The Colorado Avalanche are excited for the home opener against their Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks after an eight-day road trip to start the season.
It was Cale Makar's first time opening on the road and Mikko Rantanen's second, but the leadership core used that time to bond and generate chemistry within the team.
"A lot of bonding time for the guys especially with a lot of new guys this year on the team," the 24-year-old elite defenseman said after morning skate on Thursday. "I think that was crucial. I think we're all excited to get it going tonight."
"I think it's good especially with all the new guys we have on the team to start on the road, go to dinners and just hang out more as a team," Rantanen said.
It will be the first time for a few players to experience the intensity of the Ball Arena crowd in burgundy and blue. That level is expected to be even higher with the hype around the Hawks' rookie Connor Bedard.
"Fans (have) been great. We sell out every night now," Nathan MacKinnon said. "Playing Chicago at home is always fun — a lot of Chicago fans. Should be a good atmosphere."
Avs Faithful will no doubt be pumped for the home opener, which Rantanen is looking forward to, as well.
"It's nice to get here and I know our fans are excited to go," the 26-year-old Finnish forward said. "It should be a good one tonight."
New guy on the team, Jonathan Drouin, is ready to get in front of the home crowd for the first time in the regular season.
"It's going to be fun. Probably have a couple butterflies first home game on a new team," Drouin said. "Obviously it's nice that we're 3-0 right now, we had a good road trip. Bring that home is something we want to do more, to have a good home record this year — starts off tonight against Chicago."
MacKinnon on Bedard's talent
MacKinnon said he respects Bedard's maturity and that he's a "very dynamic" player who "works really hard." Colorado's alternate captain spent some time with the 18-year-old at the BioSteel camp during the offseason.
"I didn't have nearly a 10th of what he's got going on. He's a lot better than me at 18, that's for sure," MacKinnon said. "He's handling it really well, very mature. He looks great."
Undefeated for home opener, still have work to do
Although the Avalanche won all three road games, they weren't all blowouts and the team showed an "inconsistent discipline," according to head coach Jared Bednar.
"We were good, not great. Excited to be back home for sure. Tough coming right off the road and then jumping into another game — late night the other night, but it is what it is," Bednar said after morning skate.
Makar and Bednar talked about how it's just the start of the season and the dynamic will continue to shift with more playing time.
"We played well. I don't know if we played to our best yet. I hope there's still a lot more to come — a lot of aspects in our game that can get a lot better," Makar said. "Overall the confidence is high — times that we've been down in games not playing our best, we found a way to come back and I think that's a positive thing this early on in the season."