“We are trying to be aggressive,” Nikola Jokic said Friday at Ball Arena. “We’re trying to be, like, close to a foul — testing the refs to call the fouls. That’s something that we’re gonna try to do. That was the emphasis of the practice.”
The most accurate term for it is probably the one used by coach David Adelman this week: “junking it up” on defense. In two consecutive postseasons, Denver has been vexed by an opponent’s ability to junk it up and unable to return the favor. Minnesota implored Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels to devour Jamal Murray in 2024.
OKC took the principle to another level last season, collapsing into the paint and recovering to the 3-point line as efficiently as any defense in recent memory. Alex Caruso was the ace in the hole, pestering and prodding Jokic to death in Game 7.
The Nuggets are searching for ways to renovate their defense after it ranked 21st in the league. Junking it up more is one way to start.
“Just different ways to shrink on better players. Zone. Working all that kind of stuff, and then when we do zone, who’s on the court, what their responsibilities are at each spot,” Adelman said. “And we’ll continue to work on it. I don’t know if we’ll throw it out there in the preseason, but it’s something we have to continue to improve on, because I feel like in the past, a lot of times you’re trying to get so many things done on the checklist that you kind of tell yourself you’re gonna get to that eventually. And I think if we’re actually gonna do that successfully, we have to work on it daily.”
Adelman has alluded to zone defense a handful of times this offseason, after deploying it regularly during the playoffs as interim coach. He and his players have also described a structure that’ll be more heavily based around Jokic’s IQ and matchup-dependent decisions. Some games might call for Jokic to be “up to touch” against a ball-handler. Others might be more suitable for various levels of drop coverage.
“It’s something new, so we are kind of trying to adjust,” Jokic said. “But I think we see that it’s going to be really good, and it could help us a lot.”
The ideas are complicated, but the overarching theme is that Denver’s scheme will be less rigid than before. Regardless of how it looks in action, peskier ball pressure is a foundational tenet. To put it another way, better effort than last season.
“There’s gonna be mistakes in this, when we’re not all the way up (the floor) like we’ve been, where the rotations are kind of starting from the get-go of every play, which we were really good at for a long time,” Adelman said. “… We just think this group has the capability of doing some different things, giving different looks, which gives us more flexibility on the defensive end, both man and zone.”
The end goal is to close the gap, at least marginally, with Oklahoma City — a heavy favorite to repeat thanks to its ability to overwhelm with defense.
“Hopefully we can be the silent — how do you say it? — the silent knight,” Jokic said. “Silent horse. Dark horse.”
Gordon’s status
Aaron Gordon didn’t play Monday in the Nuggets’ second preseason game, but Adelman has no concern about the power forward’s health. Denver visits the Clippers for another exhibition on Sunday.
“I think Aaron, Jamal, guys that have had those minor lingering injuries (in the past), we have to get ahead of that,” Adelman said. “So it just felt like the right time for him to take a two-day break, and now he’s back at it.”
Gordon spent most of last season dealing with a calf strain, then he also suffered a hamstring strain in the second round of the playoffs.
A rendering of the proposed Wynkoop Crossing pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard.
Courtesy SAR+
Crossing Speer Boulevard from downtown Denver to Ball Arena can be downright dangerous. For years, people have talked about building a bridge for the thousands of people traversing the route from Union Station to Avalanche and Nuggets games and big concerts.
Now, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment is making plans to build one — and it’s also a first step for major development projects on 55 acres of Ball Arena parking lots and along the South Platte River.
A concept plan recently submitted to the city shows just what that bridge might look like. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment plans to pay for the bridge as part of a larger development. The cost is currently unknown.
It would be named Wynkoop Crossing, connecting the Lower Downtown Landing (the fancy new name for a parking lot near the Downtown Children’s Playground) over Speer Boulevard to Ball Arena. The landings are owned by Kroenke.
The bridge could eventually serve as a link between downtown and a new development zone along the South Platte River
“It’s arguably, absolutely necessary, even today, without the new development in the area,” said SAR+ Architect Andy Rockmore. “We all know what it looks like for a big event over there, and there are thousands of people who try to cross Speer.”
A rendering of the proposed Wynkoop Crossing pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard.Courtesy SAR+
The bridge would land in the Ball Arena parking lots — right where Kroenke plans to start the arena area redevelopment. The first phase of the development could bring a concert venue and other commercial uses near Speer Boulevard in the next few years.
Stan Kroenke eventually hopes to bring thousands of housing units, hotels, office space, retail, parks and entertainment to the arena’s parking lots. Kroenke also has the option to build another major development, River Mile, which would replace Elitch Gardens with thousands of new homes and other developments. River Mile would be west of Ball Arena.
“It’s more of an extension of downtown than a new neighborhood separate from downtown,” Rockmore said. “That’s been the goal all along: How do you create this place that really just continues all the activity of downtown rather than pulls away all the energy from downtown.”
For all that to work, planners have argued pedestrians need a safer way to cross Speer Boulevard. Right now, large crowds wait for crossing guards and walk signals as they navigate between the arena and downtown.
A rendering of the proposed Wynkoop Crossing pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard.Courtesy SAR+
A rendering of the proposed Wynkoop Crossing pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard.Courtesy SAR+
The bridge is designed for pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users and scooter riders, who will all share the same path. Rockmore was also the architect behind the nearby Millennium Bridge, which gets pedestrians from the Union Station area to Commons Park. (Ed. note: Also known as the big toothpick.)
The downtown landing of the bridge would feature staircases and long, looping ramps on either side.
A gap in the center of the bridge would allow light to reach the road below, preventing a tunneling effect. The ramps would have a 5-percent grade to ensure they’re usable on wheels. The bridge would hang from a large arch over Speer Boulevard rather than be anchored to pillars in the ground. That would allow planners to more freely rework Speer in the coming years, as a potential redesign of the boulevard progresses.
On the other side of Speer, the bridge would land at grade, meaning users can walk on and off it without using stairs or ramps.
The trip across the bridge would be designed to showcase the beauty of Speer Boulevard, the architect said.
“You don’t just want to pass over that as fast as possible,” Rockmore said. “You want to enjoy it. You want to be sensitive to that. You don’t want to disrupt it. So that’s why we’ve made the bridge as thin and as light as possible.”
A rendering of the proposed Wynkoop Crossing pedestrian bridge over Speer Boulevard.Courtesy SAR+
The project would also include a new pedestrian walkway into the Downtown Children’s Playground. The nearby trestle bridge over Cherry Creek would remain.
The concept plan, submitted to the city’s planning department last week by Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers, is only the preliminary step and is not a final plan. The plan is under review by multiple city departments.
Martin/Martin did not respond to an immediate request for comment, and Kroenke declined to comment on the record.
In development plans, Kroenke has rebranded Wynkoop Street — which would include the new bridge — as The Sports Mile, a street connecting Coors Field to Ball Arena and continuing to Empower Field at Mile High.
But there’s a wrinkle for that concept: The Broncos now plan to move their stadium to Burnham Yard, and Empower Field could be demolished. So maybe it will be more like The Sports Three-Quarter-Mile.
Two schools of thought flitter through the streets just behind the Denver Broncos’ planned future home, separated by just one block but standing an entire world apart.
On a sunny Tuesday morning, 35-year-old Rita Guerrero stepped out from her door on North Mariposa Avenue, lively pup Olive barely contained by her leash. Guerrero bought her home in the La Alma Lincoln Park neighborhood five years ago, and smiled when she thinks of the wealth of possibilities that now exist a quarter mile away at the defunct Burnham Yard.
“This is very exciting,” Guerrero beamed. “I’m very happy. It’ll be great for the team, great for the neighborhood. I really see that there’s, probably — I mean, there really can only be upside.”
On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon, a few hundred feet away, 46-year-old Nicole Jones and 51-year-old Desiree Maestas crossed onto North Lipan Street, discussing the change to come. Jones has lived all her life a few houses up the block, and frowned when she thinks of the wealth of possibilities that now exist with the Broncos’ professed plan to develop at Burnham Yard.
It could mean more traffic. And more construction. And increased property values.
“I think it’s going to change everything,” Jones said. “Because everything’s going to go up. Especially in this neighborhood, everything’s going to go up. And a lot of us ain’t even going to be able to afford to live here anymore. Because the stadium is going to be right in our neighborhood. Right in our backyard.”
“So, yeah,” she repeated, somber. “We’re not going to be able to afford to live here no more.”
Residents of La Alma Lincoln Park who spoke to The Denver Post on Tuesday were split on the complicated reality that now awaits, after the Broncos officially announced that they’ve zeroed in on Burnham Yard as the planned site of a privately-financed mixed-use stadium district.
Some residents lamented the change that continues to rattle the historic Denver neighborhood, one that has already experienced generations of displacement. Some residents championed the city’s efforts to keep the team local: they are the Denver Broncos, 39-year-old Barbara Ott emphasized from her porch, not the Lone Tree Broncos.
The general median is a sort of cautious optimism, as community leader Simon Tafoya put it.
“Maybe a little bit more than optimism,” Tafoya said. “But I think from what they’ve said… that they were working to and developing a community benefits agreement, that’s ultimately the goal for the community — to ensure that the benefits match what the community wants to see.”
That community benefits agreement, or CBA, will be the most important piece to ensuring satisfaction in La Alma Lincoln Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. Broncos owner Greg Penner told The Post the organization will start working on a CBA “right away” and said he wants to have a “really positive relationship” in the area. Team spokesperson Patrick Smyth said fellow owner Carrie Walton Penner spoke with multiple neighborhood leaders prior to Tuesday’s announcement.
“The community has always been part of the solution for (Denver) affordable housing,” Tafoya said. “I think the challenge is, as we move forward, making sure it continues in that commitment without falling into the trap of concentrated poverty.”
Some residents are excited, too, for the Broncos’ plans to bring a mix of housing, retail and entertainment venues to the surrounding stadium district. Look at Coors Field’s effect on the Lower Downtown neighborhood and the walkability of the stadium, Guerrero said.
Neighborhood leaders, though, emphasize the need for specific community-facing uses so it doesn’t become a “ghostland,” as Tafoya previously told The Post. Perhaps that’s basic residential services. Perhaps that’s open green space, as planned at Ball Arena. Perhaps that’s public art.
“We’re hopeful that NFL teams have learned a lot and they aren’t just looking to plop down a stadium and surround it by parking lots,” said Nolan Hahn, president of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. “We’re hopeful they turn what is currently an empty railyard into a real part of the neighborhood.”
Denver City Councilwoman Jamie Torres said the city will develop the community benefits committee to begin conversations with the Broncos. Land-use planning must begin to deal with the industrial area, she said.
Plus, she said, the city needs more information from the Broncos to share their vision.
“This is an exciting opportunity to redevelop what’s been a vacant railyard for too long and have really thoughtful ways about how it’s connecting to the neighborhood it’s in,” Torres said.
Residents interested in getting involved in the future planning can connect with Torres’ office to find out what path suits them best and attend monthly neighborhood association meetings, she said.
The La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood in Denver on Thursday, June 26, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
Local business owners, too, are anticipating the need to advocate for themselves in the coming years. The Santa Fe Art District, the hub of Denver’s art scene, sits on a strip just a half mile from Burnham Yard. It’s the kind of area where art-gallery owners put out a plate of homegrown peaches at the cash register.
The potential of a new football stadium and accompanying entertainment complex is an interesting fit with the “funkiness and uniqueness” of the art district, local gallery owner Michael McDowell said.
Bill Thomason, who owns the Bitfactory Gallery on Santa Fe Drive, is already concerned about pre-existing traffic nearby. Construction could come as new properties are built with the Broncos’ move, he said. That could decrease business.
“I might get forced out here,” Thomason said. “Because I can’t afford to lose the last little bit of (foot) traffic I do have.”
McDowell and wife Sharla Throckmorton-McDowell just opened their POP Gallery on Santa Fe Drive a few months ago. They pay $6,000 a month for the space; at present, they’re just scraping by, McDowell said. And the Broncos’ move is a “genuine concern,” he said, if it sends property values skyrocketing and landlords thereby increase the rent on local businesses.
McDowell, though, hopes that businesses in the district can work with the city and the Broncos in tandem.
“Everything I’ve read about them as an organization, a group, seems to me that they’re not just ones that are going to come in here and try and — ‘(expletive) everybody, we’re gonna do what we want to do because we’re billionaires,’” McDowell said of the Broncos’ Walton-Penner Ownership Group. “They seem to be really respectful and love Denver, and I think it could really work out to be a win-win situation.”
“What is it now?” he continued, speaking of Burnham Yard. “It’s a run-down trainyard that’s not active, that’s non-existent, it’s dilapidated. It’s not serving any purpose.”
This, ultimately, was the main argument from local supporters of the Broncos’ move. To some, like Jones and Maestas, there’s no possible mixed-use-district benefit that could outweigh rising property costs. But Burnham Yard and its 50-plus acres of land have sat abandoned for nearly a decade. Guerrero and others want to see that used. For something.
That something, though, comes with plenty of strings attached.
Connie Buckley, 82, has lived in the neighborhood for three decades. She might not live long enough to see this Broncos stadium come to fruition, she joked. But she — and plenty of others — are still protective over a community that’s been mistreated, as she said, for “eons.”
“This is a neighborhood with real people who live here,” Buckley said. “And I hope nobody forgets that.”
For 54 minutes Wednesday night, the severely shorthanded Colorado Avalanche played about as well as expected, considering the circumstances.
That, however, came after the first six minutes went about as poorly as someone could imagine. The big guns on the Tampa Bay Lightning had a huge night, and the Avs’ pushback was met by one of the best goalies in the world in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena.
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel combined for three goals and seven points for the Lightning. After allowing three goals on the first five shots, new Colorado goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen did find his way and finished with 16 saves.
“Against teams like that with that high-end skill, you expect them to make those plays, but it’s still not easy to make the saves on those plays,” Kahkonen said. “Especially early like that. But it’s … what are you going to do? You just play. You try to stop the next puck and you try to get into a rhythm.”
The Avs have been without Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder), Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Gabe Landeskog (knee) all season and Jonathan Drouin (upper body) joined them after getting hurt in the opener against Vegas. The situation got worse for Colorado before this game.
Ross Colton is out 6-to-8 weeks with a broken foot after blocking a shot Monday night against Chicago, Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning. Miles Wood is also out for 7-to-10 days with an upper-body injury that he’s been trying to play through.
“Our (missing) payroll is outrageous,” Nathan MacKinnon said. It’s not excuses. It’s just facts. I do like how we’re playing overall. When guys come back, I feel like if just keep with this, we’ll have better results, but that’s not the point right now.”
While there were some positives to build from for a team missing six of its top-10 forwards, the Avs were down 3-0 before the first TV timeout.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper gets an assist on each of the first two Lightning goals. Both times, the play began with his third line against Colorado’s makeshift third line, which included defenseman Oliver Kylington.
The Lightning gained control of the puck and made an on-the-fly change to its top line, and then quickly scored in similar fashion. Point took the puck behind the Colorado net and found Kucherov wide open in the slot for a one-timer 61 seconds in.
Kucherov collected the puck behind his own net at the start of his next shift and went coast-to-coast. He went behind the net like Point did, but sent a reverse pass back to where he came from. Guentzel was waiting near the right post for an easy one at 3:36 for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s awareness mistakes,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Young players just not reading it quick enough and not getting in quite the right spots.
“Overall, I thought we were engaged in the game. We played pretty hard, played pretty well. Definitely had a better second than the first, and the third was pretty good again. It didn’t come easy for us on the offensive side of it, either.”
Sam Malinski fell near the offensive blue line and tried to swipe at the puck, but the end result was a 3-on-1 the other way and a highlight-reel goal for Tampa Bay. Conor Geekie started the passing play and then finished it at 5:32 of the first after all three forwards touched the puck in quick succession.
The Avs did settle into the game after the opening flurry. Ivan Ivan scored his second career goal to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-1 at at 14:56 of the first.
Ivan tipped a point shot from Cale Makar past Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy from the high slot. He has been the replacement for Ross Colton in that spot, and both of his goals have come with PP1.
Colorado’s first six minutes of the second period went very well, except the Avs couldn’t beat Vasilevskiy. Then, with a jumbled Avs line on the ice after a Colorado power play ended, Tampa Bay’s big guns feasted again.
Point got by Josh Manson in the neutral zone, which led to a 2-on-1. The first shot from Point hit the left post, but caromed right to Guentzel for a tap-in and a 4-1 lead at 6:28 of the second.
Matt Stienburg drew a penalty with a big hit early in the second, but he drew an early end to his night later in the period. He launched himself into Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak and was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.
While the Avs did threaten, including a Makar goal midway through the third period, Vasilevskiy also made sure there would be no miracle comeback.
“We had a big meeting today and (Bednar) wanted a good process,” MacKinnon said. “We did that, but it would be nice to have some shooting luck eventually. I think we were pretty cold (tonight).”
FOOTNOTES: Bednar said the Avs are shooting for Lehkonen to make his season debut Tuesday against Seattle. He also said Drouin has taken some controlled contact, but is still sore and remains day-to-day with an unclearl timeline for a return.
That trade for Casey Mittelstadt looks pretty good so far.
Mittelstadt had three assists, including setting up the go-ahead goal with 6:31 left, and the Colorado Avalanche shook off a few minutes of lackluster hockey in the third period Sunday night to defeat the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, at Ball Arena.
It’s the Avs’ fifth straight win since starting the season 0-4. It’s also back-to-back three-point games for Mittelstadt, who joined the club before the trade deadline last season from Buffalo and signed a three-year contract this offseason.
“Just to have him last year, and then see the work he put in this summer, we knew there was another gear this guy could find,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Another step he can take in his game, like his complete game, but what’s going to follow is the production. He’s a super-talented guy. He sees things other guys can’t see, and he makes plays other guys can’t make.”
Mittelstadt earned the primary assist on all three goals. He’s up to five goals and 12 points in nine games, and hasn’t played a minute yet this season with the two guys who could eventually be his wings — Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin.
He found O’Connor in front of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Ross Colton continued his scoring tear to start the season with his eighth of the season 90 seconds later. Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-netter with 1:15 left to seal the win.
“(Mittelstadt) will find you anywhere. It’s insane,” O’Connor said. “You just get open and … forehand, backhand, three guys on him, no space, he’s still going to find you. It’s pretty remarkable. He’s honestly one of the best puck players I’ve ever played with.”
After Colorado had bottled up Ottawa for nearly 50 minutes, the Senators scored twice in 2:08 to even the score at 2-2. Brady Tkachuk had the first one, after a Tyler Kleven shot from the right point went wide. The rebound off the boards behind Justus Annunen came right to Tkachuk at the left post for a tap-in with 10:45 left in the third.
Ottawa kept pushing and found another similar goal with 8:37 left. Nick Cousins put home the rebound of a shot from the left point after getting position on Colton near the right post.
Annunen ended up allowing four goals in the final 11 minutes after yielding just four in his previous 11 periods combined, but the shorthanded Avs remain in “two points, anyway possible” mode.
“I would say it was one of those games where we found a way,” O’Connor said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it was how we wanted to win, but we’ll take those ones any day of the week.”
Nikolai Kovalenko’s first NHL goal came with 7.8 seconds left in the first period to give the Avs the lead. Kovalenko found a spot in the slot to post up during a 6-on-5 because of a delayed Ottawa penalty, and Mittelstadt found him for a one-timer.
MacKinnon had the secondary assist on Kovalenko’s goal. He thought he had scored a goal earlier in the period, but it was waved off for goaltender interference after Mikko Rantanen bumped Anton Forsberg as he was falling down near the left post.
Forsberg was at the center of some quirky drama in the second period. He needed repairs done to his skate, but the first time it took so long that the officials made Ottawa put Linus Ullmark in until the next stoppage in play. Forsberg came back in, but then had to exit a second time for more skate repairs. He eventually returned, so the Senators made four goalie changes during the period.
The Avs closed the second the same way they did the first — with a goal in the final minute. Josh Manson skated from the right point toward the middle of the ice and flung a harmless-looking backhanded shot at the net. Forsberg didn’t track it well, and had no idea where it was as it trickled behind him and into the net.
It was an odd night. Bednar split up MacKinnon and Rantanen at one point, then put them back together near the end. He also split up Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
The top players didn’t have a typically dominant night, but the Avs still scored five goals and remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
“When you’re losing and you feel like you’re not playing well, you start digging in to start playing better,” Bednar said. “It’s the attention to detail, the buy-in, the commitment it takes to win — just doing everything harder and cleaner.
“When you develop those habits and it comes around for you to get a little confidence, it tends to go that way.”
The Nuggets have a new court for their in-season tournament home games this year, and it’s a bit more modest.
Unlike the predominantly royal blue court that was rolled out at Ball Arena for the inaugural tournament in 2023, Denver’s floor will be yellow in the second edition of the event, now called the Emirates NBA Cup. It’s one of four courts around the league that will be painted yellow or gold, a somewhat more natural hue for hardwood.
The baselines and sidelines surrounding the Nuggets’ court will be painted a dark shade of red. The words “MILE HIGH CITY” will be superimposed across the court in a faded yellow, while the tournament’s trophy will be featured at center-court and from the foul lines to each basket, like last year.
The Nuggets host the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 22 and the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 3 in their two home games during the group stage of the NBA Cup. Their road games within the group are at New Orleans (Nov. 15) and Memphis (Nov. 19). Eight teams will advance from six groups to the knockout stage.
In total, Denver City Council voted on five different agenda items related to the redevelopment.
KSE plans to transform roughly 70 acres surrounding Ball Arena into a mixed-use development, complete with apartments, retail and office space. In order to do so, the land first needed to be rezoned.
Specifically, KSE was seeking an exemption from the view plane in that area, which dictates how high buildings can be. The goal is to protect mountain views.
In the only vote that was not unanimous, the Denver City Council exempted KSE, allowing them to build higher than the view plane.
Officials with KSE told Denver7 that without this approval vote on the view plane, they would have withdrawn their plans.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment
The only ‘no’ vote from the council regarding the view planes came from Councilmember Amanda Sawyer, who represents District 5.
“So the question is, are we setting a precedent here? I understand that this specific view plane is defunct, then we should have repealed the whole thing. But allowing for a precedent where we are piercing a view plane where in fact you do have a right to that view, it’s in our zoning code,” Sawyer said before voting.
Other councilors considered the increase in affordable housing units that comes with constructing higher buildings. KSE has pledged to allot 18% of its units as affordable housing.
“The basic idea is the more they can build, the more affordable [housing] that they can build,” said Councilmember Chris Hinds before the public hearings. “If they get the height extension, they can build 6,000 units. Eighteen percent of that is 1,080 units. And so, having 1,080 units is pretty substantial when we’re in an affordable housing crisis.”
More than two dozen people signed up to express their opinions to council members on Monday evening.
“The unique beauty of Denver will be compromised forever with the addition of approximately 40 high-rise buildings blocking the view of the mountains,” said Casey Pitinga.
Other members of the public in support of the plan said it would ease the affordable housing issues in the city while creating a place designed for people, not cars.
Denver
Denver City Council to vote Monday on Ball Arena redevelopment plans
Matt Mahoney, a representative of KSE, spoke with Denver7 about the concerns regarding parking in the area since the redevelopment will essentially transform the large parking lots surrounding Ball Arena into a community. He said there will still be parking available for people who drive to games at Ball Arena. There are also plans for parking garages above ground and underground.
Most of the parking will be shared, according to Mahoney.
He said the transformation could increase the number of parking spots in the area since it will utilize more space. However, KSE hopes the trend it has seen — where people choose other methods of transportation to commute to Ball Arena — continues to grow in the next few years.
Mahoney said they hope to break ground on the project in either 2026 or 2027. He did not provide an exact dollar amount for the project as of Monday evening.
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Ball Arena seen from the Auraria Campus. Sept. 21, 2024.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
After 15 months and thousands of hours of work, a coalition of groups from downtown and central Denver has struck a deal with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment over a massive development on 64 acres of parking lots around Ball Arena.
The signing of the new community benefits agreement could be crucial for billionaire Stan Kroenke’s ambitious plan to expand downtown Denver. The project goes before Denver City Council for approvals on Monday, and several council members have said they’ll only support the project if Kroenke gets the neighbors on board.
In exchange for signing the agreement, Kroenke will have the full-throated support of the Ball Arena Community Benefit Agreement Committee (BACBAC), the coalition of registered neighborhood groups and institutions in and near central Denver. It includes groups from the Auraria Campus, the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood and beyond.
Susan Powers — a LoDo resident and a member of the BACBAC coalition — says the negotiations between the community groups and the developer were sometimes tense, but ultimately productive.
“They really stepped up,” said Powers, who is also the head of the redevelopment firm Urban Ventures. “They worked with the community from the very beginning.”
However, the project still faces concerns from some council members, especially because its towers could block some downtown residents’ legally protected views of the mountains.
Ball Arena and Speer Boulevard downtown. Sept. 17, 2024.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Here’s what the Community Benefits Agreement will do:
The project could include a total of more than 6,000 housing units. The deal requires that Kroenke build 18 percent of those units as affordable housing for sale and for rent, and a portion of those must be two bedrooms or more.
Of the businesses that lease on-site, 20 percent will be small businesses or women- or minority-owned. Residents of low-income parts of the city will have first dibs on construction jobs. And 20 percent of the permanent jobs on site will be prioritized for people in those communities, too.
The site will include an early learning center for at least 150 kids. The agreement sets aside $1 million in internships for career pathways in sports and entertainment. A $1 million investment in internships in sports and entertainment will be marketed to Indigenous youth and descendants of residents displaced by the arrival of the Auraria Campus.
At least $5 million will be spent on public art. Of that, 25 percent will go to Denver artists and another 25 percent will go to Colorado artists. Additionally, there will be 5,000 square feet of community art space.
There will be funding for youth programming in collaboration with local nonprofits like Youth on Record. Kroenke will provide financing for tenant eviction assistance, downpayment assistance and other renter support services.
Bike and pedestrian paths will connect the new development to the rest of the city, including a the planned 5280 Trail around downtown.
Rothman’s Children’s Park, one of the few kid-friendly public spaces in downtown, will be preserved.
The area will host regular free events for the broader community.
Additionally, there will be a $16 million community investment fund. The money for that will come from a 1 percent public improvement fee on retail sales and hotel bills in the new development.
The first phase of the project is expected to include a hotel, a 5,000-seat music venue that could rival Mission Ballroom, and new residential buildings. But future phases could be more complex, as the property is in a flood plain that will need to be addressed, Powers said.
The agreement between the developer and the community will be enforced by a yet-to-form nonprofit.
“I hope that this serves as a model for future efforts,” said Simon Tafoya, a La Alma/Lincoln Park resident on the BACBAC.
“It also shows that developers and community don’t always have to be at odds, that members of the community want to see investment, but it also means that we want to have a voice, and we also want to give voice to those who don’t always have a seat at the table.”
Ball Arena. Aug. 11, 2022.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
The plan for tall towers is still drawing concerns.
The project would require changes to the Old City Hall view plane, which limits the height of buildings in order to preserve views of the mountains. Some high-rise residents of Lower Downtown worry that will cut off their long-protected vistas.
View planes, as these residents see it, are preserved in city law for a reason and should not be modified. That’s become a point of concern for several council members.
District 2 Councilmember Kevin Flynn told his fellow councilmembers that he was having “heartburn” over amending the view plane.
And he wasn’t alone.
“It is very concerning, the kind of precedent that we might set in getting rid of view-plane restrictions, simply for a large development that we all want to happen in a place that is right now nothing but parking lots and a terrible use of land,” said District 5 City Councilmember Amanda Sawyer, when the development came before city council for a first reading.
Council President and District 1 Councilmember Amanda Sandoval and District 10 Councilmember Chris Hinds also expressed concerns about the view plane when the issue came before city council earlier this week.
Nonetheless, all voted recently to move the issue forward to Monday’s meeting, when the public will have a chance to comment and the council will take its final vote.
The work of the BACBAC has included a slew of organizations: the Auraria/Central Platte Valley RNO, the Auraria Higher Education Campus, the Community College of Denver, the CU Denver Community Collaborative Research Center, the Denver American Indian Commission, the Denver Housing Authority, the Denver Streets Partnership, the Downtown Denver Partnership, Fresh Start, Inc., the La Alma/Lincoln Park Neighborhood, the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association, Sun Valley Community Coalition and WORKNOW.
The Community Planning Board approved the rezoning of roughly 70 acres of land and sent the project to the full City Council.
What’s included in the massive development plan for the Ball Arena parking lots?
That includes roughly 55 acres of parking lots that would be turned into around 6,000 units of new housing. Of those, 1,080 would be income-restricted.
There would also be new hotels, office space and entertainment venues surrounding Ball Arena. The area would become a 24/7 live-work-play district.
Five bridges would connect the project to the rest of the city. Residents would enjoy 10 acres of open space, more than 10 miles of new bike lanes, a recreation center, a childcare center and more.
Buildings could be built up to 12 stories in some sections of the development. Depending on how much affordable housing the developer committed to creating, they could go infinitely higher.
The property would connect multiple central Denver neighborhoods: the Auraria Campus, Jefferson Park, Union Station, Sun Valley, LoDo and La Alma/Lincoln Park.
If built, the development would join one of several slated to reinvent the Downtown Denver skyline.
The projects, together, would more than double the population of downtown and signal a dense future for some of the few undeveloped city center lots.
So far Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has secured broad community support for the project. But it’s not guaranteed.
Multiple residents testified in favor of the rezoning. Most had one condition: Kroenke must first negotiate a community benefits agreement with surrounding neighborhoods.
Representatives from Sun Valley, the Lower Downtown Neighborhood Association, the Denver Streets Partnership, La Alma Lincoln Park, the University of Colorado Denver, and Metropolitan State University are among the groups with representatives on the Ball Arena Community Benefits Agreement Committee (BACBAC). That’s the group negotiating the community benefits agreement.
Both Kroenke’s representatives and community members say they’re committed to negotiating a community benefits agreement.
Ball Arena. Aug. 11, 2022.Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Simon Tafoya, who sits on BACBAC, said the committee and Kroenke have made “significant progress.” Currently, the agreement ensures income-restricted housing for people making between 30 percent and 100 percent of the area median income.
Kroenke plans to create family-friendly units with at least three bedrooms each. The developer will create space for job training programs, pedestrian and bike infrastructure, childcare facilities and space for community art.
Negotiations are ongoing.
Tafoya said the committee would like to see a higher percentage of affordable rental units and more diverse housing options. He’d also like to see the affordable housing units built in the first of three phases of the project so they aren’t lost in the shuffle.
He’d like more guarantees of apprenticeship programs and stipends.
“It is vital to ensure small local businesses have opportunities to reduced rents and technical assistance,” he said.
The committee has concerns that the energy infrastructure of the new project doesn’t hurt the surrounding neighborhoods.
They’d also like Kroenke to provide housing and scholarship funds for Indigenous students and descendants of residents displaced by the Auraria campus.
What’s next?
The Planning Board’s decision puts the plan on track to be heard by City Council.
Council will also review whether to lift view-plain restrictions and create a metropolitan district, a special local tax.
The Ball Arena parking lot development will likely hit the South Platte River Committee on August 14.
Denverites will have a chance to weigh in at a City Council public hearing currently slated for Sept. 16.
Andre Petroski made fighting in the UFC look easy on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
In the UFC’s return to Denver for the first time in six years — a period in which Petroski’s been in recovery from drug addiction — he won by unanimous decision over Englewood resident Josh Fremd in a middleweight preliminary bout. Petroski entered the night coming off consecutive losses and admitted the possibility of getting cut from the promotion with another defeat loomed in his mind.
But for someone who battled heroin addiction and came out the other side, a fighting career hanging in the balance is small potatoes.
“I really have been through so much (adversity) in my life, with the drugs and substance abuse, going through treatment and getting arrested,” Petroski said. “I’ve been through way worse positions than losing a fight or losing two fights in a row. If I don’t wake up and have to go find $10 to get high, then I’m winning at life.”
With that mindset and a well-constructed game plan, Petroski defeated Fremd 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 as the former college wrestler capitalized on his clear edge in grappling. Petroski took down Fremd in each round, and each time, the Factory X fighter was unable to get off the canvas.
“I had done some training with Josh in the past, and I knew where I had the advantage over him,” Petroski said. “I think that I’m a better striker than Josh, but I also knew my grappling was so much better than him.
“I was in a position where I’m coming off two losses and it’s not about getting a highlight or anything like that. It’s about doing what I have to do to win and keep this career going and provide for my family.”
Petroski improved to 6-2 in the UFC with the victory, while Fremd fell to 2-4. Petroski paid no mind to the deafening cheers for Fremd when the local stepped into the Octagon, nor did Petroski mind the chorus of boos that rained down on him throughout the fight and after he was declared the winner as the crowd expressed its distaste for the one-sided wrestling match.
Andre Petroski (white trunks) controls Josh Fremd (black trunks) during a UFC Fight Night middleweight bout at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, July 13, 2024. Petroski won the fight via unanimous decision. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
The Philadelphia fighter held Fremd down for the majority of the first round, nearly submitted Fremd via a triangle in the second round, and then fended off a quick flurry of punches from a desperate Fremd in the final round to eventually notch another takedown.
After the victory, Petroski reveled in the win and recalled how six years ago, he was an amateur fighter who was winning on the regional scene but his body was “depleting” as he battled his intravenous heroin addiction.
Now, he’s a father of three, including a newborn son who arrived two months ago amid his training camp for Fremd.
“(In 2018), I tried really hard to kick it, and ended up getting high and overdosing and got arrested,” Petroski said. “After that, I went through treatment and was able to get clean and go pro. My life has been constantly getting better (since that point).
“Me overdosing was my act of providence. Because I couldn’t stop. I had tried a million times to stop getting high and I couldn’t, but that happening was the interference from God. … The hardest reminder for me is seeing the guys I was in treatment with, and a lot of them are still getting high. I’m so many worlds moved on from that, and I’m so grateful that I’m not there anymore.”
Montel Jackson (white trunks) celebrates after defeating Da’Mon Blackshear (black trunks) during a UFC Fight Night bantamweight bout at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, July, 13, 2024. Jackson won the fight via first-round knockout. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Lightning-quick knockout. The highlight of the preliminaries came in the bantamweight fight when Montel Jackson knocked out Da’Mon Blackshear in just 18 seconds.
Jackson, who has now won five bouts in a row, hadn’t fought in over a year. His knockout of Blackshear came on a slick one-two combo where he connected with Blackshear’s face with a straight left punch.
“(Blackshear) came out a little passive, so I knew I could get on the gas and I went for it,” Jackson said. “… A lot of these (other bantamweights), they’re ducking…. eventually, I’m going to see everybody. I want to fight again ASAP. If something comes up on short notice, if somebody drops out, I’ll say yeah, even though I’m not sure if they’d say yeah to me.”
Cody Brundage (black trunks) winces after taking blows from Abdul Razak Alhassan (white trunks) during a UFC Fight Night middleweight bout at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, July, 13, 2024. The fight was ruled a no contest after Brundage was unable to continue as a result of incidental blows during the first round. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Controversial finish. The first fight of the main card came to a controversial ending 37 seconds into the first round after Cody Brundage, a Parker resident who trains at Factory X, could not continue.
Brundage’s opponent, Abdul Razak Alhassan, landed a couple of blows to the back of Brundage’s head as the Ghanaian had Brundage on the ground. The referee stopped the fight, and Brundage appeared confused as he took several minutes to get off the canvas, repeatedly asking his corner, “What happened?”
After being evaluated by medical personnel, it was deemed Brundage could not continue. The crowd was not pleased, and a loud chorus of boos permeated the arena. Alhassan was clearly furious at the stoppage of the fight, pacing around the octagon and cursing.
UFC boss Dana White announced the return of mixed martial arts’ big show to Denver for the first time since 2018. UFC Fight Night 245 will be Saturday, July 13, at Ball Arena.
The main card will feature a pair of Colorado fighters in Maycee Barber against Rose Namajunas.
Barber, a Greeley native, is on a six-fight win streak heading into the bout and is ranked No. 4 in the flyweight division. Namajunas, a two-time strawweight champion and Westminster resident, is ranked No. 6. She snapped a two-bout losing streak with a win over Amanda Ribas in March. The fight has big implications for the winner to eventually get a crack at the belt.
The card also features a trio of welterweight bouts in Mike Malott versus Gilbert Urbina, Santiago Ponzinibbio versus Muslim Salikhov and Gabriel Bonfim versus Ange Loosa. Plus, Luana Santos versus Mariya Agapova in women’s flyweight, Abdul Razak Alhassan versus Cody Brundage in middleweight and Julian Erosa versus Christian Rodriguez in featherweight.
Denver fighter Drew Dober will also be on the card against Mike Davis in the lightweight division.
Tickets go on sale this week for UFC Fight Club members on Wednesday at 10 a.m., via a social presale on Thursday at 10 a.m. and to the general public on Friday 10 a.m.
The last time UFC was in Denver, Barber made her UFC debut with a TKO of Hannah Cifers at the Pepsi Center. Denver native Donald Cerrone also got a win on the main card, and the main event was Yair Rodriguez’s featherweight win over Chan Sung Jung.
Going back to the UFC’s roots, Denver is also where the organization had its first event, UFC 1 on November 12, 1993, at McNichols Sports Arena. That night featured an eight-man tournament won by Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist Royce Gracie.
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, received 22 minutes and 11 points from Naz Reid, a stretch-4-type post who gave Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic more real estate to defend. Nickeil Alexander-Walker played 17 minutes.
Hindsight makes geniuses of us all, granted. But while Jokic huffed and Gordon puffed Sunday, Peyton Watson became more noticeable — by his absence. As Minnesota chipped away at a 20-point Nuggs lead, one of the best defenders on the roster was nowhere to be found.
Now in a do-or-die, win-or-else Game 7, you could understand Malone’s reluctance to trust his second-year wing in a pinch. P-Swat was 0-for-7 from the floor in this series going into Sunday night. The Nuggets lined up the chess pieces as if they could afford only one true defense-first option down the stretch — and again, Braun brought plenty of juice.
Malone said before Game 5 that this was about matchups, and that Minnesota’s defense demands shooters at every spot. That’s not in P-Swat’s arsenal right now, and Holiday brought flashes of brilliance, on the road, when Denver needed it most.
Because as the eulogies are read and ballads sung and postmortems written about where a repeat run at an NBA title went sadly off the rails, P-Swat feels like something of a nexus point. Not just for what happened. But for where the Nuggets go from here. And how.
Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth raised eyebrows this past October when he told The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor that he “want(s) dudes that we try to develop, and it’s sustainable. If it costs us the chance to win a championship (in 2024), so be it. It’s worth the investment. It’s more about winning three out of six, three out of seven, four out of eight than it is about trying to go back-to-back.”
Booth walked back those comments (among others) later, but it sure did very neatly explain an off-season of attrition — no more Bruce Brown or Jeff Green, thanks CBA — that came on the heels of the first title in franchise history. If ’22-23 was the masterpiece, then ’23-24 would be the experiment. Namely, can we replace Brown and Green with kids and still reach the NBA Finals?
Well, no. Heck, no. Not this year, at any rate.
Booth’s stated masterplan was also curious given that Malone, a stickler for eternal verities such as defense and selflessness, suffers neither fools nor rookies gladly. If Malone doesn’t trust you, you don’t play. Period. The Minnesota series, which started with the Nuggets dropping Games 1 and 2 at home, threw development out a 35-story window.
I’m not suggesting Malone and Booth aren’t on the same page here, although it’s fair to wonder. However, I would humbly advise the powers that be to pick a lane and stick with it going forward. For the window’s sake. For Joker’s sake.
The MVP needs help. Now. Jokic, owner of the greatest hands in modern NBA annals, snatched 15 boards in the first half. He finished with 19. Following one misfire in the third quarter, what looked like four Minnesota bodies went up for the carom while No. 15 was stranded at the top of the arc. The Joker seemed positively crestfallen.
Since April 1 through Game 7, the Big Honey logged 732 minutes in 19 games, or 38.5 per game. From April 1 through the end of the Suns series last spring, he’d played 467 minutes in 13 appearances (35.9 per tilt).
The Nuggs danced with history last week. And landed on the wrong side of it, face-first. Malone’s had better days. He’ll have better ones in the future. But Game 7’s epic collapse felt an awful lot like coaching not to lose. Which, more often than not, gets you beat on this stage.
The Wolves, meanwhile, were built by Tim Connelly to dethrone the dynasty he’d started in Denver. See KAT? See Ant, waving and mugging for the cameras? They’re the bar now.
It’s on Booth and Malone to volley Connelly’s serve. Together. Because the Joker has a ton of MVP seasons left in him. But only so many springs of what-ifs. And only so many summers of doubt.
It’ll be an NBA Game 7 doubleheader to finish the weekend.
The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves will meet for their winner-take-all series finale Sunday at 6 p.m. MT, the league announced Friday night. The game at Ball Arena in downtown Denver will be broadcast on TNT and available for streaming on Max.
The start time was dependent on the result of Game 6 between the Knicks and Pacers. If the Knicks had finished off the Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday with a 3-2 lead, Denver and Minnesota would have been in the afternoon TV slot Sunday. Instead, Knicks vs. Pacers at Madison Square Garden takes that space, pushing the Western Conference clash to the evening.
This will be the Nuggets’ first elimination game in more than two calendar years and their first Game 7 since the bubble in 2020. Denver took a one-game lead over Minnesota for second place in the West on the last day of the regular season to earn home-court advantage for this series, including its grand conclusion. The winner will advance to the Western Conference Finals to face either Dallas or Oklahoma City.
The visiting team won the first four games of the series, with Denver erasing a 2-0 deficit. Since then, the Nuggets and Timberwolves have traded home wins. Minnesota staved off elimination Thursday at Target Center with a 115-70 blowout that holds the distinction of being the Nuggets’ worst playoff loss in franchise history by point margin.
MINNEAPOLIS — Nuggets coach Michael Malone was involved in a heated interaction with at least one Timberwolves fan near the visiting bench during an NBA playoff game Friday night.
Two fans at Target Center were escorted away from the sideline by security during the fourth quarter of Game 3 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves, but Malone said he didn’t ask for anyone to be removed from the arena.
“He didn’t like my haircut, and I told him that I like my haircut,” Malone joked. “And we just kind of went from there.”
The Nuggets were on their way to a 117-90 blowout when the incident occurred, involving other team support staff members as well as Malone.
The ninth-year Nuggets coach emphasized that the moment wasn’t a reflection of Minnesota’s home crowd in general.
“That happens at times in a hostile environment, and people get a little liquid courage I guess sometimes,” he said. “And they think they can just say whatever they want to anybody. And I’m not allowing that to happen.”
Tensions have been high between both fanbases and the officiating crews so far in the best-of-seven series, which Minnesota leads 2-1. Frustrations during Game 2 at Ball Arena resulted in Jamal Murray throwing multiple objects in the direction of an official. The lack of suspension for Murray resulted in Minnesota’s crowd booing him throughout Game 3.
“Listen man, these fans here are great,” Malone said. “I mean, that was an amazing atmosphere. You live for moments like that and opportunities like that, to go out there and perform when you’ve got 20,000 people screaming at you. But unfortunately there’s always gonna be people that want to get a little bit more involved in the game, and make it personal. And that’s unfortunate.”
Benn launched. He left his feet. Toews’ head snapped like a crash test dummy. Officials declared it a shoulder-on-shoulder crime and suggested we all move on. To paraphrase my best pal Deion Sanders, that’s some bull junk, right there.
For one, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews’ shoulder, at least one angle showed him connecting directly with No. 7’s neck. Which, last I checked, is connected to and immediately south of the head.
“I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that,” Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team returns to Denver after a road split at American Airlines Center, replied when I asked about the collision. “But the target is high and it’s at his head, and he makes contact with the head. And I’ve seen, many times, guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that. But I guess they didn’t think so.”
Two, Benn knew exactly what he was doing. The Stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, whose Vegas teams delighted in pushing the Avs around in the postseason, knew darn well.
“Benner has been outstanding in this playoff. I thought against Vegas he did and he did (it) smart,” the Stars boss said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right times and he did it clean. But his presence physically is having an impact for us in these playoffs in a real positive way.’’
In the NFL, Benn’s shot is an ejection, a fine, a suspension and a chat with the safety cops.
In the NHL, it’s a “real positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in a no-holds-barred, merciless bracket.
The refs decided the hit was at Toews’ shoulder blade and not a head shot. Some slo-mo angles showed otherwise, especially as the D-man pinged off another Dallas player like a rag dol. By the letter of the law, it looked (makes air quotes) “clean.”
But barely legal is still barely.
“It is what it is,” Bednar said. “You’ve got to play through it.”
Once a bully knows they can get away with murder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s only way to stop a killing spree.
Someone’s gotta pick up the Captain’s spine. Someone’s gotta let Benn know that this won’t stand. And neither will he.
Someone’s gotta pick up Landy’s steel. Landy’s soul.
It’s not in Nathan MacKinnon’s game, bless him. It’s not in Cale Makar’s DNA, although a reactive shove after Toews got clocked landed him in an awkward headlock for a few seconds.
“Hopefully there was no intent into the head,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said of the Benn ambush.
Then, instead of walking it back, Cogs walked it forward.
“Maybe there was, obviously, a little bit to the head,” Cogliano added. “But, yeah, I don’t know.”
He knew. Everybody did.
“It’s a physical game this time of year,” Bednar said, “but I just can’t understand how that was not a penalty. Even if it isn’t a five (minute major).”
Join the club. Fortunately, Toews returned to the ice, but Benn needs a break. And a lesson. If the league won’t do it, somebody in burgundy and blue needs to apply a little elbow grease.
“I think in Game 1, we didn’t give him a lot of chances to make quality saves,” Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson told me before Colorado and Georgie wiped out the Whiteoot in Winnipeg with a 6-3 victory late Tuesday. “I felt like a lot of (shots) were going in from the backside or (to) his right, which is tough.
“And then that can rattle your confidence a little bit. But he’s stepped up and just playing like how he can.”
He grounded the Jets for four straight games. He won twice in Manitoba. He rose to the moment. He blocked out the jeers. He stiffed the haters.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how Lord Stanley comes home.
Down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series Tuesday, Winnipeg threw everything at the crease that wasn’t nailed down. The Jets blistered Georgiev with 19 shots in the second period alone. They came away with one goal to show for it.
Game 1: Seven goals against. Games 2-5: Eight goals. Combined.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is starting to look familiar.
Remember that opening-round whupping of Nashville two years ago? The one where the Avs outscored the Predators 21-9 in four games? The one that got Colorado’s Stanley Cup party train off the platform and rolling toward Union Station?
As first impressions go, this series victory was the more impressive of the two.
Winnipeg had home ice. Winnipeg had momentum. Winnipeg had mojo. Winnipeg had arguably the top team defense in the NHL. Winnipeg had the best goaltender in the Western Conference. The ’22 Preds were forced to roll out rookie backup Connor Ingram to defend the net, effectively ending that fight before it ever really got started.
The Stanley Cup champs two years ago averaged 5.25 goals in smashing Smashville. Against Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy finalist who’d shut them out on April 13 at Ball Arena, they averaged 5.6 goals per game.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This stuff is historic.
The Avs became just the fourth team in NHL history to notch at least five goals in the first five games of a series. The Jets became the first club to ever allow five or more games in each of their opening five playoff tilts.
Cynics will cite the bloody cut last week that knocked Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon out of the series. They’ll point to the nasty shot that Winnipeg center Vladislav Namestnikov took to the head, shelving him for Game 5.
Yet they were both good to go in Game 1. The Avs scored six.
They looked fine in Game 2 and Game 3. The Avs scored five. Then six again.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is deep.
Every line brought the heat. And a mean streak. Precedent says Colorado’s Stanley Cup run will probably go as far as the bottom-six forwards can carry it. If Tuesday was any harbinger of what’s to come, best find a comfy chair.
About five-and-a-half minutes into the second period, the score tied at 1-all, fourth-line center Yakov Trenin put down a marker and laid down the law. Trenin was one of GM Chris MacFarland’s under-the-radar deadline pickups, a banger from Nashville, a 6-foot-2 grinder who got swept away by the Avs two years ago.
The Russian pretty much single-handedly badgered his way from behind the net to the corner of Hellebuyck’s left eye, out-hustling at least two Jets defenders to a loose puck, staying with the play through contact, and whipping the biscuit past Bucky for a 2-1 Colorado lead.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how you flip the script.
Steel between the ears.
Stone between the pipes.
“Have you ever seen a guy flip a switch in just a few days the way Georgiev has?” a reporter asked Manson after Game 4.
He pondered for a second.
“I don’t think so.” Manson replied. “I think that’s a really tough job for goalies to have to do that. And kudos to him.”
The Winnipeg Jets know it. John Buccigross knows it. The moose wandering around south Manitoba know it. Over his last six appearances, dating back to April 5, Georgiev’s given up 29 goals. Bednar, the Avs’ venerated coach, isn’t just running out of options here. He’s running out of time.
Winnipeg put seven more past No. 40 in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series Sunday, roughly a week after peppering him for a touchdown and extra point at Ball Arena.
This time, it took two periods for Georgiev to become Fourgiev. It took three for him to become Sevengiev.
Yes, when the other guys put seven on your tab, it’s a group fail. The hope was that the Burgundy and Blue had a postseason gear they could shift to. That Bednar’s porous, sloppy defense over the last three weeks would flip a switch.
Guess what? No gear. No switch. They are what they were. They need a guy between the pipes who can bail them out.
Georgie ain’t it.
With 5:20 left, down 7-5, the Avs had outshot Winnipeg 36-19, per NaturalStatTrick.com, and produced 10 “high-danger” chances to the Jets’ 8. What does all that mean? In terms of “expected goals,” per the site’s metrics, with a typical netminder, the Avs should’ve been leading 3-1 or 3-2 at the time.
Nothing about this is typical anymore. What doubles the hurt is that the Avs came out firing right from the jump, getting off 11 shots in the first 10 minutes to Winnipeg’s one. They managed a 1-0 lead for their trouble. It lasted all of 112 seconds.
More galling is that Colorado had a pivotal road game — since 2018, the Avs have won six of seven series in which they’ve notched a Game 1 victory — rocking at their pace of choice. Up and down, PlayStation style. “NHL 94” with the “icing” and “fatigue” sliders switched to off.
Alas, this is reality, not your frat bro’s basement. Although Game 1’s first period was so crazy, both goaltenders played as if they were wearing straitjackets. Six goals, seven giveaways, 22 shots and zero sanity.
What happens when a team with playoff scars and playoff skill but leaky goaltending (the Avs) meets a team with postseason nerves but one of the best net-minders on the planet (the Jets)? The opening 16 minutes of Colorado-Winnipeg, a ride with more twists than a David Fincher flick.
Down 1-0, the hosts scored twice in 3:55 to take a 1-goal lead. The Avs scored twice in 18 seconds for a 3-2 cushion. Which lived on for about 48 seconds until Mark Scheifle, camping out in front of Georgiev, slipped behind Josh Manson and slotted past the Colorado goalie to square things at 3-all.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be healthy enough to play or not,” Bednar told reporters Sunday. “He wasn’t healthy enough to play (Game 1). We’ll see what we see (Monday) morning.”
The more you think about it, the more depressing it becomes. The Avs pounded Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, your likely Vezina winner, with six goals — on his home ice. It was the first time Bucky’s ever been tagged for more than five in the postseason. And only the third time over his last 130 starts.
Still wasn’t enough.
“GEORRRRRR-GIEV!” the Jets fans jeered.
“GEORRRRRR-GIEV!”
They know it, too. When the game didn’t find Manson, it found Georgie. If he’s in the net Tuesday, the Avs are going to find themselves halfway to Cancun.
Michael Porter Jr. said he received individual texts from Nuggets teammates checking on him after a difficult week in his personal life. His brother Coban, 22, was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for killing a woman in a drunk driving crash last year. And his brother Jontay, 24, was banned for life from the NBA earlier in the week after being investigated in a sports betting scandal.
“Each one of them texted me separately and just told me they’ve got my back. If I need anything, they’ve got me,” Porter said Saturday night after a 114-103 Game 1 win at Ball Arena. “Yeah, a lot of people were reaching out. Friends, family. So to have these guys understand why I missed practice yesterday and just have my back has been big for me.”
Porter’s absence from practice Friday was because he appeared in court that morning for Coban’s sentencing hearing. MPJ addressed the family of the victim, Kathy Limon Rothman, in the courtroom, saying, “I understand your family’s pain and hurt.”
In his return to basketball Saturday, he registered 19 points and eight rebounds against the Lakers.
“We’re human, so we carry our emotions and the things that go on off the court onto the court,” Porter said. “But I’m mentally tough. I’ve been through a lot through my whole career, so it was just another one of those things that I had to try to play through.”
Jontay Porter was on a two-way deal with the Raptors’ organization when he allegedly shared information about his health with an individual he knew to be a sports bettor March 20. After another sports bettor subsequently placed an $80,000 parlay bet that Porter would underperform in Toronto’s game that night, Porter played only three minutes, claiming he felt ill. A league investigation also found Porter placed bets on NBA games, including one wager on the Raptors to lose a game.
When the investigation first came to light, Michael Porter Jr. said he doubted that his brother would jeopardize his career by gambling on games.
“Definitely tried to compartmentalize,” Michael Porter Jr. said Saturday. “Some bad and sad stuff happened to a couple of my brothers. But I’ve got 15, 16 more brothers in here. So I knew I had to be there for them. And come in here and do my job and try to prepare to do it at a high level.”
When Ross Colton scored his 15th goal of the season last month, he turned and jumped into the arms of Zach Parise.
It was a great moment for Colton, who grew up in New Jersey with Parise as one of his favorite players. Colton has a photo of that embrace, and he intends to find a frame for it. He might want to grab another photo with one of his teenage idols Thursday night.
Colorado Avalanche center Ross Colton (20) celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets with teammate Zach Parise (9) in the second period at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, March 22, 2024. Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) watches the celebration. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Parise, who joined the Avalanche just before the All-Star break after taking the first half of the season off, confirmed Wednesday to the Denver Post that the contest against Edmonton at Ball Arena will be the last regular-season game of a long and distinguished career.
“Yeah, I’ve decided,” Parise said. “I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. I was content coming back that this would be the last one.”
It will be regular-season game No. 1,254 for Parise, who has also played for the Devils, his hometown Minnesota Wild and the New York Islanders. He’s eighth all time among American-born players with 433 goals. His goal with 25 seconds left in regulation helped the United States reach overtime in the gold medal game of the 2010 Olympics before Sidney Crosby scored one of the most famous goals in hockey history for Canada.
Parise had 21 goals for the Islanders last season, but had decided he was ready to hang up his skates this past summer … until he wasn’t. Then he spent the first half of the season working himself back into playing shape before signing Jan. 26 with the Avalanche.
“It’s been awesome to be a part of,” Parise said. “The experience itself. Playing with these guys and even just practicing with them, it makes you a better player — even at my age. It’s gone even better than I thought it would be.”
Parise has four goals and nine points in 29 games for the Avs. He’s moved around quite a bit in the lineup with various injuries. The forwards he’s played the most with are Colton and Miles Wood, who also played for a long time with the Devils.
The pace at which he can play, even as he approaches his 40th birthday, and his versatility was attractive to Colorado as the Avs searched for another depth forward.
“Knowing how he is, you knew he was going to come here in shape and ready to go. I had no doubt in my mind that he could step in and play,” said Avs defenseman Jack Johnson, who played with Parise at the 2010 Olympics. “He’s just a great guy to have around. He’s a great pro. Does everything right. Has a great attitude every day. Works hard, works on his craft — just a great human being on and off the ice and a great example for the younger guys.”
Parise didn’t come back to play with the Avs to pad his regular-season resume. He’s here because there’s one big thing missing — a Stanley Cup championship. He got close with the Devils in 2012, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Avs have a lot of players who won the Cup in 2022. Colton won with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. Jared Bednar said recently that helping Parise get his first is one of the reasons he wants to win again this season.
Bednar isn’t alone.
“Everybody wants to win, obviously. I think it would be even more special for him and to help him win,” Colton said. “I think when the time comes, it will be something we can rally around.
“He’s been a great leader. A great mentor. Just doing stuff with him, like after practice and trying to be a sponge with the way he carries himself on and off the ice. I’ve been pretty fortunate to play with him and it’s been pretty special. He was one of my favorite players, if not my favorite player. It’s kind of been a full circle moment for me.”
Parise joked that Colton likes talking about the Devils’ 2012 run more than his championship with the Lightning, and that the situation reminds him of when he was a younger guy in the New Jersey locker room with players like Martin Brodeur and Scott Gomez sitting in the stalls near him.
He’s already going to be remembered as one of the best American players of all time. Now he’s ready for one last dance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“(Coming back) was a great idea. No. 1, it has been fun,” Parise said. “It’s been just a really good experience to play with these players, and to have one more crack at it. I’m happy I did it. Hopefully, we’ll be playing for a couple more months.”
If the Nuggets really want the title of “Lakers’ Daddy,” they’ll have the chance to earn it with an earlier-than-expected rematch.
Less than a year after their Western Conference Finals sweep, the Nuggets will face the Lakers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, tipping off Saturday at Ball Arena with Game 1. Denver (57-25) enters the series having won eight consecutive head-to-head matchups against Los Angeles.
The Lakers (47-35) finished the regular season in eighth place and defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday to earn the matchup. Pelicans star Zion Williamson scored 40 points but mysteriously disappeared to the locker room with an apparent injury after scoring a game-tying floater with 3:19 remaining.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points on 6-of-20 shooting. Anthony Davis added 20 points and 15 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell, who shot a career-high 41.5% from 3-point range this season, scored 21, including a critical corner three that gave Los Angeles a four-point lead with a minute to go.
In the 2023-24 regular season, presumptive MVP Nikola Jokic averaged 29.3 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in three games against the Lakers. Jamal Murray averaged 24.7 points, five rebounds and 9.3 assists in the matchup. The Nuggets point guard seems more likely to thrive in this matchup than he might have against New Orleans’ scrappy wing defenders; he was a 32.5 point-per-game scorer in the four-game series last spring, while Jokic averaged a triple-double against Anthony Davis.
All three regular-season clashes involved a ceremony, by sheer scheduling serendipity. In the NBA season opener, the Nuggets won after receiving their 2023 championship rings and raising the title banner. The two games in Los Angeles coincided with the unveiling of a Kobe Bryant statue and the celebration of James’ 40,000th career point, which he scored by driving past Michael Porter Jr.
