Gabe Landeskog recently said he’s had to stop thinking about what that first time back on the ice at Ball Arena would feel like.
Now, after 1,032 days away, the captain is back. And that return will be a forever memory.
Landeskog completed his remarkable comeback Wednesday night for the Avalanche in Game 3 of its opening-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
The first WWE-style pop for Landeskog came before he even reached the ice. A camera was trained on his emergence from the Avalanche locker room, and a much larger than normal crowd waiting for warmups roared with delight.