It is only fitting that our number two in player profiles is the young defenseman, Bowen Byram, who also scored two goals in Wednesday’s contest, including the game-tying goal with 52 seconds left in the game. Sadly, after coming back from a two-goal deficit in the final minutes wasn’t enough, and the Avs fell quickly into the five-minute overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Bowen Byram
Position: Defense
Shoots: Left
Height: 6’1
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
In a game where his fellow defenseman, Cale Makar, was absent due to an upper-body injury, Bowen Byram stepped up onto the ice to give the Avs the two-goal lead, which they would subsequently squalor. Still, our focus today isn’t how the Avs blew it against the Blue Jackets, but about one of the newest additions to the club.
The twenty-year-old Cranbrook, BC native, drafted in 2019 by the Avalanche, made his NHL debut in an Avalanche sweater on January 21, 2021. He recorded his first point in the league the following game against the Anaheim Ducks. Unfortunately, his season was cut short due to injuries, and he enters this season still considered a rookie.
While the season has not started as smoothly as we would like to see, we can’t say the same for Byram’s play thus far. He scored his first NHL goal in the season opener, and since then has racked in 5 assists, combined with his two recent goals for a total of eight points. Not bad, considering they have only played nine games.
As it happens for offensive defensemen, he can be vulnerable when he mishandles the puck, as we have seen happen with Cale Makar, but I think those mistakes will be minimized with more time spent in the league. Aside from generating offense, Byram has shown a chippy side to his play that all fans enjoy watching. His first fight took place against Arizona in February of 2021.
We know he must be a well-respected kid on the team when MacKinnon is willing to throw down his gloves for him. After a dirty hit into the boards by Wild, Brandon Duhaime, early in the third period of Saturday’s division matchup, and sent Bo flying hard into the boards, MacKinnon immediately jumped on his teammate’s assailant. MacKinnon’s role on the ice would never be considered enforcer, and it is a rare treat when fans see him riled as he was on Saturday. MacKinnon later said that he thought Duhaime deserved suspension for the hit, but the league took no action. Thankfully Byram was uninjured.
Bowen Byram, or as I like to think of him as, Bowie, has given a lot for Avs fans to cheer for in the early start to the season, and we can only except to see more from the young rookie as his fellow defenders, Devon Toews and Cale Makar come back into the line-up.
Up next, the Avs will look to even the score with the Blue Jacket’s as they will face off on Saturday in Columbus.