Ross Colton had ups and downs this season, but he consistently remained positive — even after he was scratched for the first two games of the postseason.
“Playoffs, you just kind of ramp it up a little bit. Obviously, you want to be in the lineup every day. To be honest, I was pissed off. And then maybe it was good for me, a little kick in the ass,” Colton said. “You come back in, just try and play with a little bit of an edge. I play physical like that.”
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Instead of wallowing in self-pity, the 29-year-old remained resilient and channeled that frustration into motivation for his game.
“That’s the way I tried to look at it. I don’t know all the reasons for it, but that was the way I tried to take it. And use it as motivation. It is what it is,” Colton said. “We got a really deep team. We got a great lineup, so we got next guy up, and when your number’s called, you’ve just got to be ready to go.”
Colton continues to elevate his game in the postseason
Head coach Jared Bednar is impressed with his improvement since adding him to the lineup.
“He’s made an impact in the series, and it’s helped on the score sheet. In his defensive play and commitment. It’s been strong. He’s bought into what we’re trying to do here, and I know he cares,” Bednar said.
Whatever it took to break through his scoring funk, he found it. He produced two outstanding assists since returning to the lineup — one in each of the last two games.
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“For me, every night, just find a way to make an impact. Get pucks behind their D, get bodies on guys, what I’ve been trying to do. Fortunately, find the score sheet last couple games,” Colton said. “Trying to find some chemistry with Naz (Nazem Kadri) and Wazi (Nicolas Roy). And fortunately we did, so hopefully we can keep going.”
Playoffs with the Avalanche compared to the Lightning
Colton played in two Stanley Cup Finals with his draft team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. He experienced the thrill of winning the NHL’s holy grail in 2021 and the pain of losing it in 2022 — to his current team.
“There’s similarities, there’s differences. We have great leadership. It starts with that, and you have guys that lead by example that can take over games. But I feel like the similarities are from day one of training camp. We felt like there’s a certain vibe in the room. We feel like the group that can get it done,” Colton said. “It’s just a matter of us to come to the rink every day and do our job. And at the end of the day, coaches put a plan on the ice, but it’s up to us to go out there and execute. Those are both deep teams, obviously, great in different ways. But I don’t know, this group feels special. It’s been really fun, and we just got to keep it rolling.”