We are almost one month away from Colorado Avalanche hockey returning.

Kind of.

Since 2016, the Avalanche have taken part in the Rookie Faceoff tournament, and have even hosted it once. I’m not sure that’ll ever happen again, but they’re taking part in it once again, and this year it will take place in Los Angeles. On Monday afternoon, Colorado released their schedule for the tournament, although it already leaked last month. This at least makes it official.

Their schedule is, as follows…

Friday, Sept. 13 – Colorado vs. Anaheim Ducks, 4:30 PM MST

Saturday, Sept. 14 – Colorado vs. Seattle Kraken, 4:00 PM MST

Monday, Sept. 16 – Colorado vs. San Jose Sharks, 12:30 PM MST

Seattle is the latest team to join in on the fun, as this will be their first year in the tournament. There should be some good players in the tournament, as Anaheim, San Jose, Seattle, and Utah have all drafted high the last few years. Macklin Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is expected to take part in the tournament for the Sharks, but I’d be surprised if he played in that Monday game against the Avalanche. The Sharks will probably play him in the Friday and Sunday games and let him take Monday off.

According the San Diego Gulls website, all games will be streamed live online for fans in each market. THat’s been the case every single year, so it’s not a huge surprise.

No roster has been released just yet, but Calum Ritchie will likely be the big name to watch for the Avalanche. Sean Behrens and Oskar Olausson are two others to keep an eye on, and it will be interesting to see if the Avalanche ask Nikolai Kovalenko to participate. He’s a little older at 24, but it could be a way for him to get a head start ahead of training camp. Kovalenko did not take part in the Rookie Camp in early July. NCAA players don’t take part in this tournament, so it might be a roster made up of a lot of invites.

Stay tuned to CHN for more updates on this tournament once the roster is announced.