The final day of the 2024 Colorado Avalanche development camp saw a shortened practice schedule with an emphasis on afternoon scrimmages, so the morning session was limited to a large group workout with the goalies that lasted less than an hour.
The goalies were engaged in practice but nothing spectacular. New signing Lucas Cloutier had some amusing words written on the back of his helmet that were clearly visible. It was also notable that Pavel Franc and Matt Davis had several separate conversations that would have been interesting.
Notably, right from the start of the session, Oskar Olausson looked his best on the ice over the past three days. He's still recovering from shoulder surgery that kept him off the ice for the rest of last season and has only just resumed skating in a red non-contact jersey. Given a bit more time, he should be back to his usual self by October for Colorado Eagles training camp.
Cal Ritchie and Oscar Olausson showed off some drills and some impressive finishing, with Olausson in a red non-contact jersey playing arguably his best game over the three days. #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/BPzgqX4azy
— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) July 5, 2024
The afternoon scrimmage was split into two halves with a 25-minute half and a running clock. Brett Link made a great move on Eagles goaltending candidate Jake Barczewski to score Burgundy's first goal. Boston Backberger also impressed by scoring Burgundy's second goal with future DU head coach David Carlisle watching.
Avs draft pick Nikita Prishchepov scored Team White's lone goal with a one-touch pass over another Avs draft pick, Lucas Cloutier, and finally Cal Ritchie impressed with a great pass to goalie Matt Davis and an assist on Jake Fisher's breakaway goal to give Burgundy a 3-1 lead going into halftime.
In the second half, Team White struck back quickly, with Eagles defender Garrett Pike getting a one-touch pass past a sliding Nils Wallstrom, but Ritchie again fed Fisher, who doubled Burgundy's lead, this time on the power play.
The game started to pick up from there, and Team White tied the game at 4-4 with two quick goals from Myles Cooper and Colby Ambrosio, who stole the puck in the neutral zone and drove into the zone to score.
So a shootout was held to determine the winner of the practice match, and Team Burgundy won with a shootout goal from Link, Christian Humphries, and a winning goal from Marek Hejduk.
The end of development camp is a bittersweet moment. Not only does it mark the end of team-sanctioned events through September, including rookie camp and training camp, but it also gives us some great ideas about the future of the organization. Here are some takeaways from the tweets below, as well as a few other names:
Overall summary
– Sign Cal Ritchie. He had 3 assists in this game.
-Matt Davis looked good in practice but struggled to shoot over blockers in games.
-Jake Fisher may not be the best skater, but he's good with his hands and can score.
Scored two goals in the match #GoAvsGo https://t.co/qSVaSHiveP— Mile High Hockey (@MileHighHockey) July 5, 2024
New ELC signee Chase Bradley was excellent in practice and drills but didn't impress much in the scrimmages. As a middle-six forward at UCONN, he'll likely fill a similar position for the Eagles in Loveland, but not much else.
Meanwhile, Colby Ambrosio has been outstanding late in camp. He has shown great power, speed and handling, and his crafty goal-scoring has caught the attention of the coaching staff. The Avalanche lose his rights in August, so they have a decision to make regarding him: sign an ELC and have him join the Eagles, or let him return to college hockey as a free agent?
As we head into the hot summer of hockey, there are many decisions to make. We'll have to wait and see if the team decides on the future of their invitees and if Richie signs an ELC while he's in town. What was your biggest takeaway from development camp? Let us know in the comments below!
