Avalanche will land in middle of NHL realignment
With financial issues stable between owners and players, the NHL’s most pressing matter is now temporary realignment — guaranteed to happen if the 2021 season unfolds.
The league wants an all- Canadian division to eliminate the need to cross borders, and the creation of three American divisions to limit travel within the U. S.
The Avalanche won’t have anything to lose, and just a little to gain, because it is the league’s only team continuously based in the Mountain Time Zone ( Arizona does not recognize Daylight Saving Time).
The Avs, who normally play in the Central Division with six teams based in the Central Time Zone, are expected to be placed in the westernmost American division, likely dubbed the Pacific, and geographically sit in the middle of that loop.
Pacific- time teams Las Vegas, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose would be in that division, plus probably St. Louis and either Minnesota or Dallas in Central time, and Arizona.
So not much would change for Colorado — especially if its road games against Pacific teams start earlier than before. With no fans allowed in buildings to begin the season, if not all of it, there is less emphasis on avoiding rush- hour traffic — because there won’t be any.
So an Avs game at Los Angeles, for example, could be a
7 p. m. MST start, and Colorado’s road games against the likes of Minnesota, Dallas or St. Louis would be the normal 6 p. m. Discussions about moving up game times at Pacificzone teams came about because Minnesota, Dallas and
St. Louis each complained that too many of their road games would begin too late for many of their fans.
Avs followers won’t have that problem.
Prospects.
The future of an NHL team is often defined by how many draftees are playing at the World Junior
Championship. The prestigious under- 20 tournament is where future NHLers solidify their names to the most astute hockey folks.
And this year, the WJC at Rogers Place in Edmonton — the same bubble utilized by the NHL throughout the recent Stanley Cup playoffs — takes center stage, with the NHL idle when the tournament unfolds Dec. 25 to Jan. 5.
From a North American perspective, the Avalanche looks great at the WJC — with a combined four draftees competing for the United States or Canada, including an NHLhigh three for the latter.
Defenseman Bo Byram and forward Alex Newhook, selected by the Avs with the No. 4 and No. 16 picks of the 2019 draft, were strong bets to make Canada’s prestigious
25- man roster, and they did when it was finalized Friday. Defenseman Justin Barron, who was Colorado’s only 2020 first- round pick ( 25th overall), also made the team in a surprise to those who didn’t follow the training camp regularly.
Newhook, a Boston College sophomore, is among just three NCAA players on the team. The other 22 play majorjunior or professionally.
Defenseman Drew Helleson will represent the Avalanche for Team USA. Helleson, a 2019 second- round pick ( 47th overall), is a classmate with Newhook at BC.
Luddy. David Ludwig, an NHL player- agent for Denver- based KO Sports Inc., has been hired by Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong as the club’s director of hockey operations/ salary cap compliance. “Luddy” begins his new position Jan. 1.
Ludwig is a California native who received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado- Boulder and his law degree at the University of Denver. He played club hockey at CU and DU.