Colorado Avalanche: Has Jack Johnson found his team?
Jack Johnson wasn’t a lot of people’s first choice for the Colorado Avalanche. But he surprised last night by scoring the first goal of the season and now have people wondering “has Jack Johnson found his team?”
This is a weird article for me to write, I admit it. I, the one who wrote about why Jack Johnson wasn’t needed on the Colorado Avalanche, am now changing my tune and writing an article about why he might have just found his team. He’s been amazing on the Avalanche during training camp and last night during opening night, where he scored the first goal of the Avalanche’s season.
Johnson has had a rough couple of years, from being a punching bag in Pittsburgh to being out most games on the New York Rangers due to medical issues. He only played 12 games last year and had a -5 +/- rating and one goal and 0 assists his whole season. It’s not exactly the stuff of legends, and what the Hurricanes were expecting when they drafted him third overall in 2005. But maybe Jared Bednar will know how to help Johnson.
With Devon Toews out, Jack Johnson has a spot on the roster for now. But when Toews returns, Johnson may not stay on the regular night-to-night lineup. But that’s okay. As long as he stays healthy, I believe that Bednar will continue to use him as long as he continues to progress, and he’ll have a better season than he did on the New York Rangers. And who knows? It may be that if Johnson continues to shine, Bednar will keep him on the nightly lineup and take someone else off. It seems like the sky’s the limit for Jack Johnson on the Avalanche.
He can definitely bring something to the team. In a young team, veterans are important to bring experience to the team. He’s been to the Olympics, he’s been a huge part of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He can definitely bring experience that even the older members of the team don’t have.
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It’s very possible that Jack Johnson has found his team on the Colorado Avalanche. Even though he’s currently the oldest person on the team at 34, he shows no sign of slowing down and letting his age stop him from doing the very best that he can. Maybe his best wasn’t good enough on the Pittsburgh Penguins or the New York Rangers, but on the Avalanche he’s definitely shining so far and making a good impression on those who doubted him.