Hockey Mountain High Podcast

The Avalanche played their most intense game of the season against the Minnesota Wild with a 4-3 shootout win. After an outstanding first period, the Wild gave the Avalanche everything they could handle, but not without making complete fools of themselves by flopping all over the ice and running Darcy Kuemper. Also, the Avalanche scored an incredibly lucky and controversial goal in the third perio...

The Avalanche knock off the Arizona Coyotes two games in a row, as expected. Outside of Kuemper's long overdue first shutout in a 5-0 win, what can we take away from these two victories? Also, THPN host Richie Flores joins the show once again to talk about whats going on with the Coyotes this supreme tank season. What's really going with Coyotes the arena situation, and where are they going to pla...

Fan favorite guest Alex 'Raj' Rajaniemi joins the show once again! On this episode, we look at the worst penalty call we've ever seen, the phantom too many men call that cost the Avalanche a point against the Nashville Predators in their 5-4 overtime loss. Also, examining Darcy Kuemper's performance so far this season and if there's any need to pursue another goaltender before the trade deadline....

It was 4-1! The Colorado Avalanche comeback from down 4-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best regular season game we've seen in a long time, and push their winning streak to four in a row while setting a new record at 11 consecutive home wins. Are the Avalanche, and especially Nathan MacKinnon finally going to get some respect after dominating one of the leagues best on Hockey Night in Can...

Cale Makar, the undisputed best defenseman in the world, just scored the goal of the year to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, and we have to talk about it. Also, talking about the aforementioned Blackhawks game, which turned out to be a surprisingly fun and tense game, complete with Erik Johnson's best game of the season and continuation of Alex Newhook's breakout. Finally, looking ahead...

The Avalanche are finally back in action with a 4-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks! How rusty were the Avs in their first game since December 16th, and how did they overcome it? Does Devon Toews deserve Norris consideration for amazing he's been? When will Nathan MacKinnon's historically low shooting percentage regress back to the mean? Also, looking ahead to the rest of what should be a tough week fo...

The Avalanche's COVID break continues for even LONGER after the Avalanche's next two games against the Dallas Stars get postponed, pushing the Avalanche's return to Sunday against the Ducks. The good news however, is that the Avalanche now have a chance to ice the healthiest team we've seen all season long with the imminent return of Bo Byram and several others on the COVID list. As we move into 2...

The unplanned break continues a little longer as the much anticipated game against Vegas gets postponed coming out of the Christmas break, as the NHL's COVID complications continue. Our focus moves to the two upcoming games against Dallas, but not before both sides suffer through even more COVID positives that could put Wednesday's game in danger. Also, what does poor Pavel Francouz have to do to...

Well, there's not much to do with the Avalanche on pause right now, but still plenty to talk about! It's now official, the NHL will not be going to the Olympics this year, again. How important are the Olympics to the growth of the game, and will we finally see them go in 2026? Also, is the saga between Comcast and Altitude finally coming to an end for local Avalanche fans? Finally, Griffin and Chr...

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the Avalanche have been shutdown due to COVID issues, only after the roster was decimated before their 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Adding to the fire, the NHL has been slammed with COVID with seven teams shut down heading into Christmas. What's the solution here? Is there one at all? Also, a third player had to be carted off the ice and hospita...

The Avalanche continue to roll, beating the New York Rangers for a second time in less than a week and pushing their win streak to five in a row with another impressive performance. Are the Avalanche getting enough love around the league for how well they've been playing as of late? Also, shocking absolutely nobody, we ask once again what the rules are in the NHL, since we are still yet to receive...

The Avalanche are absolutely cooking right now after winning the most entertaining game of the season, a 3-2 playoff preview win over the Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, we must once again talk about head hits and player safety in the NHL, as Jacob MacDonald is knocked unconscious by a head hit from Ryan Lomberg and carted off the ice. If you'd like to jump right to the positivity, skip to about...

The Avalanche run over the red hot New York Rangers 7-3 to stop their seven game win streak, in a game that had us running through all sorts of emotions. Darcy Kuemper makes his return in goal, the Avalanche score five unanswered in the second period to run away with it, and Nathan MacKinnon takes a dirty headshot that almost knocks him out of the game. Also, after running both the Rangers and Fly...

The Avalanche wrap up their first trip with a bounce back in Montreal, and a one of a kind circus game overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. With so many last second injuries leading into the Senators game, and coming back from down three goals to salvage a point, just how upset can we really be at this loss in the big picture. Also, we must ask once again, what are the rules in this forsaken leag...

The Avalanche got properly crushed in their return to Canada, losing 8-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Just before puck drop, it was announced that Darcy Kuemper would miss the game with an upper body injury. How did this game so horrifically wrong for the Avs? Is there any concerns with Kuemper's injury long term? With a game against the Montreal Canadiens the next night, can the Avalanche bounce b...

We're back! Unforeseen technical difficulties made our originally scheduled episode unreleasable, but the second time is the charm! As for the Avalanche, they finished November with an outstanding 7-2-1 record following a lethargic loss to the Dallas Stars and a big bounce back win over the Nashville Predators. Should there be any concerns about the loss to Dallas, and are they a threat to the Avs...

It's another two part episode as Drew Livingstone joins the show once again! Drew and the guys talk the Avalanche's crazy 7-5 win over the Senators, and how the Avalanche have looked as we approach Thanksgiving. Also is there any possibility at all that Bo Byram could get traded in order to go ALL in at a Stanley Cup? In part two, Griffin and Christian talk the Avs 5-2 over the Ducks to push the w...

The Avalanche are on a four game winning streak after slaughtering the Seattle Kraken 7-3 in their first ever matchup, and bullying former Avs goalie Philipp Grubauer. With the Avalanche being as dominant as they are, what's going on around the Central division? Is there any team that can realistically challenge the Avs when they're like this? Also, Jared Bednar gets a two year extension from the...

John-Michael Liles, one of the greatest defensemen in Avalanche history, joins the show! Hear from the man himself how the legendary wine cave got started, what it was like joining the stacked 2003 Avalanche as a rookie, and some of his favorite memories from his seven seasons with the Avalanche. John-Michael Liles also weighs in on the polarization of Sam Girard, and just how special Cale Makar a...

The Avalanche head north for a rematch with the Vancouver Canucks, in what turned out to be a really messy game that neither side deserved to win. Colorado pulled out a 4-2 win over the floundering Canucks on the back of three powerplay goals to kick off their first winning streak of the season. While the Avs powerplay and Darcy Kuemper saved the day, what else worked for the Avalanche's third win...

The Avalanche are back in the win column, and emphatically so with a 7-1 win over the Canucks and a 6-2 win over the Sharks. Everybody stepped up with Nathan MacKinnon out of the lineup, but even still, the injuries continue to add up as Bowen Byram and JT Compher go down in back to back games. Who was the most impressive over these two games, and will this play continue on Wendesday against Vanco...

This team is undoubtedly cursed, as now Nathan MacKinnon goes to injured reserve for the next three weeks. What happens now for the Avalanche as they'll now have to be without their star for the rest of the month? Will Alex Newhook be able to fill some of that void after his call up? Also, how close were the Avalanche to trading for Jack Eichel, and how close was Sam Girard to being in the deal? W...

The Avalanche blow another lead to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-2 loss, and fall below .500 as they reach the ten game mark. After yet another lackluster performance, it's time to have an honest conversation about this team and who they really are. With all the go to excuses of the table now, what's really the problem here? Are they capable of turning this around before it's too late? Welcome...

A shorthanded Avalanche team without Makar, Rantanen, Burakovsky, Toews, Nichushkin, and Francouz blow a two goal lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets with one of their worst third periods of the season. However, they managed to battle their way back because of Bo Byram's best game of his career, but fall short 5-4 in overtime. How much injuries can be used an excuse for this one? How much is th...

The Avalanche have won consecutive games for the first time all season with wins over the Blues and Wild! Are the Avalanche finally getting back into form following these two wins? Are the struggles of early October behind them, or are there still things to be fixed from these two games? Finally, with the Avalanche finishing October at .500, they're in a great spot heading into the far more forgiv...