DU hosted the Colorado Avalanche’s intrasquad scrimmage, the Burgundy/White Game, on Sept. 25 at Magness Arena. The contest featured Avalanche players and prospects eager to make an impression on upper level management. The first Burgundy/White Game was held in 1998, while this is the third year in a row the event has been hosted at DU’s Magness Arena.
With General Manager Joe Sakic overlooking the festivities and evaluating player performances, there was a competitive spirit in the air.
While the White team emerged with a 1-0 victory, it was a scrappy, hard-hitting game throughout the 60 minutes of playing time. Russian forward Mikhail Grigorenko knocked home a rebound late in the game to score, serving as the event’s only tally.
The game served as a homecoming for two newly acquired players, Joe Colborne and Patrick Wiercioch, who played at DU in 2008 together as freshmen. Wiercioch, a 25-year-old defenseman, signed a one-year contract. Colborne, a 26-year-old center, signed a two-year deal.
It’s been an easy transition for Colborne, who already feels like part of the team.
“It’s a great group of guys here, a tight-knit group. They’ve accepted me with open arms and it feels like I’ve been here a long time already,” said Colborne.
Colborne will look to make an impact on the second or third line this season, boasting a versatile game as a center or winger.
Five goalies played in the game, including Calvin Pickard, who is expected to be Colorado’s full-time backup this fall. He made a perfect 16 saves in his 40 minutes of action.
Many high profile players were missing from the scrimmage, as Nathan Mackinnon, Erik Johnson, Matt Duchene, Carl Soderberg, Gabe Landeskog and Semyon Varlamov have all been participating in the NHL’s World Cup of Hockey over the past week in Toronto, Ontario.
Other veterans, such as Tyson Barrie, Blake Comeau, Jarome Iginla, Francois Beauchemin and Cody McLeod viewed the game from the press box.
The Burgundy/White game served as an opportunity for young prospects to shine, as well as for veterans to assert their spots in the NHL lineup.
Former high draft picks Duncan Siemens (first round), Nikita Zadorov (first round), A.J. Greer (second round), J.T. Compher (second round), Nicolas Meloche (second round) and Chris Bigras (second round) were all eager to show their progress made over the summer. Meloche is returning to the junior-hockey level, but the other crop of high draft picks are all expected to play professionally on either the Avalanche or the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage in 2016.
Neither the Burgundy nor White team found much offense, as they combined for 44 shots, only scoring one. Team Burgundy went 0-3 on the powerplay. Forward John Mitchell received a two-minute roughing penalty in the second period after running defenseman Josh Anderson into the boards from behind.
Anderson found himself in multiple skirmishes throughout the night, racking up seven penalty minutes himself. He and forward Jeffrey Truchon-Viel received fighting majors in the third period.
Just as it seemed the game would head to overtime, defenseman Sergei Boikov unleashed a slap shot on net. The shot was stopped by a mob of bodies in front, but the rebound trickled to Grigorenko in the slot, who buried the only goal of the game with just 28.8 seconds remaining.
The Avalanche have a brand new head coach, Jared Bednar, who eagerly watched his younger players compete.
“I became way more familiar with some of the new guys coming in. Remember, again, there are guys here who [have played in] San Antonio, new guys to the organization, players that were [already] here. It’s just good for me to continue to go over my thoughts on all of these guys,” said Bednar.
It was a physical game, one that saw several younger players trying to make their mark in what is a very rare, live-game opportunity to compete against the organization’s other prospects on DU’s campus.
