Drury tracked down the puck in the neutral zone and chipped it back into the Los Angeles end. His reward was a hard hit from Kings tough guy Jeff Mallott into the boards inches away from TNT analyst Brian Boucher.

Just as Drury offered a two-handed response, Logan O’Connor was flipping the puck over Anton Forsberg’s glove and into the Kings’ net for a two-goal lead 5:50 into the final period of a Game 1 victory at Ball Arena.

“Got the puck there, was just trying to put it in (the offensive zone),” Drury said. “OC’s so fast. I feel like he does that a lot, where he isn’t even in the picture and then all of a sudden, he has the puck. So it’s a great effort by him.

It was a grind-it-out Game 1 for the Avalanche, and a great start to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the club’s “identity line.” O’Connor was the hero, scoring the game-winning goal. It was his first since the 2025 postseason.

In between were 12 long months.

“Super happy to get it out of the way,” O’Connor said. “Felt like our line over the course of the last couple weeks here during the season, we were continuing to build things. Just try to stick with our game plan. For us, our game translates well to playoffs. It¶¶Òõap a lot of simplicity and muck it up and just wear teams down. It was nice to get that one and finish the job off.”

O’Connor had two goals and six points for the Avs in their seven-game series loss to the Dallas Stars a year ago. He was one of the team’s best and most consistent players throughout the epic series.

Then, for the second straight year, he needed hip surgery. He missed the end of the 2023-24 season and the 2024 playoffs because of the first hip issue.

He had offseason surgery to correct the second. The timeline for him to return was early November. But then a second, still undisclosed issue popped up. Weeks went by without the answers he needed or a plan for recovery and return.

It limited him to the final 13 regular-season games, allowing a quick tuneup before the most important part of the campaign.

“I mean, he’s worked so hard,” said Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, who missed three full regular seasons with knee issues. “Obviously, he was able to come back the last month or so, but hasn’t found the score sheet. We’ve just kept telling him to save them. Save them until we really need him, and tonight we needed it, and he put it in. It was great — well deserved.”

O’Connor thought he had his first NHL goal in 358 days a little earlier in this contest. He ripped a shot past L.A. goalie Anton Forsberg, but Drury had been knocked into the netminder by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty just before the puck sizzled by him.

The goal was waved off for goalie interference, and the decision was upheld after the Avs challenged. Undeterred, that line kept working.

Eventually, they were rewarded with another goal from O’Connor, and there was no doubt it would count.

“For OC, I’m really happy for him,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “That’s a long road to get back, and Gabe had gone through (a) similar thing. Being out of the lineup is the worst thing when you’re a player, because you’re just wanting to help and you’re wanting to make an impact. Then you come back and your game’s not going to be 100%. It’s not going to be the top tier right away.

“He’s continuing to work through that to be effective, always committed, always going to work, always going to do everything he can for the team … He’s been really good, and we know he can chip in on the offensive side of things. He did tonight, and I expect he’ll continue to make an impact.”

Depth is a clear advantage for the Avalanche in this series. Colorado’s fourth line exploited that in Game 1.

Drury, O’Connor and Joel Kiviranta were the team’s best regular trio, generating 62.3% of the expected goals while on the ice together at 5-on-5, according to Money Puck.

Bednar’s trust in his “identity line” at this time of year is a staple of the best Avs teams during his tenure. It’s not surprising that while others around him have changed, O’Connor always seems to end up on that line by mid-April.

“It’s hard work and relentlessness,” Bednar said of his fourth line. “They spent the bulk of their time playing in the offensive zone and pursuing pucks. I think that’s exactly what we need from them. We saw it from them last year in the playoffs … It’s a highly-effective line that I can trust against anybody, and that’s all because of the hard work and commitment that they have.”

Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor scored, while Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves in his first career Stanley Cup Playoffs start, and the Colorado Avalanche ground out an 2-1 victory in Game 1 of its opening-round series Sunday at Ball Arena.

The Avs, winners of the Presidents’ Trophy and the top team in the NHL since Nov. 1, did not dominate the Kings, who finished 20th in the league standings, as was the consensus expectation. The visitors played well, keeping this game from being an up-and-down affair for much of it.

Wedgewood and the Avs handled their business, albeit with some nervy moments mixed in, and collected a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. Game 2 is back here Tuesday night.

“I’m really happy with how we played, too,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I think that’s the kind of game you can expect playing the Kings. It’s a tight-checking team. What did they play, 50-something one-goal games and low-scoring games? I’m comfortable with that. I think our team’s comfortable with that.

“Managed the puck well, so our guys played the right way and got the job done tonight. Now we’ve got to go do it again.”

Lehkonen broke the stalemate with 4:31 left in the second period. It was a classic Lehkonen play.

The puck went behind the net, and Lehkonen was there to harass Kings defenseman Drew Doughty’s attempt to rim the puck out of danger. Nathan MacKinnon thwarted said attempt along the wall, then sent the puck at the net. Lehkonen was there again, ready to corral the rebound and slide it past Forsberg.

“Getting the first one is always big,” Avs forward Jack Drury said. “(Lehkonen), I always tell him he’s a net-front savant. He’s so good in front of the net. He won a battle and put it in.”

That wasn’t the first time the puck was behind Forsberg. Colorado thought it had the opener earlier in the middle period. O’Connor ripped a shot from the right circle past the Los Angeles netminder, but it was immediately waived for goalie interference on Drury.

The Avs challenged the call because it was contact with Doughty that sent Drury off-balance into Forsberg, but the no-goal ruling was upheld and the home side assessed a penalty for the failed challenge.

Per the NHL, the review confirmed a ruling in accordance with Rule 69.1 which states, in part, “Goals should be disallowed only if: (1) an attacking player, either by his positioning or contact, impairs the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely within in his crease or defend his goal.”

It’s been a thorny season, to say the least, for the Avs with league rulings on goalie interference, so maybe it was fitting for the first puck in the net this postseason to be a controversial one.

“I saw Jack Drury driving the front of the net, and I saw Doughty make contact,” Bednar said. “Disguised it pretty well, but backs into him, knocks him off his edges into the goalie and we shot in the net. To me, I’d like to see it count. They saw it different, not losing any sleep over it. Kill the penalty and move on.”

There were a lot of tense moments in the opening 35 minutes before Lehkonen’s goal. Colorado dominated the puck for the first 5-6 minutes of this game, but not nearly as much as expected after that.

The Kings had two great chances to steal the opening goal, but both Doughty and Artemi Panarin missed an open net with chances when Wedgewood was down or out of position to make a stop. Colorado also had three chances with the power play, but came up empty.

O’Connor did get his first goal of the 2025-26 season early in the third to give the home side a cushion. Drury sent the puck towards the Kings end as he was heading towards the bench, and after a couple of bounces on the Ball Arena ice, O’Connor was able to track it down behind an unsuspecting Kings defense and then roof an in-tight shot past Forsberg.

It was O’Connor’s first goal since Game 4 of the opening-round series against Dallas last year. He had two assists in 13 regular-season contests this year after missing much of the campaign with offseason hip surgery and then a second undisclosed issue that popped up during his recovery.

His goal was part of an excellent afternoon for Colorado’s fourth line, which included O’Connor, Drury and Joel Kiviranta — not Ross Colton, who had practiced with that group Saturday but became the odd-man out for Game 1.

Panarin ended Wedgewood’s shutout bid with 2:22 remaining in third period. He scored through some traffic with the Kings on the power play and with the goalie pulled.

Joel Armia took a high-sticking penalty with 1:48 remaining to short-circuit any hope of a late Los Angeles comeback.

Wedgewood, 33, became the eighth-oldest goalie in league history to make his first NHL playoff start. He finished the regular season with the league’s best save percentage (.921) and goals against average (2.02) and it was hard to argue with his coach’s decision after this opening act.

“Yeah, just a really consistent presence back there for us,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. “He made the saves when we needed him to. Wish we could have helped them out on the one there, but just tough. I thought he played great and helped us out a lot.”

Elder was one of four presenters during the HALO conference and meetings Tuesday at Ball Arena. Hosted by Arik Parnass, who leads the Colorado Avalanche analytics department, the conference was the largest collection of NHL analytics staffers the league has ever seen. Each of the presentations was a finalist for the conference’s hackathon competition.

A graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, Elder gave a presentation on a metric to better define forechecking success called PRESS (puck recovery and exit suppression score). Shortly after Elder’s presentation, there were several attendees who wanted to speak further with him on the topic.

“It’s been great,” Elder said. “I’ve never presented at a conference before, let alone in front of like, real NHL people. It was very cool. I was a little nervous, like I think everyone would be, but I felt very prepared, so I feel like I did an OK job.

“I tend to think that no one is going to solve hockey, or come up with a singular thing that is like, ‘This is how you win more games,’ or ‘this is how you score more goals.’ I’m very interested in the aspects of the game that are somethings like the game within the game. With forechecking, the object isn’t to score a goal, it’s to get the puck back. That’s an aspect of the game that feels like it could be optimized in some way.”

Elder grew up in Northern Virginia, rooting for the Washington Capitals. His goal after school is to some day work for an NHL team.

As part of the hackathon competition, all of the contestants were given the same set of data — a batch of AHL games from two seasons ago — to work with. Elder and his partner, Jonathan Pipping, went through about 28,000 forechecks, and developed a model for league-average success rates in two components of forechecking.

They were then able to score players against that average. One member of an NHL team’s analytics staff said the findings from Elder and Pipping lined up pretty closely with what his club’s research into forechecking success has found.

Colorado Avalanche forward Joel Kiviranta didn’t spend much time with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL, but he was there during the timeframe of this set of games. He also scored as one of the top-five forecheckers in Elder’s metric.

“I’m sure there are groups that are collecting that data and analyzing it however they want to analyze it,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said. “As the game evolves, analytics have obviously become a huge part of sports in general, and especially with hockey. It would definitely be fascinating to see the tendencies and player-to-player matchups, how teams do it differently, and what the success is, where the puck is, where the player is, and whatnot.

“I think at some point analytics can become overwhelming, because hockey is so dynamic. Baseball analytics are a very easy, set number of things that they look at, whereas hockey is so fluid that I think it can definitely get challenging. I’m sure those guys are brilliant for a reason. I’m sure they have ways around it.”

The Avs are one of the most aggressive forechecking teams in the NHL. It’s the the fuel for their offensive engine. Colorado wants the game played at a frenetic pace, and dialing up the pressure far away from their own goaltender when the Avs don’t have the puck often allows them to create turnovers and continued offensive threats.

NHL teams have been trying to identify the best forecheckers for as long as there has been scouting. Avs coach Jared Bednar has said how his team forechecks is one of the first indicators he looks at to see if his team came ready to work in a particular game.

“I mean, I would love it,” Parker Kelly said of a standardized forechecking metic. “As a forechecking guy, yeah. I feel like there’s got to be forechecking stats out there already. Maybe it’s not a league-wide set, but we have our own in here and that’s a big stat we do look at.

“I feel like that’s kind of a staple of our game. When our forecheck is humming, it’s usually a good indicator of our legs. We’re hunting the puck. We’re making good decisions. I’d love to sit down and go through all of those types of stats. I find them really interesting.”

It takes hard work to forecheck, but there’s more to it than a player just skating around and throwing his body around to be an effective forechecker at the highest levels. There is skill and craft involved. Most of the best forecheckers don’t rely on big hits.

Guys like Kelly, O’Connor and Kiviranta are well-versed in the other team’s plan to get the puck out of danger. There are times when the best forechecks don’t involve hitting at all, but rushing a defenseman into making a poor decision.

As Elder noted in his presentation, the forechecker who creates the original turnover often never touches the puck and therefore never gets any credit in a traditional box score. Elder’s model hopes to define better credit for players at each level of a forechecking system.

One of the attendees at the HALO conference was Andrew Cogliano, special assistant to Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland. Cogliano was one of the league’s most respected forecheckers for years. It’s not hard to imagine a world where, with more defined and readily available data like Elder’s PRESS metic on who the best forecheckers are, a player like Cogliano being an even more valuable commodity.

“I think with the skill of it, in regard to things like body position, angling, stick position, that’s something that would be hard to put a metric on,” O’Connor said. “It is a bit more challenging, but as you average things out over a season or a career, you could definitely see tendencies and who specializes in it, and who can make a career out of doing that, for sure.”

The puck came to him, just to the right of what appeared to be a wide-open net. The game was already won, but the third line for the Colorado Avalanche earned a goal on this night. Deserved at least one, if not more.

But just as Drury’s shot cut through the air en route to his ninth goal of the season, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom saved his most spectacular work in a night full of excellence for last.

He snatched Drury’s shot with a desperation lunge to his left.

“I’m sure Jack’s going to have some nightmares about that one,” linemate Parker Kelly said. “I told him we don’t want to score to make it 5-1. We want our next goal to be to go up 3-2.

“I’m sure we’re all a little frustrated. You feel like you’re working so hard to get the puck back. You’re working hard to forecheck hard. You’re doing well in the d-zone. It¶¶Òõap everything but getting on the score sheet. You’ve got to keep going with it. At the end of the day, you’re playing good hockey, so it¶¶Òõap not the end of the world.”

The Avs overwhelmed the Blackhawks at United Center. The final score was 4-1, though Soderblom prevented it from being twice that many.

Colorado’s third line had one of the most dominant nights any trio has had in an NHL game this season. Drury, Kelly and Joel Kiviranta set up residency in the offensive zone Friday night.

They peppered Soderblom with scoring chances. They bullied a young Chicago team into turnovers, rarely spending much time at their own end of the ice.

“I feel like it was right from the start, from the opening draw,” Avs center Brock Nelson said. “They get it in there, and they’re kind of banging around, and they get a couple good looks. Working low to high, causing havoc on the forecheck, getting pucks back.

“I think that¶¶Òõap the recipe for all the lines at times. They may be the best at it more often than not. All three of those guys work extremely hard. I thought they were really good down low, getting pucks back and grinding it out, finding chances in space to get good looks.”

A cursory glance at a traditional box score wouldn’t reveal the way the Avs’ third line ran the show Monday night. They combined for no points. They weren’t on the ice for a goal.

The underlying numbers were staggering. When Kelly was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Avalanche had 30 shot attempts in 12:28. The Blackhawks had four.

It was 26-4 for Drury, in 25 fewer seconds. It was 22-4 for Kiviranta is just 10:28. All three players had an expected goals for percentage (xGF%) of at least 89.03%.

The league leader in xGF% at 5-on-5 this season is Ottawa’s Jordan Spence, at 61.75%.

“I think that’s just great details by us,” Kelly said. “We’re really pushing to try to finally get one and break through this little seal that’s on the net right now for us, but at the end of the day, just got to look at the process. Since Jack, Kivi and I have been put together, it’s been some pretty good hockey. Definitely a lot of chemistry there. I feel like we’re doing really well at doing what makes our line successful.

“We’re pretty much doing everything but scoring right now.”

Kiviranta leads the Avs, who have played at least 100 minutes at 5-on-5 in xGF% since the Olympic break, at 66.52%. Drury is second, and Kelly is sixth, and they’re all better than 59%.

They’ve been together as a trio recently, thanks in part to all the injuries among the forward groups.

“It’s a relatively simple game there,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “They’ve been really disciplined with the puck. If they have a chance to attack off the rush, they do it. If they don’t, they’re making good decisions and putting it in behind the other team, going after it and they’re extremely hard working. It’s a connected group of forwards.

“They never stop skating, working and competing, and that’s hard to play against. They’re creating a bunch of scoring chances. They’re relied defensively, on the penalty kill. All these guys play on it. So I just think they’re doing a heck of a job setting the tone for us.”

Kelly, Drury and Logan O’Connor were together at the end of last season as Colorado’s fourth line. Bednar gave them the “identity line” seal of approval. He’s a coach who loves finding a trio of trusted forwards who play exactly the way he wants a defense-first unit to do so.

O’Connor hasn’t played all season after offseason hip surgery, and then a second issue that has popped up during his recovery. He’s been skating for weeks now and could make his season debut at some point on this road trip.

Once everyone is healthy, it sure looks like Drury will center the fourth line and Kelly will be next to him. The last forward spot might come down to Kiviranta or O’Connor, depending on how he looks once he shakes the rust off.

Regardless, the Avs’ “identity line” was great in the Dallas series last year, and they look ready to roll in the postseason this Spring.

“I think the four of us call all do that,” Kelly said. “Doesn’t matter who it is, what night it is. Next man up mentality. I think we’ve done a good job of building trust with our line. I feel like maybe we could play against any line in the league. I think when “OC” is back and healthy, it¶¶Òõap going to be a four-man line for sure.”

Two days after being ejected against the Edmonton Oilers, MacKinnon returned to the ice with a vengeance. The Colorado Avalanche star had a goal and three assists Thursday night to help his club roll past the Seattle Kraken, 5-1, at Climate Pledge Arena.

“I think he was a little pissed off, to say the least,” Avs forward Nazem Kadri said. “I like that side of Nate, when he gets a little choked and wants to come out and shove up it everybody’s you know what.”

The NHL rescinded MacKinnon’s game misconduct, and he resumed his pursuit of Edmonton’s Connor McDavid in the scoring race with a huge night. Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves, and is now 5-0 since the Olympic break.

The Avs did not have captain Gabe Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen or Ross Colton because of injuries, and they played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the first time this season. MacKinnon and the top line provided all the offense Colorado needed and then some.

“He’s fun to watch,” Avs forward Nicolas Roy said. “Really fun to watch when he’s on your side. I mean, he’s one of those very few special players who has special talent that you can’t really explain. He’s just got it all.”

MacKinnon sent a cross-ice pass from the outer edge of the left circle to Martin Necas, who was cutting towards the right post. Devon Toews touched the puck en route but didn’t change the trajectory and Necas was able to corral it and bury his 30th goal of the season at 3:45 of the opening period.

Necas set his career high with his 29th goal two days ago against Edmonton. He has been on a scoring tear since the Olympic break. He is now tied for the league lead in goals (eight) and first in points (17) since the break.

MacKinnon attempted a cross-crease pass intended for Kadri at the left post later in the period, but this one hit Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson’s skate and went in the net. It became MacKinnon’s league-leading 44th goal of the year at 12:54 of the period.

Colorado’s suddenly competent power play made it a 3-0 advantage late in the period. Necas made a nice play to break up a potential one-timer in the slot, then drew a double-minor for high-sticking as he battled with Jordan Eberle for the loose puck.

MacKinnon sent the puck into the slot for Brock Nelson. He didn’t get much on his shot attempt, but the puck trickled right to Roy at the edge of the crease and he collected his second goal in four games with the Avs. Roy, who had five goals in 59 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs before being traded to the Avs, was on the ice with the first power-play unit because Necas was getting looked at on the bench.

“Today, it was pretty much a tap-in, so a good opportunity on the first unit there,” Roy said. “They made a play, and a lucky bounce too. But overall, I think I can obviously be more offensive. You look at past years, and I always had around 15 goals. I’ve got that in me, and I know I can bring more here.”

Colorado’s power play is now 7 of 30 (23.3%) since the Olympic break, after reaching the hiatus with the league’s worst efficiency (15.1%). While it looks much better than in the offensive zone than it did a month ago, one issue still persists.

The Avs lead the league in shorthanded goals allowed, and No. 12 came in the second period. Roy, back with the second unit, fell near the center red line after receiving a pass from Brent Burns. Chandler Stephenson was there to grab the puck, lead a break the other way and hit Ryker Evans trailing the play for a goal at 13:36 of the second.

Kadri restored the three-goal advantage with 2:49 remaining in the middle period. MacKinnon dropped the puck for Sam Malinski at the right point. Kadri tipped Malinski’s point shot past ex-Avs goalie Philipp Grubauer, who had replaced Joey D’Accord in the Seattle net after the first period.

That was Kadri’s 13th goal of the season, and his first since returning to Colorado in a trade just before the deadline last week.

“That one felt good,” Kadri said. “I feel like I’ve had a few chances before that in prior games. It was just nice to get that off my chest.”

Joel Kiviranta added Colorado’s fifth goal at 12:41 of the third period. Josh Manson’s shot from the left point went off Kiviranta and into the net, giving the Finnish Olympian his third goal of the season.

MacKinnon’s four-point night edged him closer to McDavid. The Colorado star is up to 108 points, two behind McDavid with two more games left on his schedule.

It’s a question that is impossible to answer, but fun to contemplate: How would the Avs, the NHL’s top team at the Olympic break, fare against the top national teams if they had been allowed to enter the tournament?

We asked a handful of the Avs players. Here’s the scenario: the eight Olympians from Colorado play for the Avs, and those countries get to replace them with alternates. Let’s replace France, which wouldn’t have been in the tournament had Russia been allowed to compete, with the Avalanche.

How would they fare?

“I think we’d do pretty good,” said Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, one of the eight Olympians who competed in the tournament. “There’s some pretty good teams over there, no doubt about it. I think what this tournament has shown is that there’s no easy games. All of the teams are super competitive. Everybody is just very proud to go compete for their countries.

“But I think if the Avs showed up, we’d do alright. We’d hold our own.”

Club teams playing against national teams can be a fun debate in soccer, another sport with a global talent pool. The general consensus is that top club teams like Arsenal, Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona would likely defeat most, if not all, of the top national sides. Even a club like Tottenham, currently 16th in the Premier League standings, would likely be able to beat most of the teams at the 2026 World Cup that aren’t among the contenders to win the tournament.

One of the arguments is talent. The top club teams are filled with players who are the stars of their country’s national teams. But a big part of it is the continuity and chemistry that comes from practicing and playing together for nine months a year.

National teams in soccer play a fraction of the games together every year, and only the ones in tournaments actually replicate the speed and intensity of a critical league match. In hockey, the national teams spend even less time together.

Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States had the 4 Nations tournament last year, but those groups have only practiced a handful of times together over the past two years.

“I think we’d do pretty well, honestly,” Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood said. “I think we have the advantage of our team system. We have some top guys – eight guys that made the Olympics. There were teams that didn’t have that many NHL players, so that¶¶Òõap in your favor. I think we’d have a chance of medaling, for sure.”

Canada would need to replace Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews. Finland would need replacements for Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta. Sweden would need a replacement for Landeskog, the United States for Brock Nelson and Czechia for Martin Necas.

All five of the top teams would be slightly weaker, though Canada and the U.S. have all-star level options at their disposal. The other three countries do not.

Necas was Czechia’s best player. Lehkonen scored two massive goals for the Finns, which is just what he does.

The Avs would have more NHL star power than the other six teams in the tournament.

“I think it would be kind of what we’ve seen — close games,” Wedgewood said. “I don’t think anyone runs away from us. I think we’d be like Sweden, be like Finland – be battling in a game and hockey is hockey.

“I think the top three teams in the league could probably do the same thing. I think each team might have a chance. I think the Olympic squads have star power throughout their lineups, but then the NHL teams get their go-to checking lines that can wreak havoc.”

Josh Manson pointed out two reasons why the Avs could do well — Valeri Nichushkin and the goaltenders. Russia is currently not allowed to compete in international tournaments because of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, so Manson’s reasoning was that teams with great Russians would have an advantage. Mackenzie Blackwood and Wedgewood were two of the top candidates to be on Canada’s roster in net, and just missed out.

Tampa Bay would have Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Dallas would neuter Finland by taking back Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell, plus Jake Oettinger in net.

Wedgewood is right — the Avs are probably right there with Finland and Sweden as the next-best teams behind the two current titans of the sport.

Could the Avalanche defeat Canada or the United States in a seven-game series? Almost certainly not. But, as we saw during an incredible Olympic tournament, a good goaltending performance and some strong defensive work can turn any individual game.

“I feel like we’d do pretty well. It would be hard,” Avs forward Ross Colton said. “When you watch, all of those teams have so much skill but aren’t as structured. Obviously, Canada and the U.S. have the best players in the world, but I guess we’d probably be more structured. I would think they could be good games.

“I have no idea, but we’re not going to get dominated. I think we could compete for sure.”

The United States defeated Canada for the gold medal in an instant classic Sunday morning. Four of the seven elimination games went to overtime, and Avs star Nathan MacKinnon won a fifth with a goal in the final minute of regulation.

Many of the Avs players who weren’t in Milan had split allegiances throughout the tournament, but especially Sunday with Brock Nelson and the Americans playing MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews and the Canadians.

Mackenzie Blackwood was the first alternate for Canada had any of the three goaltenders been unable to play, but he also spent four seasons in New Jersey with Jack Hughes, who scored the golden goal for the Americans in overtime.

Renck: This was no miracle — only prideful Americans who ‘are best in the world’

"Cooler now that he has no teeth," Blackwood said, after Hughes took a high stick from Sam Bennett in the third period. "He joined the club.

"Just a good hockey game ... I think Canada had the pressure, but (Connor) Hellebuyck had an amazing game. I feel like if it had kept going 5-on-5, Canada probably would have won, but yeah ... 3-on-3 overtime, anything goes."

Colorado had eight players in the tournament. Nelson became a third-generation gold medalist in his family, joining his uncle Dave Christian from the 1980 team and his grandfather, Bill Christian, and great-uncle, Roger Christian, from the 1960 club.

The three Canadians won silver medals, but all three had what-if moments in the final game. Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta won bronze medals with Finland.

Martin Necas and Czechia pushed Canada to the brink in the quarterfinals before a Mitch Marner overtime goal sent them home early. Still, Necas was outstanding in the tournament with three goals and a team-high eight points in five games.

"It was unreal," Necas said, who returned to practice Sunday with the Avs. "It was something I, and all of us that were there, had always dreamt of. It was great -- just the result wasn't just like we wanted.

"I felt good. I was so excited for it. In my mind, I had no doubt that I was going to be good. Before every game, I was so pumped up. It was such big and important games and we've been waiting so long for this."

Another positive development for Colorado was captain Gabe Landeskog's return to action with Sweden. Even though the Swedes were also knocked out in the quarterfinals by a Quinn Hughes overtime goal for the Americans, Landeskog played his first hockey games since sustaining an upper-body injury Jan. 4 at Florida when he crashed into the goal post and then the end boards.

Landeskog had two goals and four points in five games while wearing the "C" for his country. After missing three full regular seasons with knee issues, including the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, Landeskog missing any time with an injury was going to leave Avs fans with some restlessness, but he is healthy coming out of the Olympics and those games may have served as a great tune-up for the stretch run.

"I compare it a little bit to the playoffs last year, where you get back and you're just kind of thrown into an environment that's a very high-pressure situation and adrenaline-filled," Landeskog said. "Now it's about finding your game in the rhythm of the season again.

"I thought it was great. I had a lot of fun over there and yeah, back into game shape, I guess you could say."

Avs coach Jared Bednar said Sunday it is a possibility that some of the four guys who played in the gold medal showdown could sit out the club's first game back, Wednesday at Utah. Colorado has five games in seven days coming out of the break.

The four gold-medal participants played a game at 6 a.m. MT on Sunday and need to travel back to Denver by Tuesday to go with the Avs to Salt Lake City. It was reported during the NBC broadcast of the gold-medal game that the chartered planes the NHL players were expected to take from Milan to New York City will be diverted to Miami because of a massive storm.

Going from Milan to Miami to Denver to Salt Lake in such a short time will be taxing, especially after playing several high-stakes international games in a short period in Italy. Bednar also made it clear that any potential load management will end after Wednesday.

"I'm definitely not doing that," Bednar said. "If we make a decision to sit guys on Wednesday, then we're back to business (as usual). The five in seven nights is probably the toughest part of this, but if we're fighting for first play, they're going to need to play. Our guys are going to have to play, or otherwise we're going to be chasing first place instead of in it, in my opinion.

"If you start sitting players for a long time, or these guys for one game and those guys the next, you're basically playing with the same kind of lineup we had the last month and that didn't work out very well for us."

Sure, there was some initial backlash about Brock Nelson with the United States team, but a lot of that was people wrongly lumping him in with a couple of other guys who probably should have been left off the roster in favor of more dynamic players. Nelson has more than earned it with his superlative play this season.

That said, there are eight members of the Avs going to Italy to play in the first Olympic tournament to feature NHL players since 2014. The one guy on the bubble who made it is Joel Kiviranta, who will play for Finland in Italy.

“It was a special moment,” Kiviranta said. “I knew there was a possibility for that, but at the same time, I was like, there are so many good (Finnish) wingers in the NHL. And I didn’t make it for Four Nations last year, so that was a bit of a surprise.”

Meet the Coloradans headed to the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

When Kiviranta answered his phone and someone from Team Suomi congratulated him for becoming an Olympian, he was able to celebrate with family members who had recently arrived in Denver. Displays of emotion are rare for Kiviranta on the ice, but there was no doubt that it was good news for the other people in the room.

"I was just pumping my fist," Kiviranta said, with a vigorous replay for added effect. "So they knew."

It is one of the crowning achievements of Kiviranta's career to date, up there with his hat trick against the Avs for the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of the second-round series between the rivals in 2020 and winning the IIHF World Championships in 2019.

It's also rarely been easy for the soon-to-be 30-year-old Kiviranta, who is in his third season with the Avalanche and on his third consecutive one-year contract.

"I was excited for him," Avs coach Jared Bednar said. "There was talk last year at the Four Nations that he could possibly be a guy that goes. He had a great year last year. He's missed some time for us this year, but it goes to show you that when you're putting together a team, you need guys to do every job.

"Kivy is a pretty well-rounded, 200-foot player. I think he's got an offensive game that we see flashes of, depending on his ice time, linemates, etc. But he's a super responsible guy, a really strong penalty killer, skates well. They need him to go there and play a role, and he's willing to go and do it. I couldn't be happier for him, because he's a really good pro."

Last year was a breakout season for Kiviranta. He had 16 goals — doubling his previous career-best with the Stars in 2022-23 — and set new marks in assists (7), points (23), games played (79) and average time on ice (12:31).

He wasn't an everyday player for the Avs in Year 1 with the club, but the rash of injuries last season gave him a chance to prove himself as a consistent performer in a bottom-six role with this group. Even after the Avs added reinforcements at the trade deadline and Gabe Landeskog's mid-series return, Kiviranta was in the lineup for all seven games against Dallas in the 2025 playoffs, ahead of multiple forwards with more NHL experience.

"The time I have spent here has leveled up my confidence and my game overall," Kiviranta said. "I think it's a huge impact. The way we play here. The way we live here. Everything that we do here is so high level, so I think that's helped a lot."

Kiviranta has not kept up the same scoring pace this season, and he's missed nearly half the Avalanche's games. But, injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine opened two spots, and there is an extra forward slot at the Olympics compared to the Four Nations event a year ago.

That meant opportunities for Oliver Kapanen, Eeli Tolvanen and Kiviranta.

"I've played against him a lot," Ducks forward and soon-to-be Olympic teammate Mikael Granlund said. "He works really hard, but what makes him effective in this league is he's smart. He can play different roles. He's going to be playing a winning hockey style. That's why he's been able to pretty successful."

Kiviranta isn't flashy, but he's dependable. Bednar is the latest coach to enjoy having Kiviranta on his roster, because he's going to be in the right spots and is an effective player without the puck in the NHL.

He and Artturi Lehkonen have some similarities, though Kiviranta is unlikely to ever produce at that level. Still, they both embody many of the traits that help so many Finnish players become trustworthy, dependable members of NHL clubs.

It's also what helps the small country succeed in international hockey so often, even in circumstances when they probably should not. That 2019 Finland team at the world championships did not have nearly the NHL presence on its roster that a few other nations did, but still won the tournament.

"Yeah, that's for sure we Finns pride ourselves on," Granlund said. "It's whatever it takes. Whatever makes the team better, whatever makes the team win. It's never about us, and it's always about the team. We're really proud of that, and that's why at international tournaments we usually do pretty well. We come together and it's never about one person. It's all about the team doing all the little things the right way, and hopefully it can give us an advantage."

As for Kiviranta, he may begin the 2026 Olympics as Finland's 13th or 14th forward. That could mean being in the lineup, but not much ice time. It could mean being the one guy who is a healthy scratch. If he's needed to play in a bigger role as the tournament advances, he'll be ready and dependable as ever.

"If they told me to pick up the pucks, then I will pick up the pucks," Kiviranta said. "I will do whatever. I am just happy to be there."

Alpine skiing

Nicole Begue (Argentina)

Specialty: Downhill

Colorado connection: Born in Miami, Begue skis for Argentina but came up training through Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

What to know: Begue finished sixth in the women’s super-G at the 2025 Youth Olympics in South Korea. In her lone World Cup start, in December, she finished 55th in a downhill at St. Moritz.

Competing: Feb. 8 (downhill), 12 (super-G)

Results: Finished 30th in the downhill, 22nd in the super-G.

Lasse Gaxiola (Mexico)

Specialty: Giant slalom

Colorado connection: The son of Vail ski racer Sarah Schleper and Federico Gaxiola, the Mexican national team coach.

What to know: Gaxiola, 18, is Mexico’s lone male Alpine competitor. He and his mother are the Olympics’ first mother-son duo to compete at the same games.

Competing: Feb. 14

Results: Finished 53rd in the giant slalom.

Phoebe Heaydon (Australia)

Specialty: Slalom, giant slalom

Colorado connection: The Australian tech skier lives in Edwards and graduated from Vail Mountain School. She grew up training with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail.

What to know: Heaydon, 20, is competing in her first Olympics. She took first in the slalom at the national championships in Santa Caterina, Italy, last April.

Competing: Feb. 15, 18

Results: Finished 34th in the giant slalom.

Kyle Negomir

Specialty: Downhill, super-G

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Littleton, “Nego” grew up ski racing at Copper Mountain

What to know: A specialist in the speed disciplines of downhill and super-G, Negomir scored his first World Cup points in 2023. His best career result came in Italy — he was 11th in a World Cup downhill in Val Gardena in December.

Competing: Feb. 7 (downhill), 11 (super-G)

Results: Finished 10th in the downhill, 26th in the super-G.

River Radamus

Specialty: Super-G, giant slalom

Colorado connection: The son of two decorated ski coaches, Radamus grew up in Edwards

What to know: Radamus was just 0.24 seconds from claiming a medal in giant slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics, finishing fourth. This World Cup season, he’s finished sixth twice and seventh twice in his best event.

Competing: Feb. 11 (super-G), 14 (giant slalom)

Results: Did not finish the super-G, finished 17th in the giant slalom.

Sarah Schleper (Mexico)

Specialty: Super-G, giant slalom

Colorado Connection: Schleper hails from Vail and is the daughter of Buzz Schleper, whose ski shop, Buzz’s Boards, has been a staple in the village for over four decades.

What to know: This is Schleper’s seventh Olympics, but her first competing with her son, Lasse Gaxiola, for Team Mexico. She competed for Team USA for her first four Olympics, starting with Nagano 1998, and for Mexico in PyeongChang and Beijing. In the 2022 Winter Games, she was 37th in the giant slalom and 35th in the super-G. At 46, she is the oldest Alpine competitor in Olympic history.

Results: Finished 26th in the super-G, was disqualified in the giant slalom.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Specialty: Giant slalom, slalom, combined

Colorado connection: Born in Vail, Shiffrin calls Edwards home

What to know: A ski-racing prodigy who won her first World Cup race at 17, Shiffrin is already the GOAT of Alpine — blowing past Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 World Cup wins in 2023 and becoming the first and only skier to hit 100 wins in Feb. 2025. After a disappointing 0-for-5 showing at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she looks primed to rebound on a familiar track in Italy, where she’s won four World Championships medals, including one gold, and landed on three World Cup podiums across five disciplines.

Competing: Feb. 10 (combined), 15 (giant slalom), 18 (slalom)

¸é±ð²õ³Ü±ô³Ù²õ:ÌýFinished fourth in the combined. Finished 11th in the giant slalom.

Lindsey Vonn

Specialty: Downhill, super-G, combined

Colorado connection: Born in Minnesota, Vonn moved to Vail at 12 to train with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail

What to know: Vonn’s riveting comeback story veered way off course on Jan. 30 after she crashed in a World Cup downhill in Switzerland. She announced that she still intends to compete with a brace after completely rupturing the ACL in her left knee, as well as sustaining meniscus damage and bone bruising.

Competing: Feb. 8 (downhill), 10 (combined), 12 (super-G)

Results: Crashed in the downhill, suffering a broken left leg. Pulled out of the remaining competitions.

More coverage:

• Lindsey Vonn is preparing to fly home to the US with more surgeries to come, team official tells AP.
• Lindsey Vonn hopes to go home after another surgery following crash in Olympic downhill.
• Lindsey Vonn’s father tells the AP he wants her to retire after her Olympic crash.
• Lindsey Vonn’s fall explained: A reverse banked section, an unfortunate bump and an inflated air bag.
• Breezy Johnson wins Olympic downhill on day marred by American teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash.

Katie Hensien

Specialty: Giant slalom, slalom

Colorado connection: Attended the University of Denver, where she juggled academics and skiing

What to know: Hensien competed for the Pioneers while racing on the World Cup and Europa Cup circuits with the U.S. Ski Team. A tech specialist, her best World Cup result is a fourth in slalom in Oct. 2024.

Competing: Feb. 15 (giant slalom), 18 (slalom)

Results: Despite being named to the team, Hensien withdrew from competition because she was not fully healed after suffering a fractured tibia during training.

Bobsled

Hunter Powell

Specialty: Four-man bobsled

Colorado connection: Fort Collins native. He won the conference championship in indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon at CSU.

What to know: Powell, 29, made the transition from track and field to bobsledding in 2024. His four-man team finished seventh at the 2025 IBSF World Championships.

Competing: Feb. 21-22

Results: None yet

Freestyle skiing

Alex Ferreira

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Aspen native

What to know: This will be the third Olympic Games for Ferreira, 31. He captured the bronze in 2022 and silver in 2018.

Competing: Feb. 19-20

Results: None yet

Jackson Harvey (Australia)

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Born in Winter Park.

What to know: Harvey, 23, moved to Australia in 2022. His mother is originally from Melbourne.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished eighth in the moguls, lost in the second round of the dual moguls.

Birk Irving

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: The son of a ski patroller grew up skiing at Winter Park.

What to know: Irving, 26, will be competing in his second Winter Olympics. He finished fifth in the halfpipe in 2022.

Competing: Feb. 19-20

Results: None yet

Svea Irving

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: The younger sister of Birk Irving grew up at the base of Winter Park.

What to know: Irving, 23, is the younger sister of fellow Olympian Birk. She punched her ticket to the Games after finishing third at the Calgary Snow Rodeo World Cup. Fun fact: Their grandfather is John Irving, the author of “The Cider House Rules” and “The World According to Garp.”

Competing: Feb. 19, 21

Results: None yet

Riley Jacobs

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: From Oak Creek

What to know: The 23-year-old Jacobs suffered a torn ACL in November 2024 but returned to competition for the 2025-26 season.

Competing: Feb. 19, 21

Results: None yet

Tess Johnson

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: Johnson, 25, was the youngest-ever moguls skier to be named to the national team when she was 14. She has two world championship dual moguls medals: a bronze in 2019 and a silver in 2025.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Finished 10th in the moguls, lost in the quarterfinals of the dual moguls.

Jaelin Kauf

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: Kauf, 29, captured a silver medal in 2022 Beijing Games in moguls.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Won silver in both the moguls and dual moguls.

Elizabeth Lemley

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: Vail native

What to know: The 20-year-old was named the FIS World Cup rookie of the year in 2022. She also has a pilot’s license to fly four-seaters and prop planes.

Competing: Feb. 10, 11, 14

Results: Won gold in the moguls, bronze in the dual moguls.

Charlie Mickel

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: From Durango

What to know: Mickel, 21, is a two-time national champion.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished 12th in the moguls, lost in the quarterfinals of the dual moguls.

Landon Wendler

Specialty: Moguls

Colorado connection: From Steamboat Springs.

What to know: The 25-year-old Wendler is making his first Olympic Games.

Competing: Feb. 10, 12, 15

Results: Finished 17th in the moguls, lost in the first round to Charlie Mickel in the dual moguls.

Hockey

Joel Kiviranta (Finland)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Depth winger for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: He was part of the Finnish team that won the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Competing: vs. Slovakia, Feb. 11; vs. Sweden, Feb. 13; vs. Italy, Feb. 14.

Results: Two goals in two games.

Artturi Lehkonen (Finland)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 left wing for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: Lehkonen, 30, is on pace for career-highs in points and assists for the Avs this season. This is his second stint with the Finnish senior national team, following last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off.

Competing: vs. Slovakia, Feb. 11; vs. Sweden, Feb. 13; vs. Italy, Feb. 14.

Results: One goal and three assists through three games.

Gabe Landeskog (Sweden)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Captain of the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Landeskog, 33, didn’t play with the Avs from the end of the 2021-22 season (when Colorado won the Stanley Cup) until the 2024-25 playoffs due to a knee injury. He’s been Colorado’s captain since the 2012-13 season, when he was just 19, and is the third-longest tenured captain behind just Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin.

Competing: vs. Italy, Feb. 11; vs. Finland, Feb. 13; vs. Slovakia, Feb. 14.

Results: Two goals and an assist through four games.

Nathan MacKinnon (Canada)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 center for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: MacKinnon, 30, is the NHL’s leading goal scorer (40) this season and is second to Oilers’ Connor McDavid in points (91). The No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft is high among the franchise’s scorers, ranking third in goals (407), second in assists (699) and second in points (1,106).

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: Two goals and three assists through three games.

Cale Makar (Canada)

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Makar, 27, has won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice in his career for being the NHL’s top defenseman. NHL Network named him the fourth-best player in the league entering this season, two spots behind teammate Nathan MacKinnon. And a fun fact: He was the cover athlete for the NHL 24 video game.

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: One goal and three assists through three games.

Martin Necas (Czechia)

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 1 right wing for the Colorado Avalanche.

What to know: Necas, 27, will be making his third stint with the Czech national team. He scored seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) to help the team win the 2024 IIHF World Championship. He’s on pace for career highs in goals, assists and points this season for the Avs.

Competing: vs. Canada, Feb. 12; vs. France, Feb. 13; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 15.

Results: Three goals and four assists through four games.

More coverage:

• Injured Avalanche stars should be ready for 2026 Winter Olympics.

Brock Nelson

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: No. 2 center for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Nelson, 34, has played 44 games for the U.S. national team, tallying 19 goals and 16 assists.

Competing: vs. Latvia, Feb. 12; vs. Denmark, Feb. 13; vs. Germany, Feb. 15.

Results: Two goals and an assist through three games.

Jaccob Slavin

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Erie native and a star at Colorado College

What to know: Slavin, 31, joins Nick Shore (2022), Troy Terry (2018) and John Grahame (2006) as Colorado natives named to the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team in the 21st century. He has twice won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (2021 and 2024), which is the NHL’s sportsmanship award.

Competing: vs. Latvia, Feb. 12; vs. Denmark, Feb. 13; vs. Germany, Feb. 15.

Results: One assist through three games.

Devon Toews (Canada)

Specialty: Defenseman

Colorado connection: Defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche

What to know: Toews, 31, was part of the Canadian team that won the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament last year. Since joining Colorado in 2020, he’s been paired with Cale Makar as the team’s top defensive line. They’re in the Olympics.

Competing: vs. Czechia, Feb. 12; vs. Switzerland, Feb. 13; vs. France, Feb. 15.

Results: One goal in three games.

Figure skating

Ellie Kam

Specialty: Pairs with Daniel O’Shea

Colorado connection: Grew up in Colorado Springs, currently attends the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs.

What to know: Kam, 21, teamed with her pairs partner, Danny O’Shea, in 2022. Together, they’ve captured two bronzes, a silver and a gold over the last four U.S. Championships.

Competing: Team event pairs, Feb. 6 and 8; Pairs short program, Feb. 15; Pairs free skating, Feb. 16.

Results: Won gold in the team event, finished ninth in the pairs.

Daniel O’Shea

Specialty: Pairs with Ellie Kam

Colorado connection: Colorado Springs resident. Graduated from the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs.

What to know: O’Shea, 34, is a veteran of the sport. This will be his first Olympic Games after missing out in 2018 when he and his partner, Tarah Kayne, finished runner-up in the U.S. Championships. They were given an alternate spot for the Games as the U.S. only had one pairs spot that year.

Competing: Team event pairs, Feb. 6 and 8; Pairs short program, Feb. 15; Pairs free skating, Feb. 16.

Results: Won gold in the team event, finished ninth in the pairs.

Nordic skiing

Lauren Jortberg

Specialty: Cross-country skiing

Colorado connection: Boulder native

What to know: Jortberg, 28, was a three-time NCAA All-American at Dartmouth College.

Competing: Feb. 10

Results: Reached the quarterfinals in the women’s sprint.

Niklas Malacinski

Specialty: Nordic combined

Colorado connection: Grew up in Steamboat Springs

What to know: The 22-year-old was a gold medalist at the 2024 U.S. National Championships and won gold and silver at the 2023 World University Games. His father was a ski instructor and his mother was nearly an Olympic swimmer.

Competing: Feb. 9-11, 13, 15-19

Results: Finished 13th in the individual large hill/10K, 18th in the individual normal hill/10K.

Hailey Swirbul

Specialty: Cross-country skiing

Colorado connection: Born and raised in El Jebel.

What to know: Swirbul, 27, retired in 2023 but came back in 2025. She competed in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Competing: Feb. 7, 12, 14

Results: Finished 39th in the 10K.

Ski jumping

Annika Belshaw

Specialty: Ski jump

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Steamboat Springs.

What to know: Belshaw, 23, has won nine gold medals at the U.S. National Championships. She isn’t the only ski jumper in her family. Her younger brother Erik also competes professionally.

Competing: Feb. 7

Results: Finished 21st in the normal hill individual, disqualified from the large hill individual and finished seventh in the mixed team event.

Jason Colby

Specialty: Ski jump

Colorado connection: From Steamboat Springs.

What to know: Colby, 19, was the highest-ranked American ski jumper in 2024.

Competing: Feb. 9, 10 and 14.

Results: Finished 20th in the normal hill individual, 31st in the large hill individual and finished seventh in the mixed team event.

Ski mountaineering

Cam Smith

Specialty: Ski mountaineering

Colorado connection: Lives in Crested Butte. Graduated from Western Colorado University.

What to know: The 30-year-old is an 11-time U.S. Ski Mountaineering national champion and five-time North American Ski Mountaineering champion.

Competing: Feb. 19 and 21

Results: None yet

More coverage:

• How Crested Butte resident¶¶Òõap rise as face of US ski mountaineering led him to sport¶¶Òõap Olympic debut

Sled hockey

Brett Bolton

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Attends CU-Boulder.

What to know: Bolton, 19, was part of the Team USA roster that won the Para Hockey Cup in December. He scored his first career hat trick (three goals in a game) in the semifinal and followed it up with the game-winning goal in the championship.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Declan Farmer

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Lives in Boulder.

What to know: Won gold medals with Team USA in 2014, 2018 and 2022. He is the U.S. all-time leader in career goals, assists and points.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Malik Jones

Specialty: Forward

Colorado connection: Born and raised in Aurora.

What to know: He was part of the gold-medal-winning team in the 2022 Beijing Games.

Competing: vs. Italy, March 7; vs. Germany, March 9; vs. China, March 10.

Results: None yet

Snowboarding

Chase Blackwell

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Blackwell hails from Longmont and considers Copper Mountain his home mountain.

What to know: As a young boy, Blackwell wanted to be like Shaun White after he saw the Olympic legend compete at the X Games at Buttermilk. He wound up facing White in 2021 at the U.S. Grand Prix in Aspen, where he captured the U.S. National Championship as the top American finisher on the World Cup circuit.

Competing: Feb. 11, 13

Results: Finished 15th in the halfpipe.

Jake Canter

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Calls Silverthorne home

What to know: Canter overcame a life-threatening traumatic brain injury in 2016 while training on a trampoline at Woodward Copper. Doctors gave him only a 20 percent chance of living. He recovered and returned to nowboarding in 2017, though the injury left him permanently deaf in his right ear.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished 15th in the big air.

Lily Dhawornvej

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Lily and her brother, Caleb, also a competitive snowboarder, grew up riding at Copper Mountain

What to know: Dhawornvej’s uncle, a snowboard instructor at Copper, taught her and her brother how to ride. She’s a human joystick — adept at riding switch and spinning in all four directions.

Competing: Feb. 8, 9, 16, 17

Results: Finished 20th in the big air.

Stacy Gaskill

Specialty: Boardercross

Colorado connection: The University of Colorado student hails from Golden.

What to know: At the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, Gaskill finished seventh in women’s boardercross and ninth in the mixed team event. Outside of snowboarding, she’s a three-time World Ultimate Frisbee champion as a member of the University of Colorado Women’s Ultimate A Team.

Competing: Feb. 13, 15

Results: Finished 13th in the boardercross.

Red Gerard

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Gerard lives in Silverthorne.

What to know: Gerard, 25, the gold medalist in slopestyle at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, will be competing in his third Olympics — and plans to roll deep with some 40 family members and friends in tow to watch him compete. He has seven siblings — five brothers and two sisters.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished 20th in the big air.

Ollie Martin

Specialty: Slopestyle, big air

Colorado connection: Martin’s hometown is Vail.

What to know: Just 17, Martin enters his first Olympics as the youngest male snowboarder in history to win a World Cup slopestyle event. The two-time world championship bronze medalist also holds the distinction of being the youngest snowboarder ever to land a 2160-degree spin and the first rider in the world to stomp both a frontside and backside 2160.

Competing: Feb. 5, 7, 16, 18

Results: Finished fourth in the big air.

Jake Pates

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Pates hails from Eagle.

What to know: After finishing eighth in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games’ halfpipe final, Pates stepped away from competitive snowboarding in 2019 as a result of repeated head injuries. In March 2020, he founded the Happy Healthy Brain Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about concussion protocols and advancing brain health for athletes through baseline brain scanning.

Competing: Feb. 11, 13

Results: Finished eighth in the halfpipe.

Madeline Schaffrick

Specialty: Halfpipe

Colorado connection: Schaffrick’s hometown is Steamboat Springs.

What to know: A teenage prodigy who first made her professional debut in 2008 at just 14 years old, Schaffrick stepped away from competitive snowboarding at 20 and found a career as a plumber. She returned to competition in 2024 after a nearly decade-long hiatus spent coaching and will compete in her first Olympics at 31.

Competing: Feb. 11, 12

Results: Finished 15th in the halfpipe.

Cody Winters

Specialty: Boardercross, parallel giant slalom

Colorado connection: Steamboat Springs is his hometown

What to know: Winters finished 29th in parallel giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. In January 2025, he captured third place in parallel slalom at Bad Gastein, Austria—Team USA’s first Alpine snowboard world cup podium since 2015. He is the first rider to compete in World Cup events across both parallel and snowboard cross disciplines since 2009, managing one of the most demanding competition schedules in snowboarding.

Competing: Feb. 8, Feb. 12

Results: Finished 21st in the parallel giant slalom, lost in the first round of the boardercross.

Colorado struggled in all phases of the game Thursday night and got blown out, 7-3, by the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. It was the second loss in as many days, and eighth in the past 12 contests for the Avs after starting this campaign with a historic 31-2-7 record. They’ve lost two straight four times this month, and four of the past five losses have been by three goals or more.

Jakub Dobes, who allowed seven goals on 29 shots during a 7-2 loss to the Avs in Denver earlier this season, made 26 saves for Montreal. Scott Wedgewood had his toughest outing of the campaign, allowing seven goals on 28 shots.

“That’s a goalie loss,” said Wedgewood, who was in net for the first time since the birth of his second child last week. “It’s unfortunate they get one super early and then … just nothing clean for me. I made some choices I’ve prided myself on not making and it cost us.

“I’m OK with some of those going in. It’s just the shitty bounces and situations you put yourself in that cause shitty bounces was something I needed to smarten up on today. For whatever reason, it was just one of those nights that gives you a slice of humble pie.”

It didn’t take long for things to go sideways in this one. Noah Dobson scored on a one-timer from Lane Hutson just 56 seconds in, on Montreal’s first shot of the game.

Brock Nelson got that one back at 4:09 with a nifty goal. He used Hutson as a screen during a rush and snapped one past Dobes for his 28th goal of the year. It’s also his 22nd goal in the past 28 contests.

That did not steady the ship for Colorado. Keaton Middleton went to the penalty box for cross-checking, and the Canadiens scored 27 seconds later. Ivan Demidov teed up a one-timer from the top of the right circle, which Wedgewood stopped. But Josh Manson was unable to tie up Montreal captain Nick Suzuki at the edge of the crease, and deposited the rebound at 5:51 for a power-play goal.

The Avs had a chance to even the score with a power play of their own, and that did not go well. Colorado struggled to do anything productive in the first minute of the opportunity, and then Oliver Kapanen pitchforked the puck up and out of the Montreal zone … and Suzuki collected it for a breakaway shorthanded goal at 7:33 of the first and a 3-1 lead for the home side.

That was the ninth shorthanded goal against for Colorado — which is the most in the NHL — and six in the past 15 games.

“Yeah, it’s not good enough,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. “Basically all on me for most of them. I’ve just got to be the last guy back. Especially the one tonight, I thought it was going down for icing. In that scenario, you can’t really think about it. You’ve got to just turn around and skate.

“That one’s definitely fully on me and just happening more often this year than in past years. I’ve got to find a way to better at that.”

Things steadied for the Avalanche in the second period. The visitors created several great chances and looked more like the league’s best outfit at even strength, but Dobes stoned them for 16 minutes before further calamity.

Wedgewood went behind his net, but misjudged the puck and Jake Evans beat him to it. Then Wedgewood and Brent Burns collided, leaving Evans to walk out in front and score into an empty net at 16:36 of the second.

That made it 4-1. And it was 5-1 before the Centre Bell patrons were done celebrating.

Kirby Dach shot the puck from behind the Colorado net off Wedgewood and in at 17:16 to make it a four-goal Montreal advantage.

“Just having trouble putting the puck in the net, and we’re having trouble keeping it out of our net right now, too,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s kind of tough sledding for us right now, but we’ve got to be a little in some areas again than we were tonight.”

The Avs did mount a bit of a comeback from there. Joel Kiviranta scored on the rebound of a Sam Malinski shot 50 seconds later to make it a 5-2 game.

Then Ross Colton broke a long drought with a goal from the slot at 4:38 of the third. He outmuscled Hutson in front and took a pass from Valeri Nichushkin to collect his sixth goal of the season — and first in 26 games, since Nov. 26 against San Jose.

At that point, there was more than 15 minutes left and time for something dramatic. The good vibes last barely more than a minute.

A Burns shot was blocked in the right circle, which led to a 2-on-1 the other way. Alexandre Carrier buried a one-timer from Suzuki to make it 6-3 at 5:45 of the third. Juraj Slafkovsky added further insult when the puck just came to him near the right post for an easy tap-in after a scrambled situation at 9:55, but the outcome was long decided by then.

“They should keep their heads up,” Wedgwood said of his teammates. “We played well enough to win that game. That one’s on me.

“Throughout the year, we bail each other out at different times. They score goals on nights when you’re not having it and (Mackenzie Blackwood) and I make saves on nights when they’re not having it. They played a good game today, and it’s just unfortunate that hockey teaches you lessons and that’s one you’ve got to learn from.”