How Swede it is for Avs, Sens in Nov.
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog is scheduled to go home next season — for two games.
The NHL and the players association announced Friday that the Avalanche will play two 2017-18 regular-season games in Stockholm against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 10 and 11.
The matchups, at the Ericsson Globe arena, are especially attractive for the host country because each team has a Swedish captain — the Avs’ Landeskog, a native of Stockholm, and Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, who is from Landsbro, about 210 miles south of the capital city. Colorado has two other Swedes on its roster, defenseman Anton Lindholm and center Carl Soderberg.
“I didn’t think it was real at first,” Landeskog said Friday at the Family Sports Center. “It’s super exciting. I’ve played in the world championships there before, and during the lockout I was there playing for Djurgarden. But playing in an NHL game, or two NHL games, in your hometown, in front of family and friends, that’s going to be really exciting. I think all my friends and family are real excited too.”
Landeskog said of Karlsson also wearing the C for Ottawa: “If anything, it adds to the game and adds to the atmosphere around it, and for the fans to be able to pick sides and cheer — basically pick one or the other. It should be fun, it should be a great turnout.”
He noted Soderberg’s and Lindholm’s presence on the Colorado roaster and added of the Senators: “They have one of my childhood buddies on that team, Fredrik Claesson. … And Stockholm has a great hockey tradition and a good fan base for hockey. And I think the NHL is going to take that city by storm and I think it will be a lot of fun.”
Each team will relinquish one regular-season home game to make the two-game set in Sweden possible.
In a news release issued by the NHL, Avs president Josh Kroenke said: “We are excited and proud to have the opportunity to play regular-season games in Sweden as part of the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series.”
These will be the first NHL regular-season games in Europe since several games in Berlin, Helsinki and Stockholm in 2011. It will be the Avalanche’s second visit to Europe, following a 2001 exhibition game trip.
Coming off a Stanley Cup championship, the Avs played Brynas IF of the Swedish Elite League in Stockholm in a Sept. 16, 2001, exhibition. The Avs won 5-3 as Alex Tanguay scored a hat trick. Two more exhibitions, scheduled against Djurgarden on Sept. 15 and against Jokerit in Helsinki on Sept. 18, were canceled and the Avs returned home earlier than planned in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
NOTEBOOK Avalanche:
The Avs went through off-ice workouts at Family Sports Center on Friday. … Colorado coach Jared Bednar again discussed what he labeled his team’s “fear of losing,” saying he believed the Avs “have played some of our best hockey of the year” recently, including in some of the losses. “The fear of losing in the third period when something goes wrong for us, the culmination of our mistakes or just the mistakes we’re making are very costly to us,” he said. “It’s a fine line between winning and losing. … We have to believe that we can get it done and we have to be loose and continue to play.” Oilers: Edmonton coach Todd McLellan — whose son, Tyson, is a freshman forward for the No. 1-ranked Denver Pioneers — said he had “mixed emotions” about the Oilers’ come-from-behind, 7-4 win over the Avalanche in the Pepsi Center on Thursday night. “I didn’t think we were the best team on the night,” he said. “We were lucky to win the game. We didn’t skate well, maybe it was the back-to-back, maybe it was getting in late (3 a.m. at the hotel after playing in Anaheim on Wednesday). We weren’t very sharp on our skates with or without the puck. Give them credit.” … McDavid’s two-assist night enabled him to open up a six-point lead over Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane going into Friday’s games in the race for the NHL scoring title. Terry Frei, The Denver Post