Morning Flurries: Avs win & we remember Team North America

Colorado Avalanche

After a lackluster performance in the preseason opener, the Avs came out flying last night and played a dominating 60 minutes, beating the Dallas Stars 5-1. Nail Yakupov looked great in his Avs debut and Chris Bigras took a step towards securing a spot in the opening night lineup. For those that missed the radio call, Eric has a great recap for us here. [MHH]

After the game, Semyon Varlamov spoke about how he feels physically going into the season.

One year ago yesterday, Nathan MacKinnon scored the overtime win that gave Team North America an unexpected win against Sweden at the World Cup of Hockey. TNA surprised a lot of fans, and this goal serves as the biggest highlight for a group of players that won the hearts of the hockey world.

Around the hockey world

The OHL regular season kicked off last night and the Barrie Colts - who finished dead last a season ago - stunned the Ottawa 67’s 11-2. The Colts were led by two goals from potential first overall pick in next year’s NHL Entry Draft Andrei Svechnikov.

We’ve known for a while that the NHL isn’t going to the Olympics in February, but it seems as though some NHLers haven't let it go.

Last week Joffrey Lupul caused quite a stir with a couple of Instagram comments. The former NHLer accused the Toronto Maple Leafs of cheating by abusing the long-term injury reserve. As a result, the NHL is going to independently investigate the medical records of both Lupul and Marian Hossa to determine whether or not their team physicals are valid. [The Athletic]