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“I don’t even know who Craig Billington is, that’s a name you just made up.” – Joel. Here at 4th Line Towers, we answer the questions that other podcasts (and their affiliated websites) dare not. In episode #202, Carl made a reference to Craig Billington, a former Colorado Avalanche goalie that Joel believed to be a fabrication. While not one to usually question Carl’s knowledge about one of his beloved teams, I had to admit that I’d never heard of Billington either. Is Craig Billington Real? Yes. Not only is he real, but he also tended the goal of the Colorado Avalanche between 1996 andRead More →

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Buffalo Sabres fans, rightfully so, were apathetic after the season opener (4-0 loss to the Bruins). The play looked like all of the previous season. It also did not help that the Bills had given the “Mafia” much to cheer for. There was a need of relief that went unsatisfied. Now that their season is 3 games in, the Sabres find themselves above .500 for the first time in October since 2013. The Halloween month has not been kind to this franchise and there are signs that they could be going in the right direction. Through this homestand, Carter Hutton has been the key toRead More →

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Like many sports, the NHL has some great rivalries; the Penguins and Flyers for example. The Islanders and Rangers, the Flames and the Oilers, Red Wings and Avalanche, all three Californian teams… Rivalries are formed for lots of reasons, many are down to geography, relative successes or because Claude Lemieux sucker-punched Slava Kozlov. Whether formed on the ice, or by broadcasters looking to add some tension, rivalries have become part of the sporting landscape. Rivalries are of course deeply personal, so I’m going to explore some of these across the different sports teams I follow. Hockey: Detroit Red Wings & Colorado Avalanche In the mid 1990s,Read More →

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In: Central Division, NHL
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As the arrow of time advances from summer to fall, we can all rejoice at the impending return of the NHL. Here at 4th Line Towers we can’t wait to watch some proper hockey again. This year we’re approaching our previews in a different way; the word count for each team’s preview has been dictated by the number of points that team scored last season. To further mix things up, we’ve divvied up the teams between our writers and some special guests. Let the Central division preview begin! Nashville Predators – Mike Laybourne 2017/18: 117 points For a good preview on the Preds, go read last season’sRead More →

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The guys are back to talk about all that happened at the 2018 NHL draft weekend. But first, Carl say Jurassic World. Would actually cloning dinosaurs be that terrible of an idea? We might find out. Carl’s real team and “former” bandwagon team made a deal as Brooks Orpik and Philipp Grubauer head to the Colorado Avalanche. Does this make Carl happy? Will this help the Washington Capitals sign John Carlson? (5 minutes after recording ended, we found out the answer) The New York Islanders brought in Barry Trotz and had a great draft. Is that enough to get John Tavares to stay? Ilya KovlachukRead More →

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The Colorado Avalanche roster has seen better days. With season ending injuries to goalie Semyon Varlamov, and defenceman Erik Johnson; the Avs’ playoff hopes now rest on the young shoulders of Nathan Mackinnon and slighty less young Jonathan Bernier. This has some Avs fans in a panic: Great. Awesome. It's over https://t.co/pcsJ4JBbha — Carl Landra (@CarlLandra) March 31, 2018 Is it over, Carl? Is it? With just a handful of games left in the regular season, the Avs are still in the fight for the playoffs, but only just. Colorado, St. Louis and Anaheim are separated by just a few points and the difference betweenRead More →

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In: Atlantic Division, Central Division, Metropolitan Division
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Taylor Hall. Nikita Kucherov. Nathan MacKinnon. These three are currently the front runners to win the Hart Trophy this season as the league MVP. But who will win it? Chace, Joe and Carl make their case for each. Taylor Hall (by Chace McCallum) The NHL’s Hart Trophy goes to the”player judged most valuable to his team“. This is an important caveat in Taylor Hall’s MVP case. He has fewer points per game than Nathan Mackinnon and Nikita Kucherov, his biggest opponents. This likely knocks Hall out of the most outstanding player debate, however in terms of value to their team, it’s Hall and it’s not close.Read More →

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Nathan MacKinnon was picked 1st overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He posted 78 and 75 points for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMHJL, but showed a lot of potential and upside. Picked in front of names like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Drouin, Seth Jones, and Sean Monahan; MacKinnon had been rumoured to be a superstar for years now. How could he not? His rookie season he put up 63 points, and showed elite levels of offensive flash. He then struggled to find the net as much in his next 3 years, but MacKinnon finally looks like the superstar the Avs haveRead More →

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The start of the 2017/18 NHL season has been a strange one. There are teams we thought would do well that are struggling, while others, who’d already had their chances written off are surprising us. Here are three NHL teams that we believe are exceeding expectations. Vancouver Canucks After finishing second to last in both the Western Conference and the league last season, and despite some reasonable off-season acquisitions, the Canucks didn’t look like a team that would hit the ice this season and achieve anything. In our preview, we said that the Canucks would miss the playoffs. Embed from Getty Images Of course that can stillRead More →

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The NHL continued to change in 1995, but it would come at great cost to Quebec. Today we look at the birth of Carl Landra’s favourite team, the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado Avalanche Due to their passionate fan base, the Quebec Nordiques had been a staple of the NHL since 1979. Quebec City’s own ‘Bleu, Blanc et Rouge’ they had a packed house each week at Colisee de Quebec. Their fierce rivalry with more successful neighbours Montreal always made for great viewing. However, despite producing some top talents like Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan and having a talented roster, the French-Canadien market was proving to haveRead More →