The Avalanche honored the late Butch Mousseau with a moment of silence at the Pepsi Center before Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild, and NHL officials across North America also paid tribute to the Fairview High School and University of Colorado graduate from Erie.
Mousseau died of head trauma Friday in Grand Rapids, Mich., a week after the NCAA referee fell during warm-ups and hit his head on the ice before a Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff game. He was 48.
NHL referees and linesmen donned self-made “BM” stickers on their helmets Saturday, and that will continue through this week. Mousseau once worked an NHL preseason game, becoming the first American Indian official in the league’s history.
Mikko Rantanen back to AHL:
Mikko Rantanen, the Avs’ 2015 first-round pick (10th overall) and an American Hockey League all-star, played in his ninth NHL game Saturday but will not get to 10 this season. He was reassigned to the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage to preserve the first year of his three-year, entry-level contract, Avs general manager Joe Sakic said.
Rantanen’s ELC will begin next season, Sakic said.
Rantanen, 19, has yet to produce a point for Colorado and entered Saturday with a minus-7 rating. But he had been playing on the fourth line with limited minutes. He leads San Antonio with 52 points (including 21 goals) in just 44 games. In addition to playing nine NHL games, Rantanen captained Finland to the World Junior Championship gold medal in January.
Home-ice disadvantage:
The Avs fell to 17-17-4 at home, only .500 in NHL math. Based on actual wins (two points) and losses (one point or none), Colorado is 17-21 at the Pepsi Center.
“We’ve done a good job on the road this year, but that means nothing if you can’t get the wins at home. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be well above .500 at home,” defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “We have a great rink, great fans. It’s frustrating we haven’t been performing at home this year.”
Colorado is 21-16-0 on the road heading into a two-game trip that begins Monday at Nashville. The Avs conclude a back-to-back set Tuesday at St. Louis.
Footnotes:
Goaltender Devan Dubnyk, playing his 100th game with the Wild, posted his fifth shutout of the season and 19th of his NHL career.
Minnesota winger Zach Parise scored two goals, giving him five in his past two games. He has 30 points (including 13 goals) in 26 career games against the Avalanche.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
