Who Wore It Best: Number 3

There have been seven players who have chose to wear lucky number 7 while representing the Colorado Avalanche. Every single one of them has been a defenseman.

Chris Bigras (Regular Season GP 46, 1G, 3A, 18 PIM)

Chris Bigras was selected 32nd overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 Draft. The defenseman played 31 games for the Avalanche in the 2016 seasons amassing 3 points and 16 penalty minutes. He played 15 games for the Avs in the 2018 season  with one point and 2 penalty minutes before being traded to the Rangers before the trade deadline.

Aaron Miller ( Regular Season GP 311, 17G, 46A, 179 PIM)

Aaron Miller was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1989. Before he ever played a game in the NHL, he was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in 1991. It wasn’t until 1994 that the defenseman played in his first NHL game. Miller remained with the franchise when they moved to Colorado; however, he hadn’t played enough games with the team that season to officially be considered part of the Stanley cup winning team. He was traded to L.A., in exchange for Rob Blake in 2001. Miller went on to retire in 2008.

Between his time in Nordiques and Avalanche gear he played in 311 games, had 63 points, and 179 penalty minutes in the regular season. He appeared in 60 playoff games, with 11 points and 34 penalty minutes.

Lawrence Nycholat (Regular Season GP 5, 0G, 0A, 0 PIM)

Lawrence Nycholat was an undrafted defenseman who signed with the Minesota Wild in 2000. He made his way through a number of teams before making his way to the Colorado Avalanche in 2009. He played five games with the Avalanche before returning to one of his previous teams during the free agency. He retired in 2012.

While with the Avs he played five games, and didn’t appear on the scoreboard and didn’t receive any penalty minutes.

Ryan O’Byrne (Regular Season GP: 172, 2G, 19A, 182 PIM)

Ryan O’Byrne was drafted 79th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2003. In 2010 he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche and he remained in Colorado until being traded to the Maple Leafs at the 2013 Trade Deadline. After playing in Toronto O’Byrne made his way to Europe to play for a few years before retiring to pursue further education.

While wearing the burgundy and blue O’Byrne dressed for 172 regular season games, had 21 points and 182 penalty minutes. Among the Avalanche faithful he is most remembered for a gnarly injury which resulted from an errant skate to the cheek and jaw. Due to how sharp skates are, O’Byrne didn’t realize he had been hurt that badly and his teammates had to get him off of the ice as he tried to continue his shift with a gaping hole in his face.

Karlis Skrastins (Regular Season GP 268, 9G, 33A, 141 PIM)

Karlis Skrastins was drafted 230rd overall by the Nashville Predators in 1998. He was traded to Colorado in 2003. The Latvian defensman was known as the Ironman as he held the record for the most consecutive games played by a defenseman after having appeared in 495 consecutive games in the NHL. He played with a broken wrist and a knee injury that required surgery, along with a number of other injuries to break the existing record.  Tragically, Karlis was part of the Lokomotiv team in 2011. The plane his team was riding on crashed and the Ironman lost his life, leaving behind a pregnant wife and two daughters.

During his time in the burgundy and blue Skrastins played in 268  regular season games, had 42 points, 141 penalty minutes and became the Ironman that he is remembered for.

Karl Stollery (Regular Season GP 7, 0G, 0A, 4 PIM)

Karl Stollery was another undrafted defenseman. He signed an amateur try-out with the Lake Erie Monsters, he was then signed to a one-year contract with their NHL affiliate, the Colorado Avalanche in 2013. He played in five games for the Avalanche during the 2015 season before being traded to San Jose. In his two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche Stollery played in seven games and had four penalty minutes.

Pascal Trepanier (Regular Season GP 89, 4G, 10A, 77 PIM)

Pascal Trepanier was yet another undrafted defenseman who chose to wore number 3. He was a member of the Hershey Bears before signing with the Colorado Avalanche in 1998. While with the Colorado Avalanche in 1998 he played in 15 games and had 1 assist and 18 penalty minutes. He left and was with they Mighty Ducks for three years before returning to Colorado for one more year in 2002. His second-time around he payed in 74 games had 13 points and 59 penalty minutes.

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