March 1, 2010 - Red Wings at Avalanche

These arch-rivals' 2nd meeting in Denver this year, and this time the Red Wings fans walked out happy. And there were a lot of them.

Av's held their own, particularly in the 2nd period where they came back from a 2-0 deficit. This breakaway by Yip ended with him shooting from his knee and not finding a way around Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard.



Ultimately, the visitors prevailed. Here's a clean image of future Hall-of-Famer Niklas Lidstrom celebrating the game-winner, a power play goal about halfway through the third period. You don't see hockey players smile too much, and with Detroit on the bubble to make a playoff spot this year, these guys are truly happy for every goal and point they can get.



Tough loss for the Av's, but they followed it up with a couple of moves at the trade deadline and a nice win in Anaheim on March 3.

February 2, 2010 - Blue Jackets at Avalanche

Besides the slow start and relatively tame 1st period, this was a fun game to be at. These ladies were having fun at least. The Pepsi Center was pretty empty, with entire sections of the upper levels nearly empty. I still found some fans to photograph.


The rookies led the charge, with Brandon Yip (pictured) and Ryan O'Reilly each scoring two goals. T.J. Galiardi (also pictured below) had assists on 4 of the 5 goals the Av's scored. Even the single goal scored by the BJ's was a beauty, and short-handed as well. Here, Yip and Galiardi celebrate what would turn out to be the winning goal in the 5-1 victory.


The only real star player on the Blue Jackets is Rick Nash, so I followed him with my lens. Here, he is stuffed by an Av's defender as he falls to the ice after taking a shot. Nash did have the assist on the BJ's goal.

Thanks for looking!

January 22, 2010 - Predators at Avalanche

Another win for the Av's, this one was something of a nailbiter. 2-1 victory. Had a nice shot of the game-winner from Brandon Yip - and it was nearly identical to the shot used by Denver Post photographer Karl Gehring (see the photo used with this article: http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_14252418). I admire Karl's ability to always nail the key moments from up above of both hockey and baseball.



I also liked this shot of rookies T.J. Galiardi and Ryan O'Reilly discussing an upcoming penalty kill. These "defensive forwards" have stepped up and been awesome to watch when the man advantage is for the other team.

December 22, 2009 - Ducks at Avalanche

Total 3rd period implosion. Av's looked pretty good for 55 minutes in this one. Then a flurry from the Ducks and the Av's fall 4-2 (including an empty-netter).

Rookie Brandon Yip scored his 1st NHL goal and I got a half-decent jubilation shot. The action was at the far end of the ice from me, but I was still pleased with the image.



Colorado Avalanche right wing Brandon Yip (59) leaps in the air as he celebrates his first NHL goal with teammates center Matt Hendricks (15), defenseman Brett Clark (5) and center Chris Durno (45) during a regular season game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Anaheim Ducks at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado.

Next up are the Stars tonight, December 26th. I'll post something tomorrow, thanks for looking!