The Colorado Avalanche: News from around the NHL - December 13th, 2013

A hockey player saved a life in a way that would make Bruce Willis proud.

A 20-year-old hockey player from Toronto recorded the ultimate assist earlier this week when he helped save a New York State National Guardsman who was trapped inside a burning vehicle.

Kevin Shier, a forward for the Toronto Patriots Jr. A club, was one of five men who stopped to aid the soldier on Monday, according to an article posted on the Ontario Junior Hockey League's official website.

The group, driving through New York state at the time, were en route to visit a nearby college campus. They saw smoke in the distance, pulled over, and quickly discovered an unconscious man inside a truck.

Avs beat Jets.

Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau scored in the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche stopped a two-game losing skid with a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

Duchene also scored twice and added an assist in regulation and Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and added an assist for the Avs (21-9-0).

Blake Wheeler scored twice, Michael Frolik added another and Grant Clitsome had a pair of assists for Winnipeg (14-4-5).

Duchene scored his second goal of the night to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with 1.6 seconds left in the second period when he backhanded a rebound into the open side of the net as goalie Ondrej Pavelec tried to slide back.

There has been a shake up in the Flames front office.

'Tis the season to give, and Brian Burke did just that on Thursday. The Calgary Flames' president of hockey operations gave pink slips to general manager Jay Feaster and assistant GM John Weisbrod.

Burke has been with the Flames for 98 days now. He has kept his distance from the team, but he has kept a close eye on it too.

He claimed he performed a thorough evaluation of Feaster and his staff over the past three-plus months and said he sought opinions from outside observers.