Bo-Jo: rookie, veteran pairing paying off for Avs
DENVER — There’s a 13-year age gap in the pairing of Colorado Avalanche defencemen Erik Johnson and Bowen Byram.
They play different styles, too, but their chemistry on the ice is undeniable and their stories have another link, too, as both have dealt with the lingering effects of concussions.
Longtime NHL veteran Johnson and rookie Byram have been quite a combination on the blue line for an Avalanche team heading back to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 2001. Game 1 against Tampa Bay is Wednesday night in Denver.
Go ahead, make the age jokes. They do. “He’s been playing forever,” cracked Byram, who turned 21 on Monday. Almost.
Johnson’s experience over 14 NHL seasons, though, is rubbing off on Byram, a makethings-happen defenceman who is crafted in the same sort of mold as dynamic teammate Cale Makar. Byram brings out the best in Johnson, too, a physical defenceman who’s not afraid to jump into the offence.
“He’s kind of got an old-school soul,” the 34year-old Johnson said. “He’s so young, but has that throwback style to him, how he is off the ice. If he played all year, he’d be in the running for rookie of the year.”
Earlier this season, Byram dealt with concussion symptoms. He even took a break from the team to mend. Johnson knows all about the topic, playing in just four regular-season games during 2020-21 and missing out on a postseason when Colorado was eliminated by Vegas in the second round.
He’s thriving in this postseason next to Byram, who was held to 30 games but still tied for third among NHL rookie defencemen in goals with five. Byram wasn’t with the team for personal reasons from mid-January to late March. He went on a conditioning assignment with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL before rejoining the team April 5.
“The organization did a great job of helping me get the help I needed,” Byram said, “so it’s in the rearview mirror. Now I’m just focused on playoffs.”
Johnson has been a sounding board for Byram, whose skating reminds the veteran a lot of Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer’s.
Simply one high draft pick helping another — Johnson was taken No. 1 overall by St. Louis in 2006 and Byram fourth by Colorado in 2019. Byram has become an astute student and soaks in Johnson’s advice. Byram has seven assists so far in the postseason, with Johnson recording a goal and four assists.
“He’s only getting better and better,” said Johnson, who was traded to Colorado in February 2011 and currently is the longest tenured athlete of Denver’s four major sports teams. “If I can expedite that process ... glad to do so.”