It's Friday! So let's open it up to listener questions taken from our fine followers of Instagram. Today we answer questions pertaining to who would be the next Captain whenever Gabe Landeskog ceases playing? Is NAK to blame for the Avalanche of injuries last season thanks to his dropping of the Stanley Cup? Why is this year's late-round pick so important to the Avs? Plus many more. Tune in, subscribe and enjoy! Subscribe to our Subtext to talk to us directly! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonava...
Jun 09, 2023•33 min•Ep. 722
Every off-season players take stock of their performance from the previous year and break down what they did right, wrong or missed. Today, we look at six players who we feel have more to prove. These are not all players who necessarily had a bad season. Some even had very good seasons. But if you ask them they would probably tell you they have more to give. We also give Ben Meyers his season grade. Maybe we are a little too harsh, but if we are speaking of players who have more to give, he's on...
Jun 08, 2023•35 min•Ep. 721
One of the bigger names the Avalanche need to hand a new contract to this offseason is, of course, Bowen Byram. The question remains on if it will be a bridge deal or a long term one. We might have gotten a glimpse into the market after the Montreal Canadiens signed Cole Caufield to a massive 8 year, $62.8 million deal. Seeing as how Caufield was drafted in the same year as Byram, does this have any impact on how the Avs negotiate with their defenseman? We also discuss the new head coach hiring ...
Jun 06, 2023•29 min•Ep. 720
Deputy commissioner of the NHL was asked about the Valeri Nichushkin situation and he responded: “There’s no ongoing investigation into the Nichushkin incident. We know exactly what happened. It was handled appropriately, both at the club level and, I think, at the league level, and he’s eligible to play in the league.” That will satisfy some, but for others it won't. But should we expect Nuke to be back in full at the start of next season? While we don't have a definite answer to that, by Daly ...
Jun 05, 2023•30 min•Ep. 719
The Champions Hockey League in Europe adopted 3 new rule changes to its power play. Should the NHL consider one, none, or all three of them? We discuss which ones we like. We also give Cale Makar his season grade, and like Nathan MacKinnon, he has a report card he is proud to bring home to his mother to hang on the fridge. Finally, with the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals, if they were to win it all (which most believe they will), where does it rank among the other six Denver area championships...
Jun 02, 2023•33 min•Ep. 718
Peter Baugh of "The Athletic" conducted a fan survey that asked the Avalanche faithful a series of questions on everything from the confidence level of the team and of Jared Bednar, to who the face of the franchise currently is. We go through the survey and give our thoughts on if we agree or disagree with the responses. We also give Nathan MacKinnon his season grade. Spoiler alert, it's all A's Tune in, subscribe and enjoy! Subscribe to our Subtext to talk to us directly! https://joinsubtext.co...
Jun 01, 2023•39 min•Ep. 717
There will be a connection between Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball and Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog, maybe forever. Ball had the same surgery Landeskog did and has yet to return to his sport. A news report yesterday came out stating that the Bulls secretly feel like Ball's career is over and he won't play again. While these are two different people playing two different sports, that's not necessarily welcoming news for us Avalanche fans. Adrian Dater also reported that he has hear...
May 30, 2023•32 min•Ep. 716
Sampo Ranta, the Colorado Avalanche 3rd Round pick out of the University of Minnesota, signed a two year contract with MoDo of the Swedish Hockey League, leaving the Avalanche with one less prospect in their already think prospect pool. While Ranta struggled to get his pro career, and even his AHL career, off the ground, this came as a surprise to many as he could have been a player given an opportunity when training camp came around next season. It does not mean his career with the Avalanche is...
May 26, 2023•36 min•Ep. 715
Backup goalie Pavel Francouz has always been a favorite of host Kyle Sullivan. But even he recognizes the injury issues Frankie has gone through the past few seasons. Is it time for the Avalanche to move on from their backup goalie and bring in some new blood for the position? And if they do, is it through the free agency market? We also take a look at five burning questions when it comes to the Colorado Avalanche. Is Gabriel Landeskog's career over? Do the Avs bridge or give a long term deal to...
May 25, 2023•36 min•Ep. 714
If you look at the Colorado Avalanche defensive unit, you really like what you see. With names like Cale Makar, Bowen Byram, Devon Toews, Samuel Girard and Josh Manson, all the Avs really need to do is fill one spot. But...moves could be made this offseason and we keep hearing Sammy G could be one of those guys moved to make room for a much needed 2C. And what about Devon Toews. Extending him is likely a priority, but what if they are too far apart on a number? Do the Avs make the decision to mo...
May 24, 2023•36 min•Ep. 713
As we continue to make our way through the unrestricted free agents of the NHL, we come to the left wing position. Which compared to the other forward positions, could give the Colorado Avalanche some good options. We take a look at some of them. We also continue to make our way through last season's roster and hand out grades with today being Brad Hunt's turn. Finally, playoff overtime. Does it need to be changed or leave it alone! Tune in, subscribe and enjoy! Subscribe to our Subtext to talk ...
May 23, 2023•35 min•Ep. 712
We continue our journey through the UFA's for the upcoming offseason and today we take a look at the pending right wing free agents. Are there any that pique our interest that could be a good addition to the Avalanche system? We also hand Samuel Girard his season grade and the percentages from the people who voted on social media is pretty interesting. Finally, we give our take on what happened in Arizona with the people of Tempe voting down the proposition to build the team a new arena. Tune in...
May 19, 2023•35 min•Ep. 711
The Colorado Avalanche need help at the center position outside of their top line. That's no secret. The options are to trade for one, promote from within, or go the free agent route. We take a look at the centerman free agents to try and gauge if that is a route the Avs could go to fill the role. We also give out another season grade, this time to goalie Alexandar Georgiev! It's a very Fonzy grade. Tune in, subscribe and enjoy! Subscribe to our Subtext to talk to us directly! https://joinsubtex...
May 17, 2023•35 min•Ep. 710
Like every year, the Colorado Avalanche seems to be in the mix on some of the bigger names floating around that could possibly be on the move. After another early round exit for the Toronto Maple Leafs, many are feeling like it's time to blow the thing up and make some drastic changes. One of those changes could be trading away forward William Nylander who will be heading into the final year of his deal. And the name you heard a lot of on where he could go was the Avalanche. In years past, we wo...
May 16, 2023•32 min•Ep. 709
The NHL announced the finalists for the Hart Trophy, and as a surprise to no one, Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak were on the list. Maybe a little surprising was Matthew Tkachuk. Absent from the three finalists were Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Should one of them have been in the mix? We also give J.T. Compher his season grade, and a lot of the fan comments divided it up into two parts. His regular season grade and his postseason grade. They were quite different. Finally, we ask again ...
May 15, 2023•36 min•Ep. 708
Following Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog's press conference on his pending knee surgery that will keep him out of next season, GM Chris MacFarland took questions from the press where he answered several questions on a variety of topics. MacFarland obviously discussed Landeskog and his importance to the franchise. But also talked about other injured Avs since the season ended for the team. He was also asked several times about the Val Nichushkin situation, and as the Avs have done s...
May 11, 2023•32 min•Ep. 707
We have gone from a 12 week recovery time, to now two full seasons. Gabriel Landeskog and the Colorado Avalanche announced on Tuesday that the Avs captain will have cartilage transplant surgery which will keep him out for the entire 2023-2024 season. His second full season he will miss due to the knee injury. Landeskog stated in a zoom call that retirement is not something he is thinking of and is encourage by things he has read and people he has talked to about the surgery, and he fully expects...
May 10, 2023•35 min•Ep. 706
We expected to discuss the results of the Bedard sweepstakes on today's episode, but later on in the third segment of the show. Then division rival Chicago won the draft lottery and that bumped up the conversation. The Colorado Avalanche will have to deal with the wonderboy himself for the next two decades, which might not mean anything in the next couple of years, but it will once the Hawks right the ship. We also start our season grades and the first one up is Bo Byram. What grade did he recei...
May 09, 2023•33 min•Ep. 705
It seems to be an annual celebration and one has to ask if it will ever end. Jard Bednar did a masterful job of coaching this season with the endless list of injured players the Colorado Avalanche had. The Avalanche didn't sneak into the playoffs as the last wild card team in, needing a win in the last game of the season. With all those injures, he coached this team to a division title. But somehow, yet again, he will not win the award for best coach in the league after the NHL announced the thr...
May 08, 2023•32 min•Ep. 704
Cale Makar has been nominated for his 3rd straight Norris Trophy. Last year we all were pretty confident he had a good chance to take home the award, which he eventually did while beating out Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi. This year might be a little more difficult to take home the hardware as San Jose Sharks d-man Erik Karlsson is the heavy favorite to win it. Makar even being nominated might be a little surprising to some due to him missing over 20 games this season. Extend those m...
May 05, 2023•31 min•Ep. 703
As we continue to come to grips with the Colorado Avalanche early exit from the playoffs, we begin to take a look back at the season while looking forward to the next one. We answer a handful of listener questions today including who was the most surprising player from last season. An answer which we couldn't just give one, so we gave 6. What are the realistic expectations for next season, which is difficult to answer at this stage, and Sidney Crosby to the Avalanche? Somehow, this won't be the ...
May 04, 2023•32 min•Ep. 702
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar did his weekly radio spot and discussed a range of Avs topics including the difficulty that was this past season. He also admitted that this team will have a very different look next season with all the UFA's the Avs have, and how when you win, people want your guys. Bednar also mentioned Gabriel Landeskog and hinted, but did not say specifically, that another surgery could be in the cards. Two of the bigger RFA's this offseason will be Alex Newhook and...
May 03, 2023•31 min•Ep. 701
The defending champion Colorado Avalanche have been eliminated in seven games by the Seattle Kraken in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kyle Sullivan of Locked On Avalanche joins Gil Martin of Locked On NHL to react to the series loss, detail why injuries were the biggest factor in the Avs lost season, discuss the poor performances by Colorado's depth players, and what comes next for the Avalanche after losing their championship belt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch...
May 02, 2023•6 min•Ep. 706
The Colorado Avalanche head into their offseasons with many more questions than answers. Like most teams, those questions start in-house with your own unrestricted and restricted free agents. The Avs have a hefty number of UFA's they need to sift through, and they need to ask themselves which ones do they want to bring back and which ones they don't. Some decisions might come down to not what the Avs necessarily WANT to do, but what they might HAVE to do to stay cap compliant. Will this be the e...
May 02, 2023•33 min•Ep. 700
The Stanley Cup will have a new home this year after the Colorado Avalanche season came to an end following a 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken in Game 7 of their first round series Sunday night. This clearly was a challenging and difficult season for the Avalanche. Despite an endless list of injuries, they somehow captured the Central Divison title and going into the playoffs had hopes of making another deep run. That proved not to be the case as the Kraken held their ground against the defending ...
May 01, 2023•32 min•Ep. 699
The Colorado Avalanche will not go down quietly. With their backs against the wall and their season on the line, the Avalanche picked a great time to have their best game of the series against the Seattle Kraken, and take Game 6, 4-1. The winner take all Game 7 will be in Denver on Sunday night. From the opening puck drop, the Avalanche had a different gear. Despite giving up the first goal of the game yet again (every game this series), the Avalanche kept the pressure on Seattle and never let u...
Apr 29, 2023•37 min•Ep. 698
The Colorado Avalanche find themselves in a position they never were in during last year's Stanley Cup run. They are facing elimination after a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken in Game 5 in front of the home crowd at Ball Arena. The Avalanche will look to send the series back to Denver for a Game 7, but in order to do that they will need to find a way to get more production from several players. Down key players like Val Nichushkin, Darren Helm, Gabriel Landeskog and of course Cale Makar due to su...
Apr 27, 2023•30 min•Ep. 697
Cale Makar will not be on the ice for the Colorado Avalanche for Game 5 of the series with the Seattle Kraken after his hit on Jared McCann. Why this calls into question, yet again, the inconsistencies of the Department of Player Safety. The Avalanche will have to really turn things around with how they are starting games if they want to leave Denver with a 3-2 series lead. Once again Seattle set the tone of the game and it took the Avalanche a period plus to get back into the flow. Playing from...
Apr 25, 2023•32 min•Ep. 696
The Colorado Avalanche seem to have found their game somewhere in the middle of Game 2 vs the Seattle Kraken and the question was could they continue that into Game 3, the first game of the series in Seattle? The answer to that was a resounding yes (save for 19 seconds) and the Avs have regained control of the series, leading it 2-1. Colorado will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead Monday night. We also touch on the Val Nichushkin issue and hope whatever it is that has caused him to not b...
Apr 24, 2023•34 min•Ep. 695
It didn't start pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly. The Colorado Avalanche followed up a suspect game 1 effort with a first period that was probably their worst period of the season. Not what you want to see in the playoffs. It also found them down 2-0 after the first, which included a Seattle short-handed goal. But in 48 seconds all that changed. Artturi Lehkonen and Val Nichushikin both found the net in the blink of an eye and then everything changed. Things started opening up for the Aval...
Apr 21, 2023•33 min•Ep. 694
