MacKinnon will win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, given to the NHL’s top goal scorer. He finished his season with 53 goals in 80 games.

Montreal’s Cole Caufield finished his season Wednesday with 51 goals, while Connor McDavid needed five in his final game Thursday to catch MacKinnon. It did not happen, so MacKinnon becomes the second player in Avalanche history to win the award, joining Milan Hejduk in 2002-03.

MacKinnon was in the hunt for the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading point-getter each of the past two seasons. He finished second to Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov both times.

He did sweep the league’s MVP awards, the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award, after the 2023-24 season. MacKinnon is one of the top contenders for those honors again this season, after finishing first in goals and third in points with 127 — the second most of his career.

MacKinnon was the game’s most dominant player at even strength. He finished with 97 even-strength points, the most any player has had since Wayne Gretzky had 103 in 1990-91.

The 30-year-old MacKinnon’s on-ice numbers, both at 5-on-5 and even strength, were among the best of the NHL analytics era, which dates back to 2007-08. The Avs outscored foes 100-42 when MacKinnon was on the ice at 5-on-5 this year.

Seattle’s Vince Dunn was on the ice for 103 goals, the most by any player in this era, and 65 against at 5-on-5 in 2022-23. Calgary’s duo of Johnny Gaudreau (96-38) and Matthew Tkachuk (92-36) in 2021-22 were both slightly better than MacKinnon’s 70.42 GF%.

Colorado outscored teams 126-59 with MacKinnon on the ice at even strength. That is four more goals than the 122 the Avs scored with him on the ice two years ago, which was the previous record.

MacKinnon and the Avs won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season team. They will begin their quest for a second Stanley Cup championship in five years with Game 1 of the playoffs Sunday at Ball Arena.

The Avalanche star scored his 50th during his first shift of the night Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena. MacKinnon wheeled near the left point and snapped a shot past goalie Kevin Lankinen just 82 seconds into the contest.

MacKinnon scored No. 49 on Monday night against the Calgary Flames. It was a power-play marker late in the second period.

He also had 51 two years ago, when he swept the league MVP awards (Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsey Award). MacKinnon is the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone at least twice. Avs president Joe Sakic did so in 1995-96 and 2000-01. Michel Goulet did it four years in a row, from 1982-86, while the franchise was based in Quebec City.

Goulet holds the franchise record for goals in a season with 57. Mikko Rantanen has the Denver-based standard after scoring 55 during the 2022-23 season.

MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in goals, and could win the Rocket Richard Trophy for the first time in his career. The only player in franchise history to lead the league in goals was Milan Hejduk in 2002-03.

The Avs’ superstar now has two seasons with at least 50 goals and 70 assists. MacKinnon is the only active player with multiple 50-goal, 70-assist seasons, though Connor McDavid could join him with seven more goals this season. There are only six players in league history who have hit both of those markers more than once in a season — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Steve Yzerman.

MacKinnon is the 16th player in league history to score 50-plus goals in his age-30 season or later. It has been done 23 times, most recently by Edmonton’s Zach Hyman in 2023-24. Sakic is on the list, with his career-best 54-goal season in 2000-01.

The Colorado Avalanche star wasn’t born in 1998 when Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek led a stunning march to the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, but he was front and center when Czechia won the world championships two years ago on home soil in Prague.

“They called it ‘Prague-ano,'” Necas said. “That was insane. Best times of my life, for sure. It was a special moment, especially playing at home. It was crazy. The whole country was with us. I’m excited, because that’s going to be the same thing for the Olympics.”

The Czechs winning in Nagano was part of the golden era for the country’s hockey program. They won the worlds in 1996, the first Olympics with NHL players in 1998, and then rattled off three straight world championship titles from 1999-01, something no country has done since and hadn’t been done since the Soviet Union did it in the early 1980s.

As players like Jagr, Hasek and Milan Hejduk aged, the next wave of Czech players were not able to find the same level of success. There was a bronze medal eight years later in Turin, but the previous two Olympics with NHL players came and went without the Czechs being much of a factor.

They went 14 years without winning the world championships until 2024, which is a much bigger tournament for the European countries than the North American countries. There should be some renewed hope, and more coming on the horizon.

Beware of underdogs

This Czech team in Milan is going to be fronted by world-class players. Necas will be joined by David Pastrnak and Tomas Hertl. The team will likely be backstopped by Lukas Dostal, one of the NHL’s top young goaltenders, but there is quality NHL depth in net as well.

They will be heavy underdogs as they open round-robin play against Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Toews and Canada. But look out if Dostal has a great game, or Canada picks the wrong goaltender.

“I think it’s understandable,” Necas said. “If you look at those rosters, on the paper they are stronger than us. But once you step on the ice, it doesn’t really matter. We’re going to do our best and play as hard as we can. Whatever happens is going to happen.”

Canadian hockey fans collectively care a great deal more about the world junior championships than most. Ask a Canadian hockey fan, and they will verify this next sentence.

The Czechs are coming.

Maybe not in 2026, when the team is still short on NHL depth, particularly on defense, compared to the other big four nations participating. But Czechia has regained some of its development magic.

The Czechs have medaled in each of the past four world junior tournaments. No other country can say that. For three consecutive years, Canada’s quest for gold at the event has ended with a loss to Czechia, including a 6-4 defeat in the semifinals this year. Avs prospect Max Curran had a goal and two assists in that game.

Each of the past three Czech WJC teams has had at least 12 NHL draft picks on the roster, and the 2026 team could still add to that total.

“Just watching those guys at world juniors the last two, three years, it has been pretty cool,” Necas said. “We used to have one, two, maybe three good players, not like Canada or the U.S. But now, it’s the whole team playing really well.

“It’s exciting, because I want to be winning in the future with our national team as well.”

Avs’ big bet on talent

Necas also wants to win in Colorado. He made that clear when he signed an eight-year, $92 million contract on Oct. 30 with the Avalanche.

He was part of one of the biggest NHL trades of the past 20 years in January 2025, joining the Avs from the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-team blockbuster that sent Mikko Rantanen away.

Necas has 33 goals and 90 points in 82 regular-season games since the trade. He’s essentially replaced Rantanen’s production, though the postseason is where his Colorado legacy is likely to be forged. Necas has not had the same level of postseason success to this point as the guy he replaced, but the Avs were willing to bet on his talent.

“He’s 26, turning 27, so you project that out,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said at the time of the signing. “The way he skates, the way he takes care of himself — we think the bulk of those years should be very, very productive hockey seasons.”

This trip to Milan will be Necas’ first chance to perform on one of hockey’s biggest stages. He had seven points in five games at the 2024 worlds, joining his countrymen midway through the tournament after the Hurricanes exited the playoffs.

Pastrnak and Necas are likely to be the front-line players for Czechia in 2030, and possibly in 2034 as well. By then, the kids who have been collecting WJC medals will be in their primes and could be dotted across NHL rosters.

At some point, Necas wants his country to relive the celebration that happened after winning the Olympics in 1998.

“It’s the biggest thing to ever happen to Czech hockey, I would say,” Necas said. “This is going to be exciting. If we could get something similar done over there, it would be unreal.”

He is checking golf clubs for the flight from Sweden, not hockey equipment. So a pair of breezers and some shoulder pads were his simple requests to play in the Colorado Faceoff — a benefit game pitting former Avs and DU greats against each other Sunday at 5 p.m. at Magness Arena.

“I told him not to worry. We could get him some hockey pants,” said John-Michael Liles, president of the Colorado NHL Alumni Association. “And, honestly, most of our guys don’t wear shoulder pads anymore.”

This event represents the culmination — but not the end — of seven years of tireless work. There is nothing more abrupt in pro sports than retirement. With a nudge from team president Joe Sakic, Liles and Kyle Quincey were among the first former Avs to recognize a need for an alumni arm.

The creation of the Colorado NHL Alumni Association formed under strong pillars. The players want to give back to the sport that has given them so much. They aim to make hockey — expensive because of equipment, ice time and travel — accessible to as many kids as possible. And they need this structure to take care of one another.

There is a tendency to romanticize professional sports. But once the cheering stops, identities can get lost. To not understand why this alumni group is so important is to deny how the world really works. After all, life does not stop when the uniform comes off, which for 99 percent of players, is not by choice.

They are told they are not good enough. They get cut. Or their bodies betray them because of repeated injuries and surgeries.

The game will feature names that helped our state fall in love with the sport over the past three decades — names like Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Adam Foote, Matt Davis, Troy Terry and Drew Shore. It will help benefit youth hockey in the Denver area (tickets can be purchased at ). But it goes much deeper than charity.

This is not a high school reunion, which often serves as a strange barometer of success. This is a family reunion. A welcome back with a pat on the back.

“There’s no one out there taking care of us, so we need to take care of our own,” said Quincey, a former Avs defenseman. “In my opinion, it����ap a human need. We are checking on guys and making sure they are good. A lot of guys struggle when they retire. We lose our purpose, our mission. That is why it is good to get guys back together.”

If the last five years have taught us anything, it’s that it is OK not to be OK. That is often an uncomfortable conversation for an athlete when the answers were always woven into results on the scoreboard. When a career ends, it can be scary. Issues develop. Problems surface.

Who better to understand them than former teammates? They know each other. They can recognize if someone is holding back, becoming isolated.

“Without these marquee events, we wouldn’t probably see each other. There’s no reason for a guy like Peter Forsberg to come into town. Without that, we lose our tribe. It����ap vital we have these things. We can raise money for youth hockey. And that matters. But it����ap about creating that locker room again,” Quincey said.

“… There are 700 guys that get to do what we get to do. You can’t buy your way into the Avalanche locker room. You have to earn it. And because of that, we are a very tight family.”

This game on Sunday is evidence of progress, of the work the alumni group has done. It is not easy to get former players to return. But the local Colorado chapter has been building toward this goal. They have been holding golf events in the mountains for years, keeping the lines of communication open. And they hold open skates three times a month at the Family Sports Center.

“That is over 40 and under 40 in that one,” Liles explained. “It gets competitive. There is a lot of chirping, and it wouldn’t surprise me if you see that on Sunday. So when we started putting out calls to guys, there was significant interest, and it gained a lot of steam quickly. Now that people realize it is happening, the fans have been great. It wouldn’t be a shock if it sells out.”

The alumni do not want the face-off to be a one-off. If all goes well, the players would like to see it land in Ball Arena in the future.

The game is serving as a bit of a soft launch for the Avs’ 30th anniversary season. Since arriving in 1995, the Avs have won three Stanley Cups and qualified for the playoffs 21 times. Andrew Cogliano, Dan Hinote, Darren Helm and Tyson Barrie will conjure those memories Sunday, and Mark Rycroft will inspire a few laughs.

“It is a battle whether he plays for the Avs alumni or the DU alumni. Neither team wants him,” deadpanned Liles of his broadcaster partner on Altitude Sports.

And the Avs will pay homage to the architect of their success, former general manager and Hall of Famer Pierre Lacroix. Lacroix passed away in 2020, but his son Eric will be on the Avs’ bench and his grandson Max, a goalie for Boston University, will get some time in between the pipes.

“It is really cool to have that tie to Pierre, given how much he meant for hockey in this region,” Liles said.

This game makes sense for so many reasons. It is about the past, the warm feelings the players create for all of us. But, more than anything, it is about what it does for all of them.

“Just having that locker room again is special,” Quincey said. “These guys will always be alumni. Nothing will ever change that.”

Jimmy Vesey scored his first goal with the club to help complete a comeback in regulation Tuesday night, then Charlie Coyle had the lone tally in the shootout as the Avs defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, at Ball Arena.

The Avs are now 15-3-2 in the past 20 games, and reached 100 points for the fourth consecutive season. Colorado dominated the puck for much of the final 40 minutes in regulation and had the better chances in overtime, but did need to kill a penalty in the final minute of the extra session to reach the shootout.

“There’s been ups and downs in the games that I’ve played,” Vesey said. “We have such a good team, such a deep team. I’m just trying to stay ready and when my number is called, be able to contribute.

“I thought tonight was an up for sure.”

Neither of these teams is in any particular danger of sliding in the standings. Vegas is almost certain to win the Pacific Division. Colorado is a near-lock to finish third in the Central.

Each team getting a point increased the certainty of both of those outcomes.

“I’m seeing enough from our team when the competitive spirit kind of takes over,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re still doing some good things. It seems like we’re having a little trouble getting going for these games, which I understand.”

Valeri Nichushkin scored on the power play midway through the second period. It took a lengthy review to confirm the goal. Vegas goalie Akira Schmid dove to his left and caught Nichushkin’s shot, but the officials ruled that the puck was across the line in his glove at 9:46.

It was Nichushkin’s 20th goal in 41 games this season.

Nathan MacKinnon had the primary assist on the goal. That moved him back into the outright NHL scoring lead with 116 points this season, one more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

It was also his 1,015th career point, which matches Joe Sakic for the most in franchise history since the club moved to Denver. This was MacKinnon’s 870th career game, which is also the same number of games Sakic played for the Avs after the franchise came to Colorado. Only Milan Hejduk, with 1,020, has played more for the franchise since the move.

Vesey tied the game late in the second. Miles Wood’s shot was directed behind the Vegas net, but Coyle fed Vesey for his first goal since arriving in a trade from the New York Rangers.

“I had an injury earlier in the year and I’ve been scratched a lot this year,” Vesey said. “It’s a new experience for me, and I’m learning how to stay ready.

“I wouldn’t want to say I played for the Avalanche and didn’t score. It always nice to get on the score sheet, but it’s nice for me just to able to contribute to the team.”

Vegas scored the lone goal of the opening period during one of Colorado’s two power plays. Cale Makar turned the puck over at the top of the offensive zone. He and Valeri Nichushkin were able to get back and make the Vegas rush a 2-on-2, but William Karlsson fired a shot from the right circle over Scott Wedgewood’s right shoulder at 11:10 for a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Knights took a two-goal lead just 40 seconds into the second when Brayden McNabb’s shot from the left point through traffic beat Wedgewood to the far side. At that point, the shots on goal were 9-8 in favor of Vegas.

It was all Colorado the rest of the middle period. The Avs had a 19-3 advantage in shots on net after the second Vegas goal.

Both teams were shorthanded in this contest. The Avs were missing five regulars, conjuring memories of their early-season injury woes. Martin Necas, Jonathan Drouin, Samuel Girard and Josh Manson have been out, but Ross Colton joined them. Chris Wagner was called up from the Eagles to replace Colton in the lineup.

The Golden Knights were missing their top two centers, Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl, their No. 1 defenseman (Alex Pietrangelo) and started Schmid, the club’s No. 3 goaltender.

“We’re obviously dealing with a bunch of injuries,” Bednar said. “We’ll see who can get healthy (with three games left) and if we have the opportunity to rest some other guys. We’ve got to play it by ear because I don’t know who’s going to be healthy.

“Once you’re here and you’re getting ready for the game and you’re all dressed up, you might as well go out and try to win. We’re not just going to take it easy.”

MacKinnon had the primary assist on Colorado’s first goal Tuesday night at Ball Arena against the . That gives him 1,015 points in 870 career games. Joe Sakic also had 1,015 points in 870 games for the Avalanche after the franchise moved to Denver for the start of the 1995-96 season.

The assist also gives MacKinnon 116 points this season, which equals the career high for Avs legend Peter Forsberg. One more point will give MacKinnon two seasons (including his 140 in 2023-24) with more points than any year of Forsberg’s career. If MacKinnon gets to 121 points by the end of this season, it will give him the two highest totals since the Avs moved to Denver, and two years that are more productive than any of Sakic’s career as well.

It was also the 26th straight home game with at least one point, which is the second-longest streak in franchise history, behind only MacKinnon’s run of 35 straight last season.

MacKinnon will move into sole possession of second place in games played for the Avs since the club moved to Denver on Thursday when Colorado plays Vancouver. He is currently 150 games behind Milan Hejduk for the Denver-based record.

The assist also gives MacKinnon the outright lead in the NHL scoring race this season, nudging him back ahead of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning do have two more games to play after Tuesday than the Avs.

The Avs were 25-15-1 at the midpoint, a 102-point pace. They started the second half with a loss to 32nd-place Chicago, then blasted Minnesota, one of the two teams ahead of them in the Central Division.

Given all of the injury and availability issues, it was a successful first half. And while the rest of the roster has been a mess, the top guys have been healthy and productive. Being that productive, and helping the team to a lot of success despite the adversity, could help sway voters in a close race.

Which major awards could end up in Denver at the end of the season? Quite a few have someone from the Avalanche firmly in contention.

Art Ross Trophy

This is the obvious one. Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL with 68 points, seven more than Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in second place. Also of note, he’s first in points per game at 1.58, narrowly ahead of the Art Ross winner last season, Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov at 1.57.

Availability has become part of MacKinnon’s leap from star to playing like an all-time great, and it could play a huge role in who ends up as the NHL’s scoring leader. Connor McDavid has proven he can go nuclear for a few weeks at any time, and he’s still probably the greatest threat to MacKinnon collecting his first scoring title and the second in franchise history. (The first was Peter Forsberg in 2003.)

Favorite: MacKinnon

Contenders: McDavid, Draisaitl, Kucherov

Dark horses: Mikko Rantanen, Mitch Marner

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Maurice Richard Trophy

The Avs haven’t had the NHL’s leader in goals since Milan Hejduk did it with 50 in 2003.

Given the injuries to Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin, it looks like there’s going to be a first-time winner of this award. Draisaitl has a nice lead, while Rantanen is tied for second. Both of them have scored 55 before, so they’re capable of keeping this up.

Rantanen making a push while in a contract year would be an intriguing storyline beyond Denver. Both guys have one of the two best players in the world trying to set them up. And the guy tied with Rantanen, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point, has Kucherov to feed him as well.

Favorite: Draisaitl

Contenders: Rantanen, Point

Dark horses: Ovechkin, Sam Reinhart

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Jack Adams Award 

Coaches on teams in the middle of a championship window rarely win this award. There are two exceptions: 1) The club is historically dominant. 2) There are a lot of injuries.

Jared Bednar has had to navigate a lot of injuries this season. And the Avs have not just survived; they’re actually still pretty good. There hasn’t been a lot of buzz for Bednar as a Coach of the Year candidate yet. Part of that might be because the Avs have still had their Big Three, and because Colorado is still in fourth place in its division.

He probably needs a narrative boost, which could be a late-season push for the Central title. If the voters can say “Wow, Bednar’s team had all those injuries and still won the division,” or “�������Dz�����won the best division in the league,” then he is going to have a pretty strong case.

There will be plenty of strong competition, though, including an old friend from South Carolina.

Favorite: Spencer Carbery, Capitals

Contenders: John Hynes, Wild; Scott Arniel, Jets; Sheldon Keefe, Devils

Dark horses: Bednar; Dean Evason, Blue Jackets; Martin St. Louis, Canadiens

Norris Trophy

Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes missed four games, and Cale Makar might have missed an opening to create some separation. The Canucks are in shambles right now, but it’s still too early to tell how much that might affect Hughes’ case. There’s also a chance it actually helps.

Makar is, assuming good health, likely to lead all defensemen in points. He might lead in goals. He’s got a chance to lead in total time on ice, as well. That would be a tough triple crown to top, for a lot of voters.

Hughes could have better underlying numbers, like he did a year ago. The on/off numbers for the Canucks when Hughes is on the ice versus when he’s not are also comical. This isn’t a Most Valuable Player award, and this PHWA voter has always bristled at the idea that someone should win one of these types of awards just because his teammates aren’t good.

Zach Werenski has very much made this a three-way battle, and he’ll get a “He’s carrying the surprising Blue Jackets” narrative boost as well. Makar’s best bet might be to make a run at 100 points, and winning those other two categories wouldn’t hurt, either.

Favorite: None

Contenders: Makar, Hughes, Werenski

Dark horse: None

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Hart Trophy

Could MacKinnon repeat?

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov looked like a potential favorite, given the Wild’s success, and he’s clearly the engine of that team. But he’s missed a not-insignificant amount of time. The other usual suspects (McDavid, Matthews) have either missed time or not been at an MVP level, either.

It looks like a relatively open field right now. MacKinnon and Draisaitl are contenders but also have McDavid and Rantanen to potentially siphon votes or give voters a reason to look elsewhere. Hughes could have a case, but not if the Canucks miss the playoffs or barely get in.

Connor Hellebuyck is the runaway Vezina Trophy winner right now — if Winnipeg finishes first in the West, there would be a strong argument for him to win the Hart as well.

If MacKinnon were to win the Art Ross by 10-plus points, that would be hard to ignore.

Favorite: None

Contenders: Draisaitl, Kaprizov, MacKinnon

Dark horses: McDavid, Hellebuyck

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The Avs have a unique set of circumstances, but if what general manager Chris MacFarland said this past weekend at the 2024 NHL draft is true, they have very little room below the salary cap ceiling to work with.

Colorado could spend well past the $88 million limit, for now, because Valeri Nichushkin’s $6.125 million cap hit doesn’t go on the books officially until he is reinstated. He’s currently in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA Players Assistance Program and suspended through at least mid-November. MacFarland downplayed the chances of the team doing that.

The top priority after getting No. 2 center Casey Mittelstadt signed has appeared to be bringing back Jonathan Drouin, who is one of seven Avs players who become unrestricted free agents Monday. Without trading someone off the current roster, that might just not be feasible.

“Can it get across the finish line? I don’t know,” MacFarland said of a potential contract. “I do think that Jonathan was great for us, but I also think the Avalanche were great for Jonathan as well. We’ll certainly stay in touch with (Drouin’s agent) Allan Walsh through the weekend, and we’ll see what happens.”

So, the Avs currently have nine forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders under contract who were regulars last season. Add in defenseman Sam Malinski and forward Nikolai Kovalenko, who are the best internal bets to become regulars, and there are still three everyday lineup spots open, plus any extras the club would keep.

Even if the Avs filled all of those spots with guys making the veteran minimum ($775,000), there would be less than $500,000 left over. The biggest need is an everyday defenseman. Others include a depth defenseman or two, a No. 3 goaltender and multiple forwards who can either compete for a fourth-line role, be a potential placeholder for Nichushkin or captain Gabe Landeskog if he’s not ready to start the season, or both.

The Avs have excelled at finding bargains with limited funds in recent years, with Drouin being the best example a year ago. Beyond the players who have been pending UFAs for weeks, there are several new names in the class after a round of buyouts and pending restricted free agents not receiving qualifying offers.

Drouin is the headliner, but the Avs will likely see other key players from the 2023-24 team sign elsewhere Monday. The full list of UFAs: Sean Walker, Jack Johnson and Caleb Jones on defense and Drouin, Yakov Trenin, Brandon Duhaime and Joel Kiviranta up front.

Monday is also the first day players who have one year left on their current contract are eligible to sign future extensions. Avs star Mikko Rantanen is one of those players, along with Logan O’Connor and Alexandar Georgiev.

Avs set camp roster: Frozen Four hero Matt Davis will be one of the most recognizable names at the Colorado Avalanche’s development camp this week.

Davis, who helped the University of Denver win its record 10th NCAA title with legacy-building performances against Boston University and Boston College at the 2024 Frozen Four, is one of several undrafted invites to the Avs’ camp, which will take place at Family Sports Center.

The Avalanche’s top prospect, Calum Ritchie, will be there, but fellow 2023 first-round selection Mikhail Gulyayev will not. Colorado’s top pick in the 2024 draft, goaltender Ilya Nabokov, will also not attend.

Seven of the nine players the Avs drafted this past weekend at The Sphere in Las Vegas are expected to attend. Third-round pick Will Sellers is injured and not expected to participate.

The camp will have a heavy Pioneers flavor. Joining Davis will be Jake Fisher and Tory Pitner, two incoming DU freshmen drafted Saturday by the Avs, as well as defenseman Boston Buckberger, another camp invite.

Taylor Makar, Cale’s younger brother, and Marek Hejduk, who has played at Harvard the past two seasons and is the son of former Avs star Milan Hejduk, are also among the attendees.

Her eyes were heavy as she made the two-hour drive from Edwards, across snowy Vail Pass, watching the light break over the horizon. But once she walked into Edge Ice Arena and put on her skates, that doubt dissipated.

She had arrived at Hockey Heals, a weekly skate for those who have endured a life-threatening illness, disorder or event. This was her most potent form of therapy. Where she felt alive.

“The important thing I have to remember is I need to show up as I am,” �ҴǴdz�é�� said. “That’s what gets me here. I don’t care what’s working or what’s not with me on this particular day. If I can just show up and get here, it will change my whole day around.

“When you get diagnosed with something, unfortunately, that’s what it takes for a lot of people to realize how short life is. And when you start to realize how quickly time goes, and how nothing’s promised, you take time for this. You come out here on the ice, and you’re like, ‘Okay, this is actually what I’m living for.’ Hockey Heals gives me purpose behind my day, my week, my life.”

�ҴǴdz�é�� is one of about 50 players who are involved with the group.

There are cancer, stroke, car-wreck and coma survivors, a burn victim, and five heart transplant recipients, among a multitude of adversity that’s been overcome for some, and is ongoing for others.

The group is a part of a nonprofit hockey foundation whose mission is to provide resources and financial support to those in need in the sport’s community.

They meet every Wednesday morning at Edge, where , a 26-year-old former club hockey captain at Boston University, says the hour-long practice and scrimmage “is something that people intentionally come to, and intentionally hold onto when they leave.”

Hockey Heals began as DAWG Nation’s annual “survivor game,” but it became clear it needed to be a consistent outlet, DAWG Nation CEO Marty Richardson says. So what started as a small shootaround a couple of years ago has grown into a full-scale weekly get-together complete with jerseys and tournament teams.

Richardson predicts Hockey Heals will eventually need multiple weekly sessions at more than one arena to meet the group’s growing numbers.

“There’s a common ground between these players, because only they really know what their other players are going through,” Richardson said. “When someone is down, it’s a huge lift for them to get out on the ice every week with Hockey Heals. And it’s something a hospital or medicine can’t give them.”

Don Coombe falls into that category. The 69-year-old former coach is a three-time Stage 4 cancer survivor — battles that cost him part of his tongue and his jaw. For that reason, he hasn’t eaten a meal in 13 years, since he underwent a 12-hour surgery that reconstructed his face to remove the cancer.

But you won’t ever catch Coombe wallowing in self-pity at Edge, where he says he’s part of a tight-knit community that “not only makes you want to keep playing, but keep living to the fullest, too.”

“I’m not as handsome as I used to be,” he joked, “but I wanted to fight to stay around for my kids, for my grandkids that I would’ve missed out on. And when I’m out on the ice, I feel the love and the support of the hockey community through all of this.”

It’s that sort of perspective that 62-year-old Dan Turner says “serves as reminders of the goodness in life,” even after a heart attack nearly killed him on the ice. It’s what keeps 8-year-old Porter Johnson cruising around without a care, with the Arvada third-grader declaring he’s going to “play until I’m 90 and can’t walk anymore” just a few years after overcoming leukemia.

Hockey Heals provides these players a place where their battles don’t need to be explained and their setbacks don’t need emphasizing, because everyone has them.

“Every Wednesday morning, I get up at 5 a.m., drive out here and forget about my life struggles for an hour and play hockey,” explained Lucas Vialpando, 28, who has cerebral palsy, but more importantly a knack for scoring from his sled. “That’s it. I’m just one of the guys. … And as a family out here, we’ve seen the ups and downs that life has for everybody in this group. At the end of the day we can turn to each other on the rink and understand that life is going to happen to you whether you want it to or not.”

The Avalanche, long a supporter of DAWG Nation, has taken notice of the collective resiliency of Hockey Heals.

Forward Logan O’Connor has dropped by a practice to skate, as has retired Colorado all-star winger Milan Hejduk, who is an ambassador for the organization. Club president Joe Sakic and longtime captain Gabe Landeskog have also been involved. And Avs head coach Jared Bednar, who’s done plenty to boost DAWG Nation, made time to call Richardson’s brother Nigel last year when the 61-year-old was in the hospital following his heart transplant.

“Sometimes for us people who are healthy, we can get in a bad mood, we can have aches and pains that we overblow,” Milan Hejduk said. “But then when you see what these people are dealing with, it’s a whole different story to realize how tough they are and how determined they are. They’re going through all that and still show up for hockey and their love of the game. It puts life in a completely different perspective for those who don’t have to deal with health issues.”

The Avs’ support continued this week, when four of the six honorees for the club’s on Thursday at Ball Arena were Hockey Heals players, including �ҴǴdz�é�� and Coombe. They joined Avs players on the ice and were recognized for their resilience during the pregame announcement for starting lineups. It was a highlight in what’s been an emotionally draining week for the group, as they also attended a fellow player’s celebration of life on Saturday night.

whom the Avs honored at last year’s Hockey Fights Cancer night, died Oct. 6 at age 48 from pancreatic cancer. Her death hit the group hard. They Sharpied a heart with her name on the ice at Edge a couple of weeks ago, and honored her with stick taps each time they skated over it.

“Unfortunately, it happens to this group,” �ҴǴdz�é�� said. “Every single time, it’s a reminder to look around at these faces and remember that we get to be here. And what can we take from our life today?… This group reminds us of the things to celebrate every day. It’s about remembering why we’re here, and that it’s a gift for each one of us to be breathing right now.”

For that reason, �ҴǴdz�é�� never remembers her stat line, or whether her side won or lost the scrimmage. There’s only one variable that matters to her, before she has to get back to worrying about cancer or how her myriad of other health issues are affecting her body.

“When I get out there, I just want to be smiling,” �ҴǴdz�é�� said. “I go hard, but I just want the joy.”

He is just the fourth Avalanche player to have scored at least 40 goals in a season since the franchise moved to Denver in 1995. It has been done seven times in team history.

Here’s a look at the other six times it happened:

1. Mikko Rantanen — 55 (2022-23)

Hot off the team winning its third Stanley Cup, the Moose stepped up to fill in for an Avs team that suffered multiple injuries early in the year. He had already surpassed his career high (36 in 2021-22) by the end of February. He finished the regular season with a career-best 105 points.

2. Joe Sakic — 54 (2000-01)

Super Joe lived up to every bit of his moniker this season as he led Colorado to the best record in the league in the regular season before capturing the franchise’s second Stanley Cup in the playoffs. He also had 64 assists to finish with 118 points. The captain earned plenty of accolades, including the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award.

3. Joe Sakic — 51 (1995-96)

In the Avs’ first season in Colorado after moving from Quebec, Sakic put up his first career 50-goal season. He also had career-bests in assists (69) and points (120). The Avs would go on to win the Stanley Cup and Sakic was honored with the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

4. Milan Hejduk — 50 (2002-23)

Two seasons after registering his first 40-goal season, the Czech forward hit the 50 mark in a year, earning the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals in the NHL that season.

5. Nathan MacKinnon — 42 (2022-23)

Despite missing 11 games during the season, MacKinnnon joined Sakic and Hejduk as the only players to reach 40-plus goals in multiple seasons in an Avs jersey. He scored his 40th goal of the year early in the first period in the season’s last game, a 4-3 win over Nashville. He added two more to lift the Avs to victory — and a first-place finish in the Central Division.

6T. Joe Sakic — 41 (1998-99)

Despite missing nine games, Sakic registered his second of three 40-plus-goals season in an Avs uniform and the fourth of five with the franchise. He also had 55 assists and league-leading five short-handed goals for Colorado.

6T. Milan Hejduk — 41 (2000-01)

In just his third season in the league, Hejduk became — at the time — the first player not named Joe Sakic to score 40 goals in a season for the Avs. The crazy thing is he wasn’t even the leading goal-scorer on the team that season — that would be Sakic with a career high 54 (see above).

6T. Nathan MacKinnon — 41 (2018-19)

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft became the youngest Avalanche player to reach the 40-goal mark at the age of 23. He did it by peppering goaltenders with an NHL-leading 365 shots on goal.

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