ended up placing Herbert (a Troy, New York native) on waivers, from where he was claimed by his hometown New York Rangers.

Jean-Sébastien's star status truly blossomed during the 2002-03 NHL Playoffs. He led the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils, and despite playing for the losing team, took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. He distinguished himself as an elite netminder by posting five shutouts, a 1.62 GAA, and a .945 SV% across 21 games. Only five other players in the history of the NHL have ever won the Conn Smythe without also winning the Stanley Cup; Connor McDavid (2024) is the most recent to do so. Jean-Sébastien spent the last three seasons of his career backing up Semyon Varlamov in Colorado, and he put up better numbers — albeit in few games — than Varlamov in each of his first two seasons.

Alexandre Fortin

Alexandre Fortin, a Blainville, Québec native, went undrafted after three seasons (2014-15 through 2016-17) in the QMJHL with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. He spent all of the 2017-18 season and most of the next season with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL, where he played serviceably. He made his NHL debut in the end of 2018-19 with the Chicago Blackhawks (the parent team for the Ice Hogs) after former Avs' forward Andreas Martinsen's season ended due to lingering back injuries first sustained while playing with the Avalanche. As a result, Alexandre got his first chance to play hockey on an NHL sheet of ice.

He recorded three goals and three assists in 24 games, and he would never play in the NHL again after that season. The following year, he played for the Colorado Eagles, and he only registered three assists in 23 games, which wasn't enough production for the front office to keep him around. He spent the 2021-22 season with the Laval Rocket; he bounced around in the ECHL for much of the next three seasons, spent one year with Zvolen HKm of the Slovakian league, and has spent the last two campaigns back in North America with the Blackhawks — the Sorel-Tracy Blackhawks of the LNAH.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Stéphane Giguère, Maxime Giguère, Félix Giguère, Cameron Lee, Nathan St-Pierre, Alexis Giguère, Tom Lee, Sierra Lee, Julia Lee

Mario Gosselin and Antoine Bibeau

Relation:
Second cousins

Mario Gosselin

Mario Gosselin spent the majority of his pro career with the Québec Nordiques; for much of the 1980s, Mario was the Nords' most utilized netminder, and he was their go-to goalie during their 1985 playoff run, which included, for the second and final time in Nordiques' history, a series victory over their provincial rival, the Montréal Canadiens. After nearly 200 games started for Les Nords-de-Québec, Mario played for both the Los Angeles Kings and the Hartford Whalers (as well as both teams' respective minor league affiliate teams) before retiring following the 1993-94 season.

Statistically speaking, Mario wasn't the best goaltender the Nords ever had, and it's not particularly close. Out of the 23 netminders ever used by the NHL Nordiques, he ranks 7th in GAA (3.67) and tied for 11th in SV% (0.871). Despite this, however, he is still one of the most appreciated goaltenders the Nords ever deployed, largely due to the number of games in which he played for them (192, second in franchise history behind Dan Bouchard's 226) and wins (79, also second to Dan Bouchard, who had 107).

Antoine Bibeau

Antoine Bibeau's first interaction with the Avs came as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs: Antoine's NHL debut saw him square off against the Avs on December 11, 2016. He allowed three goals on 29 shots, and the Avs won the game 3-1. Antonie's own, brief stint in Colorado was the result of the numerous goaltender injuries that swept through the Avs' crease in the 2019-20 season. Both the starter, Philipp Grubauer, and the backup, Pavel Francouz, dealt with injuries in both the regular season and the playoffs that year; accordingly, the Avs also deployed both their AHL starter (Adam Warner) and backup (Antoine Bibeau), as well as Michael Hutchinson, for whom the Avs traded at the deadline that season.

In his two games as an Av, Antoine put up some underwhelimng and below-replacement-level stats, and he was ultimately relegated back to the AHL the following season, this time with the Chicago Wolves (the AHL affiliate of the Carlina Hurricanes) after not receiving a contract from the front office in Colorado. He never again played at the NHL level for any team; he now plays for Munich EHC of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

Other, notable family members in hockey: N/A

Charlotte Grahame, Jason Grahame, John Grahame, and Ron Grahame

Relation:
Husband (Ron) and wife (Charlotte)
Mother (Charlotte) and sons (Jason and John)
Father (Ron) and sons (Jason and John)
Brothers (Jason and John)

Charlotte Grahame

There is perhaps no greater unsung hero in Avs history than Charlotte Grahame. As she tells it, she, while working at the University of Denver, met Ron Grahame, who was a student and All-American goaltender for the DU Pioneers in the early '70s. After five years of dating, the two married, and — unbeknownst to them at the time — began what would become "the first family of Colorado hockey." In 1995, when the Québec Nordiques relocated to Denver, Charlotte had already established herself as a vital resource for team GM Pierre Lacroix, who was looking for local figures with sports knowledge to help ease the transition to this new market — a market that had been without professional hockey since the Colorado Rockies, themselves, relocated to New Jersey in 1982. Charlotte was the perfect candidate. Not only was she working in the front office for the Denver Nuggets at that time, but she and Lacroix knew of each other through her husband, Ron.

The day she and Lacroix first met, she expressed her desire to be a part of the team's front office, and Lacroix hired her then and there. From that moment, up through January 1, 2022, she served as the team's Executive Director of Hockey Administration. In 2001, when the team collected its second Stanley Cup, Lacroix ensured her name was engraved on it. So impactful was she that, just six months after leaving the position she had held for over two decades, then-GM of the Avs, Joe Sakic, called her and invited her to be a part of the team's journey toward — and ultimate claiming of — Lord Stanley's Cup against the Tampa Bay Lightning (another team she was familiar with because of her son John's connection with the Bolts). Her influence on the Avs, which covered all aspects of behind-the-scenes work from business to relations and much more, is still lauded by many, including Pierre Lacroix's son, Eric, who remembers just how much Pierre valued Charlotte:

"...[Pierre Lacroix] always gave credit where credit was due... Charlotte was the brains [behind the team's success]."

Jason Grahame

Jason Grahame never played for the Avs — he never played any higher than the collegiate level. However, after four seasons playing defense for University of Denver Pioneers from 1999-00 to 2002-03, he became an amateur scout for the Avalanche and served in that role for the 2003-04 season (which is what earned him a place on this list). His ties to the Centennial State run much deeper, however: he was born in Denver, played youth hockey in the Denver area, and — after said time with the Avs and the Pios (which served as the first father-son duo to ever play at DU) — he has gone on to do even more in the hockey community in Colorado.

Jason has served as the president of "Teammates for Kids" since 2019 and has been with the foundation since 2008. The foundation engages in a number of outreach areas, including fundraising and financial aid for kids and providing resources for underprivileged youth. Jason has also coached at various levels of youth hockey, including, most recently as the Head Coach of the Arapahoe 12U team this season.

John Grahame

John Grahame was drafted 229th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft — just 12 picks after future Bruins superstar netminder (and eventual teammate of John's) Tim Thomas was drafted by the Québec Nordiques. John spent two full seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins (where he helped them win the Calder Cup in the 1998-99 season) before dressing for the big league club for the first time the following season. In just his fourth career NHL appearance, he was the opposing goaltender for the Bruins during the first ever Avs game played at the then-named Pepsi Center on October 13, 1999. This came two days after the Avs played the Bruins in Boston — a game that served as John's third appearance in the NHL. It's fitting that John had so many ties to the Avalanche organization at the beginning of his career, as his family's ties with the team run deep, and John, himself, would ultimately play for the Avs organization. Before his time with the Avs, he backed up Nikolai Khabibulin as the Tampa Bay Lightning claimed the 2004 Stanley Cup, and got his name engraved on the Cup just three years after his mother earned the same honor. The two remain the only mother-son duo to be enshrined on Lord Stanley's Mug.

After a goaltending career that had taken him through college, the AHL, the NHL, the KHL, and even to Torino, Italy for the 2006 Winter Olympics, John ultimately found himself stateside once more, where he again played in the AHL. For his last two seasons before retiring (2009-10 and 2010-11), John played for the Avs' AHL affiliate at the time, the Lake Erie Monsters. Early on in his final season, an injury to Craig Anderson resulted in John getting called up and serving as the backup to Peter Budaj, but John never saw any action on the ice. In 2012, he was signed by the Islanders, but once again didn't play. He moved on from playing hockey shortly thereafter, but he remained very much active in the hockey community in and around Denver. Alongside being a former "Teammate" in the aforementioned "Teammates for Kids" foundation, John also serves as the Vice President of the Arapahoe Warriors Youth Hockey Organization in which his brother coaches.

Ron Grahame

As the patriarch of "the first family of Colorado hockey," Ron Grahame was the person who started it all. It was his hockey upbringing and stellar play at the University of Denver that helped him establish himself as a hockey player — let alone meet his future wife, Charlotte — and the rest unfolded from the baseline that Ron first began. His strong play with the Pioneers wasn't appealing enough for an NHL team to draft him, and he ultimately signed with the Houston Aeros, where he got to play with one of the most enduring hockey families in history: Gordie, Marty, and Mark Howe. After four seasons with the Aeros, including the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons in which the Aeros won the league championship, Ron signed with the Boston Bruins, where he played for one season (1977-78). Before the start of the next season, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a first-round pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft — the pick that was used to select Ray Bourque. Fittingly, Ron's son, John, played with Bourque at the tail end of his time in Boston, and Bourque was later, famously traded to the Avalanche in pursuit of Stanley Cup dreams.

Ron's time in the NHL spanned three more seasons after his departure from Boston, including a final season spent with the Québec Nordiques. After his playing career ended, he did what his two sons did, too: he remained active in the sport and in the community. Two years after his last appearance in net, Ron became the Assistant/Associate coach with the Pioneers; he held that position from 1982 to 1990. From that point, Ron became even more involved in Pio hockey, serving in the following positions from 1993 to 2019:

- Assistant Athletic Director for Operations and Compliance
- Associate Athletics Director for Intercollegiate Sport Programs
- Assistant Vice Chancellor/Senior Associate Athletics Director
- University of Denver Athletic Director

Other, notable family members in hockey: N/A

Ben Guité and Pierre Guité

Relation:
Father (Pierre) and son (Ben)

Ben Guité

Ben Guité's path to the NHL was wrought with changes and uncertainty, and his time in Colorado — the only stop in his career where he had any sort of regular playing time — came nearly a decade after he was first drafted into the NHL by the Montréal Canadiens in 1997; despite drafting him, the Canadiens never signed him, and he wound up in the New York Islanders' system at the AHL level. He was then traded to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, but wasn't signed by them either when his tenure was up. He was signed by the Bruins and played one game in Boston before finding himself in search of a new home once again. Ultimately, the Colorado Avalanche signed him, and he played for the team for three full seasons, beginning with the 2006-07 season.

In his time in the Centennial State, Ben played 96% of his career NHL games. He wasn't the most electrifying player on the team, but he played a depth role and was a great penalty-killer, faceoff-winner, and two-way player who could chip in offensively on occasion — much like Jack Drury, a contemporary Avs player and another name on this list. Ben finished his journeyman career with stops in both Nashville and Columbus before turning to coaching in his post-playing days and eventually returning to the University of Maine, where he played college hockey, to serve as first an associate coach and then the head coach during his eight years behind the bench. He is now the head coach at Bowdoin College.

Pierre Guité

Pierre Guité played over 200 games with the Québec Nordiques during their WHA days. In that span, which included three different stints in "la belle province," he played at nearly a half-point-per-game clip. Additionally, he scored five goals en route to the Nordiques claiming the 1977 Avco World Trophy, which was that league's version of the Stanley Cup. Throughout the remainder of is professional hockey career, spent entirely in the WHA and its affiliate leagues, Pierre also played for the Michigan Stags, the Baltimore Blades, the Cincinnati Stingers, and the Edmonton Oilers.

Interestingly, he played for three teams named the Blackhawks/Black Hawks (which makes the aforementioned Alexandre Fortin's two Blackhawks teams seem slight), but none of them were the NHL team — he played for the Sorel Black Hawks/Eperviers of the QJAHL and the St. Catharines Black Hawks of the OHA-Jr. before making the jump to the WHA, and he finished his career with the CenHL's Dallas Black Hawks for his final season in 1978-79.

Other, notable family members in hockey: Patrick Guité (Ben's son; Pierre's grandson)

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