The Colorado Avalanche announced today the first round of cuts from their 2011 training camp roster.

A few of the names on this list were players that didn’t end up making the roster for last night’s Burgundy/White game at the Air Force Academy. A few others are lacking professional contracts or are just not quite ready to make the jump to the NHL and have been returned to their respective teams.

The players include Mike Brennan, Zach Cohen, Gabriel Beaupre, Dillon Donnelly, Troy Rutkowski, Stephen Silas, and Sami Aittokallio.

Silas let slip his reassignment earlier today on Twitter, saying:

Camp was a ton of fun but its back to Belleville for me for the season. Learned alot here, gonna bring that back with me #bvillebound

Most of these guys didn’t manage to stand out enough at camp and some, like Donnelly, didn’t really get going until the end. It is unfortunate to see that Aittokallio won’t get a chance to face any other teams in the NHL but it is safe to say that his talent did not go unnoticed. Expect us to keep an eye on his development as he progresses as he is bursting with NHL potential. The team needs to lock him down in the near future in order to bring him to America.

The club also announced that Mike Carman and Patrick Rissmiller joined Joey Hishon and Cedrick Desjardins as athletes who missed camp due to injury. Let’s wish those guys a speedy recovery.

With the roster down to 44, it only becomes slightly more apparent who is in the running for a spot on the team. As there have been no preseason games played for Colorado, there are some holdovers who are merely getting looks against an unfamiliar opponent as well.

What do you think? Are you disappointed in any of those let go? Who do you want to see on the roster?

The Colorado Avalanche brought a close to their training camp with their annual Burgundy/White matchup tonight at the Air Force Academy outside of Colorado Springs.

A lot of intensity surrounded the sessions of training camp that led up to the intra-squad scrimmage, producing a ton of physical play and even a fight between Brad Malone and Dillon Donnelly.

With all of the physicality and hard hitting that happened in camp, it was quite surprising how much physicality was lacking from the Burgundy vs. White. Not to say that the game lacked intensity, it just didn’t have quite so much of the checking that really defined training camp.

The Burgundy squad saw goals from Gabriel Beaupre, Patrick Bordeleau and Greg Mauldin. The White team managed tallies from Malone, Ryan Stoa, Matt Duchene, and the eventual game winner from Erik Johnson.

Both Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere looked solid in net during their time in the game, and Sami Aittokallio finished up with a very strong showing, earning Team White a victory.

Aittokallio was especially good late in the game when facing a barrage of shots from Team Burgundy’s clearly desperate power play. His positioning was fantastic and he managed to find several shots through traffic while controlling his rebounds very well. Popular opinion is that the Avs should sign this kid quickly.

Players who stood out in a good way were Johnson (he looks primed to take on the captain’s role), Garrett Meurs, Stefan Elliott and Cody McLeod. Elliott is really showing that he could belong on this roster and fill the void left on the blue line by John-Michael Liles.

Players that didn’t do much to help themselves were Matt Hunwick, Stoa (despite his goal), Chuck Kobasew and Brandon Yip. The Avalanche brought Kobasew in as a way to provide scoring depth but he just has been absolutely invisible throughout camp and again tonight.

To wrap up training camp for the Avalanche, it’s safe to say that this team is nothing like the team that bottomed out a year ago. They are bigger, stronger, meaner and just as fast and skilled as a year ago.

Their goaltending is stronger and the team as a whole is a lot more physical. This team will probably take several people by surprise as too many people judged the Avalanche solely by the second half of the season and expect more of the same.

The Avalanche organization and their faithful have a lot of positive things to look forward to in the very near future.

Colorado will open up their preseason schedule on Thursday at the Dallas Stars and will play in Pepsi Center Friday against the St. Louis Blues.

What do you think? Were you there? Who stood out to you?

Adrian Dater is reporting that the Colorado Avalanche are indeed having a rookie camp on the ice prior to training camp next week.

According to Dater, rookie camp will be taking place Tuesday, September 13th through Thursday, September 15th at Family Sports Center. Beginning at 9 am, rookies will take the ice, going through the motions of what only the coaches will know. After that, they’re free to stick around and more often than not they end up scrimmaging with the veterans who saunter into the building.

Training camp starts Saturday, September 17th and runs through Monday, September 19th. Camp culminates with the Burgundy/White game, taking place at the Air Force Academy outside of Colorado Springs.

Be sure to download or subscribe to our the Avalanche schedule to stay up to date on all things Avalanche. The schedule includes rookie camp, training camp, preseason, and the regular season and it works in most calendars applications and on most mobile devices.

You can download the new schedule here. | Subscribe to it here.

Avalanche Wallpaper

The Colorado Avalanche have also released a series of eight Avalanche and player themed wallpapers that fans can download for their computers. Check them out. The collection will be growing throughout the season.

What do you think? Are you going to rookie camp? Training camp? Both?

The Colorado Avalanche announced today the date and location of this year’s Burgundy/White team scrimmage.

Returning to the Cadet Ice Arena at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, the game will take place at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, September 20th.

The game consists of two teams comprised solely of both Colorado Avalanche players and prospects looking to make the opening night roster. The teams battle it out for bragging rights and the event culminates in a shootout.

“The Burgundy/White Game is a unique event for Avalanche fans to not only see all the players in action but also support an outstanding cause,” said Avalanche General Manager/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman. “We are excited to be back at the Air Force Academy and are expecting another great turnout from our fans in the Colorado Springs area.”

Supporting Kroenke Sports Charities’ Seats for Soldiers initiative as well as local youth hockey programs, tickets for the Burgundy/White cost merely $20 ($10 for military personnel) and go on sale this Friday, July 8. You can get tickets through the Air Force Academy website.

The Colorado Avalanche released information today on their annual Burgundy/White Game. As you can see, tickets will be on sale starting Saturday morning, but the exclusive pre-sale allows you to buy them now…

An exclusive presale for this event will be held beginning today, Friday, August 14 at 10:00 AM. This special offer ends when tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, August 15 at 9:00 AM or when tickets available through the presale are gone. Presale tickets can be purchased here.

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club will hold its annual Burgundy/White Game at Cadet Ice Arena on the grounds of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:30 PM. This marks the third straight year that the Air Force Academy has hosted the event. The Burgundy/White Game features all Avalanche players competing in a three-period, intra-squad scrimmage. Fans in attendance will also have the opportunity to watch a shootout at the end of regulation regardless of the score.

More details on this game will be posted later!