Avs Meet Up with EJ and Sabres in Sunday Matinee

Sunday stat pack as Colorado sees familiar face in Western NY.

The NHL’s early season premier event is finally here. The game the league has had circled on its marketing calendar since July is finally here. A contest between two rival teams.

The Colorado Avalanche and the Buffalo Sabres finally meet up today at 11 a.m. your time. 

Okay, I get it. The first game against the Avs for Erik Johnson after moving on to Buffalo following a dozen years in Denver isn’t exactly the league’s biggest storyline when Connor McDavid (OMG!) is playing outside today! But for those of us Colorado fans, EJ is always going to be a favorite and today is going to be bittersweet.

It won’t be the same as the return game to Ball Arena on Dec. 13, but it will be a bit tough seeing EJ in another blue and yellow jersey. 

History won’t remember Erik Johnson’s time in Denver in the same way that it will for Sakic, Forsberg, Landeskog or MacKinnon, but for any Avs fan who was old enough during the EJ era, there will always been a sense of fondness for what he brought to the franchise.