Morning Flurries: As the Days Get Colder, Hockey Gets Closer!

As we near the darkest, coldest, and shortest days of the season, there is a lot to look forward to. The holiday season is coming closer, hopefully everyone gets some great Avs gear for the holidays! One gift that keeps on giving during this time is seeing another Avs prospect making a World Junior’s squad:

Avalanche prospect Drew Helleson has made the final squad for the USA WJC team, once again proving just how strong the prospect squad is for the Avalanche. We are bound to see Helleson and fellow prospect Bowen Byram share the ice in the near future along with other several hot commodities the Avs have hold of. If the current squad can compete for a cup, surely the prospects will follow suit and keep the Avs in the hunt for a long while.

There’s another thing to look forward to: the NHL sounds more likely than ever to return soon. A month ago, it sounded as if no progress was being made financially or physically without a plan to return to play. As the month has passed, we’ve heard the rumors of a 56 game schedule starting in mid-January with regionally-split divisions including a Canadian division. Now, it sounds like it is all coming together for an ultimate reveal later this week:

With this supposed upcoming announcement later this week, we can only be feeling one way when we see Avs hockey back at the Ball Arena (still doesn’t sound right in my opinion):

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images

With the NHL coming back soon, there were some highlights of Mikko Rantanen’s Top 5 plays from last season released yesterday. The moose had quite a few spectacular plays last year and took it into the bubble playoffs as well, and hopefully can continue his dominance in the upcoming season. As Marc Moser said last year, we cannot wait to see the moose get loose once again later this year:

Meanwhile, the Avalanche affiliate Utah Grizzlies were in action Friday and Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes affiliate Rapid City Rush in Rapid City for the first games of the season. Friday night’s game would not end too well for the Grizzlies, ending in a 6-4 defeat in a high-scoring affair. Check out the whole thread of the game below:

Saturday’s result would be a better turnout for the Grizzlies. Both teams started with goals just 30 seconds apart and ended the 1st tied 1-1. After a scoreless second, the Grizzlies went ahead with three goals in the third to beat the Rush 4-1 and split their two game series, and their Twitter summed up how they felt after that performance:

Finally, as the holiday season gets closer, extravagant decorations continue to be shared on the Internet in all its glory for all of us to see. Avalanche defender Samuel Girard is no different when it comes to this when showing off his Christmas tree from Tornade’s Instagram account:

Happy Sunday everyone! Enjoy the rest of the rest of the weekend, stay safe, and Avs hockey is right around the corner!