I've been thinking of ways to have fun with Colorado Avalanche holiday content for a few weeks. The team is incredible so far in 2025-26, but writing regular season update articles is expected. It's the bread and butter here at MHS. I wanted to get a little goofy this year, because deep down I'm an uncle doing his best to keep it light and fun this time of year. I'll get personal and sentimental too, but who doesn't love a holiday heart-warmer?
Around Thanksgiving, I remembered seeing someone on the internet compare players to Turkey Day staples. Now, this thought experiment was from a few years ago, and I think it involved NBA players, and not hockey players. I knew right away that I didn't want to just do my version of that game. That's when this germ of an idea burrowed into my brain.
Imagining hockey players as Christmas gifts felt right up my alley. Not just because the comparisons could be wide ranging and thus wouldn't feel like someone else's re-heated leftovers, but because it would better allow me an avenue to remember special moments from my own life, and acknowledge the family who gave me those gifts. I promise, every one of them are also avowed Colorado Avalanche fans.
Before we begin the list proper, I would also add that I chose to cap the list at 12. As much as I would love to include the entire roster, I felt an even dozen was an appropriate number given the holiday. Even if I did sneak an extra one in there for a baker's dozen. Now, without further ado, I present to you, my Christmas list.
Brent Burns - A subscription to ButcherBox
You know that subscription service that sends artisanal meats in the mail? That seems like something the oldest player on Colorado's roster would know about. Forget the limited scope of the measly offerings of the Bacon of the Month Club. ButcherBox is so much more.
Plenty of families send out Hickory Farms assortments or even a big box of Omaha Steaks from my neck of the woods. Where ButcherBox has all those others beat is in the sheer variety of meats they include, from beef, to salmon and pork - they have it all. Their inventory is over 80 items long.
Brent Burns came to Colorado with one thing on his mind, and that's finally raising a Stanley Cup. All his teammates agree, it's time Brent Burns tasted ultimate glory. Brent Burns doesn't have time to ask 'where's the beef?' Brent Burns is the beef.
For a guy who began his hockey life as a good forward, and then later transitioned into an elite defenseman, Brent Burns showcased an unexpected versatility. An annual subscription also mirrors Burns because he's a reliable ironman.
Gavin Brindley - The rookie card
Holy moly, what luck did Avalanche fans strike with Gavin Brindley? I was high on him out of training camp, but even I couldn't have foreseen his impact. I've started calling him game-winning Gav in my house. The dynamic rookie has already accounted for three game-winners this season.
Perhaps even more impressive, is that Brindley has dealt with minor injuries twice this year, and returned to scoring immediately upon re-entry into the lineup. Every Colorado Avalanche fan is over the moon about the potential in Brindley. This fact got me thinking about the time my Uncle Ron gifted me a John Elway rookie card at Christmas.
Yup, a John Elway rookie card! As my uncle later explained to me about the card, a gift like this is an investment. The Denver Broncos legend was at least one Super Bowl deep into his career at the time. I want to say it was in the run up to Denver's back-to-back championships that I got the card. As with many kid memories, the exact timeline is a bit hazy.
One detail I will always remember though, is how he hid the card, taped to the underside of a small box with a single golf ball inside. Don't freak out guys, the card was well protected, and still is to this day. I'm not looking to sell, it's the memory that's priceless.
Artturi Lehkonen - Re-gifting done right
Artturi Lehkonen was actually the last name I added to this list as I was planning it in my head. Oddly that felt fitting, because Lehkonen is an unsung hero. So often people who aren't Colorado Avalanche diehards forget about the guy the fans lovingly call 'The Good Stick', or 'Good Stick Lehky'.
His goal in Tuesday night's win at Seattle was perfectly-timed for this article. It was emblematic of how he got his nickname, and helped this comp find clarity. It was a fantastic re-direct from a Martin Necas shot that found the back of the net.
Lehkonen has made it a habit of coming up clutch, just when the team needs him. In a way, Lehkonen himself was re-gifted to the Avalanche by a Montreal Canadiens club that, quite frankly, didn't know what they had. The winger became one of the final touches on the 2022 Stanley Cup roster and is now a bit of a secret ingredient to Colorado's sauce.
Re-gifting can get a bad rap, or wrap, if you want to be clever about it. But sometimes, it can be clutch practice. As long as the gift in question finds the right home in the end, that's all that really matters. Artturi Lehkonen has that home now.
Josh Manson - Boxing gloves
Big Josh Manson is a fighter. Every team needs at least one. Much like with the previous example, Tuesday night's game proved that. The Colorado Avalanche have a few guys who are known to like a scrap, but none of them are feared quite like 'The Manimal',
When I think of boxing gloves, I actually remember a particular birthday and not Christmas. But allow me this tiny indulgence because the reasoning for the comparison gets good. I believe I was about eleven, which would have made my big brother twelve. Our birthdays are exactly two weeks apart, so most of the time we would have one big party.
This particular year, we had a party at an arcade. We ended up pooling all our tickets together and getting an absolute haul of mostly forgettable junk. The one thing we decided on last was a single pair of blue and silver boxing gloves. We didn't have enough for two pairs, but obviously we were used to sharing things.
That night, we had a massive sleepover with too many friends. Having a single pair of boxing gloves, we held a one-handed boxing tournament. I don't remember who won, only that it was definitely not me.
What was important about that memory is that my brother always let me have the right glove, for the natural advantage. As any good older sibling would, he was also quick to remind me that if we ever had to fight for real, I shouldn't worry. Because he would do it for me.
That right there is also the role of a hockey club's best fighter. You protect your teammates when necessary. Sometimes, like Tuesday, it ends up being pivotal and turns the tide of a game.
Brock Nelson - Inherited golf clubs
Brock Nelson was Colorado's biggest free agency signing this summer. This shouldn't surprise fans because he was also the team's biggest add at the trade deadline last season. Retaining him wasn't cheap, but it was essential to maximizing the championship window.
I compare him to your dad's or grandad's golf clubs because he is time-tested. Nelson is old in hockey years, and he looks older still. Fans all around the league like to joke about ole' Nelly. Just this week I saw him being compared to a 50's sitcom dad.
But right now, almost every club who sees themselves as contenders would love to have him suiting up in their sweater. For my own part, when I saw him in the team's Christmas photos, in a very different holiday sweater, I thought he looked like golf personified.
There's a 2C who absolutely has tips on how to adjust your stance and swing. I went to google for verification and learned that he does indeed love golf. That isn't unusual in hockey of course. But in the year of Happy Gilmore 2, it felt right include in such an exercise.
Brock Nelson might not be in his prime anymore. But like a quality set of clubs, he's got a lot of tricks in his proverbial bag. He can play the game heavy and send the puck home close from putter distance with deft touch if you need it.
Valeri Nichushkin - Russian model train
Is this comparison too on the nose? Maybe. But the man they call 'The Chu Chu Train' could be nothing else.
He's big and powerful and faster than anyone really expects him to be. When Nichushkin is really going, he absolutely eats up space on the ice. Just like an actual model train set, if you let things get away from you, his presence could come to have an outsized presence in any room.
The train may need a little attention, but if you lay down the necessary track, what he can do for you could be beautiful. Nichushkin's playoff run on the way to the 2022 Stanley Cup win was downright legendary. With the Avalanche healthier than they’ve been in years, a derailment might not lead to utter disaster, but if Valeri Nichushkin stays the course, he could help make the Avalanche unstoppable.
Jared Bednar - A stack of books you should read
Finding the right answer for Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was a little tougher than you might think. The easy answer for a coach in this scenario was probably chess set. The cheeky answer would have been a blender.
But as an avid reader, I wanted to fit books in here somewhere, and Bednar provides the best opportunity. Reading, just like practice, is mostly a chosen endeavor. Although I don't buy the recently re-surfaced assertion that 'the Avalanche don't practice',
Every once in a while, fans will bring this idea out and think it's true. Maybe because Bednar himself will say something about formalized drills not being the most important thing. But like any good coach, Bednar never stops teaching. Yes, he's drawing stuff up in timeouts. But in the broader scheme coaching is teaching and maximizing efficiency with assignments that stick with players long-term.
Good books are like that too. I am an academic at heart, and as such, I always give out books to my three nephews and my niece. Obviously, I give them other gifts they want more, the stuff they ask for directly. But the books are extra because I hope they read them, eventually.
The Lumberyard - LEGOS
So you wanna build a Wedgewall and a Blackwall? Yes, for the record, that line came to me days ago, and to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman". It just so happens to be my favorite song from Frozen. I'm an uncle, at Christmas time, we've been over this.
The best goalie tandem in the league is represented on the list by an institution in toys. LEGOS can be anything in the right builder's hands. Colorado pulled off what now looks like highway robbery in retrospect.
Last season, they traded for two goalies from underperforming clubs and now have two All-Star caliber goaltenders. If I were more beholden to the wood theme, I might have gone with Lincoln Logs. But lets be honest, nobody plays with those anymore.
LEGOS, meanwhile, are beloved by everybody. They are adaptable and have a set themed for every occasion and licensed property. Nearly every kid I know had a LEGOS phase. Right now, the Colorado Avalanche are a fortress built on excellent play in net.
Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood are the exception to the rules of this list. They are a matched set and might count as one spot on the list overall but collectively they might be the most important aspect of the Colorado Avalanche roster. Together they are bigger, stronger, and more imposing to all challengers.
Martin Necas - Remote control DeLorean
Martin Necas, aka Marty McFly. He's sleek, he's fast, he's a zone entry cheat code on skates. And yeah, I was quick to christen him with this very specific, slightly nerdy nickname when he arrived last season.
Was it all so I could have fun posting Back to the Future gifs in group chats and on social media with Avalanche fan moots? Who's to say really. It did make it perfectly acceptable for me to scream " 88 miles per-hour Marty" like an over-caffeinated Doc Brown whenever Necas turns on the jets.
Martin Necas signed his massive extension in October, and then promptly delivered signature turbo-speed tallies to open back-to-back games. That is a trend the team has collectively kept up at a remarkable pace this season.
While moving on from a former franchise cornerstone in Mikko Rantanen was never going to be easy, Marty Necas made the transition as painless as possible. The guy flying around with 88 on his back might not be piloting a literal time machine. But you can bet your last dollar if the Avalanche are going to get back to the future they envision, once again lifting a Stanley Cup, he's going to be instrumental.
Gabriel Landeskog - A young Avalanche fan's first jersey
When I was a kid, jerseys were maybe the gifts I coveted most. At least they were the thing I wanted every year. This gift might constitute a bigger bill for mom and dad, but the desire to add to my collection was eternal.
I wrote about my favorite Avalanche sweaters some time ago. I recounted then that my first Avalanche jersey was none other than Joe Sakic, 'Super Joe'. The first ever captain of the franchise. The reason Gabe Landeskog represents this spot on the list then should be fairly self-explanatory.
Landeskog is not only everything you should want in a team leader and thus a captain; He exemplifies what fandom of a team is all about. His personal perseverance and dedication to return after what many thought would be a career-ending injury only vindicates his special status with the organization.
The fact that the Avalanche are humming along atop the standings with 55 points before Christmas is in no small part a testament to Landeskog's immense impact. He might not be the top line talent he was previously, but put him anywhere in this lineup, and he just works.
Now, I've had many more Avalanche jerseys over the years. In my closet right now you'd find a Chris Drury, given to me by my aunt, and a Dan Hinote, handed-down from my sister, just to name two. But that first Joe Sakic sweater that started it all was most certainly a prized Christmas gift from mom and dad.
Nathan MacKinnon - Limited edition paintball marker
Nathan MacKinnon is the league leader in goals, overall points, and plus/minus in 2025-26. He's currently the frontrunner for the Art Ross and the Hart trophies. He's the most dangerous man with the puck on his stick.
MacKinnon is playing unreal hockey right now and leading this offensive juggernaut like only he can. In my family, that means laying paint like a limited edition Dark Marker. To understand this reference you might have to know just a bit about paintball, so let me school you real quick.
My old man, Edsel Poorman, is a paintball legend. Pops is also a once upon a time captain of another Avalanche. They too were World Champs. Around the time of their reign atop pro paintball, my dad also helped start a line of top quality markers.
It all started with the Dark Angel, but in the decades since there have been Dark versions of pretty much any and all of the best markers from other brands and manufacturers. My dad doesn't know I'm giving him all this love in an article today, but I know it'll be the best gift I could give him this holiday season.
A Dark Marker makes sense as a comparison to Nathan MacKinnon in a lot of ways. It is without a doubt the most expensive gift on the list. But the price tag alone isn't a guarantee of quality and performance. Gifting one does come with the expectation that you'll use it well.
While other scorers around the NHL might have bigger contracts right now, Nathan MacKinnon is showing what world class talent looks like when combined with great effort. He's Colorado's biggest gun and is compensated like it.
Avalanche fans know what it looks like when 'Angry Nate' arrives. Perhaps the best example we have witnessed this season was provoking the double ankle-breaker move that won it in OT against the Rangers a few weeks ago. Next time that happens I'll definitely be thinking of it as MacKinnon flipping that dark-mode switch.
Cale Makar - next-gen game console
Maybe I should have said next, next, next-gen. Cale Makar may as well be considered a PlayStation 8. He is the best defenseman in hockey and you're trippin' if you think otherwise. Either that or you're most definitely a Minnesota Wild fan, or a Dallas Stars fan.
We here at MHS do acknowledge the elite talent of Quinn Hughes and even Miro Heiskanen. But we still obviously see Cale Makar as the best. Even with Minnesota's big move, and our most hated rival playing great hockey, the Avalanche are at the top and rightfully so.
It brings to mind the ever present but mostly inane 'console wars' debate around gaming. We all have our favorite, and we all have our reasons. But the most important point of all isn't that I'm right and you're wrong. It's that games are fun and there to be played.
Cale Makar is next-gen because he has revolutionized what it means to play d-man in the NHL. He's the best offensive-defenseman the game has ever seen. But the very minute a detractor wants to downplay his defensive acumen, he'll race back to erase a rush just before it materializes. When it's all said and done, Makar might have a pile of Norris trophies.
Hopefully, he'll also have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup a few more times. His next contract is coming up soon and in the old days that would have been as good as getting a console on launch day and knowing you’ll be good for the better part of a decade.
The best memory I have of getting a game console for Christmas is actually tied to the Sega Dreamcast. The console itself was short-lived. Makar's career is already three times as long as the Dreamcast's cultural footprint.
The personal reason, it mattered so much to me, was that it was mine. In my room, with my own TV too. As I mentioned before, I was used to sharing everything. Most of the games on it were average at best. But buddy, I will defend Shenmue and Jet Set Radio until I'm older than Brent Burns.
If you enjoyed this off-the-wall article, let me know by sharing it. It's the most fun I've had here at Mile High Sticking, and I'd be up for doing more things like it in the future.
* This article is in loving memory of Alex Poorman and Ronald Vance.