Cale Makar’s Homecoming

The UMass Amherst hockey team is hosting their banner ceremony to recognize last season’s accomplishments on December 6-7. In addition to honoring Makar and his Hobey Baker Award, the Minutemen will retire Pete Keenan’s number 4. Makar’s number won’t be retired just yet, but tickets for the game will be $16, which was his collegiate number. The ceremony will take place before Friday night’s game against the University of Maine. The Colorado Avalanche are off on Friday night before taking on the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday night.

Mile High Dreams Gala

Last night several Colorado Avalanche players attended the annual Mile High Dreams Gala to raise money for Kroenke Sports Charities, which funds programs for children and families in Colorado. As usual, they couldn’t be totally serious and Andre Burakovsky took the microphone and interviewed his teammates this year (taking over from Tyson Jost). If the photos are any indication, we should get some good video content in the next few days.

MHH Features

The Avs were off yesterday, but that didn’t stop us from dissecting Tuesday’s loss in Dallas. Tom broke down the NHL rules behind the controversy over Radek Faska’s second goal of the game, which was scored using a broken stick. However, the coaches challenge became about more than just the goal, and we were all confused.

If looking back at the last few games is too much, Scott took a look at A.J. Greer’s career and development. In his fourth professional season, Greer has struggled with off-ice issues, and has become a vocal advocate for mental health awareness.

Hockey Fights Cancer

Colorado won’t host their Hockey Fights Cancer game until Nov. 23, but the team is already active in raising awareness. Fans can submit a name of someone they know battling cancer to be listed on the boards at the game against the Maple Leafs.

Former player and current broadcaster Eddie Olczyk beat stage 3 colon cancer, and recently released a book “Beating the Odds in Hockey and Life” to encourage others who are undergoing cancer treatment. He attended an event at the NHL store in New York and signed copies of the book on Tuesday. More here.

Winter Classic Jerseys

Cat pretty much sums it up, but both jerseys for the coming Winter Classic are wonderful. The Dallas Stars tops incorporate the star by replacing the A in stars with an actual star, all of which is surrounded by a large letter D. The jerseys are green with white letters and numbers.

The Nashville Predators also went for a throwback vibe with the full team name written in script inside a yellow bar running across the middle of the jersey. The bar extends to the sleeves, while the rest of the jersey is white. The text and borders will be black. The 2020 Winter Classic will be at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Tex.