{"id":522794,"date":"2026-03-25T22:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T22:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/522794\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T22:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T22:50:14","slug":"avalanches-logan-oconnor-is-back-like-he-never-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/522794\/","title":{"rendered":"Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor is back like he never left"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 Let\u2019s start with the silver lining, because Logan O\u2019Connor\u2019s journey back to the Colorado Avalanche<\/a> lineup was an arduous one filled with twists and frustrating turns.<\/p>\n

Through 69 missed games and long periods of uncertainty, O\u2019Connor also got to experience one of the great joys of his life. Brooks O\u2019Connor was born in mid-November<\/a>, the first child for Logan and his wife, Kendra.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was any time to be injured, it\u2019s been this year for sure,\u201d O\u2019Connor told The Denver Post. \u201cAs challenging as things have been professionally for me, at home has been remarkable. My wife\u2019s been an absolute machine. She\u2019s been unbelievable through it all, dealing with what I\u2019ve been dealing with professionally, and being a first-time mother and father.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helped to be able to keep my focus on family at times, opposed to the challenges that I\u2019ve been facing personally with being out the whole year. \u2026 It definitely puts a lot more things into perspective, and I just enjoyed the extra time at home I had that I wouldn\u2019t be getting otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor is back with the Avs now. He made his season debut Tuesday night in a 6-2 win over the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colorado coach Jared Bednar said the plan was to get O\u2019Connor about 8-10 minutes in his first action since Game 7 of the 2025 playoffs in Dallas. It went so well that he ended up logging more than 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

He forechecked all night. He killed key penalties. He set up a goal with a perfectly placed pass.<\/p>\n

He was \u201cOC\u201d again, back like he never left.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, not bad,\u201d O\u2019Connor said after the game. \u201cI think you shake a lot of the rust off early. Especially the first couple shifts, things feel like they\u2019re going a little fast. You\u2019re not used to certain types of situations, so definitely nice to get the first one under my belt. It\u2019s been a long time coming. Hopefully, as the games go on, I\u2019ll feel more and more comfortable and continue to find my game more and play to my identity more and more as it goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor fights with the Penguins’ Rickard Rakell (67) and Anthony Mantha (39) during the third period of an NHL game Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo\/Gene J. Puskar)
\n\u2018The hardest part was the unknown\u2019<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor is a quintessential \u201cglue guy\u201d in the NHL. An undrafted free agent from the University of Denver, he\u2019s been an easy player for Avalanche fans to root for and watch grow up as a quality NHL role player.<\/p>\n

Colorado rewarded him with a six-year contract, at the time a rarity for a guy who typically plays on the third or fourth line. But there\u2019s no question about O\u2019Connor\u2019s value to the Avs. It goes well beyond the goals and the assists on the back of his hockey cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge. It\u2019s hard to describe to the people that aren\u2019t in this locker room, what he means to this group,\u201d Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog said. \u201cNot everybody knows what he\u2019s been going through, but I think I can relate a little bit. So much respect for him and what he\u2019s gone through, and the road that he\u2019s been on. He continues to just put the work in, and it\u2019s just awesome to see him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t known what was going on with O\u2019Connor. Still don\u2019t, really.<\/p>\n

The Avalanche announced O\u2019Connor was going to have offseason hip surgery in early June<\/a>. The timeline was 5-6 months. When training camp began, coach Jared Bednar said O\u2019Connor was on track for an early November return.<\/p>\n

That timeline came and went. Bednar said O\u2019Connor had a separate issue pop up just before he was ready to return. The Avs have never offered what it was, aside from the coach calling it a soft-tissue injury.<\/p>\n

Even as O\u2019Connor prepared to play his first game in more than 10 months on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, he sidestepped a couple of chances to reveal what the actual problem was. He and Bednar both detailed the long process to get here, though.<\/p>\n

Lots of doctor visits. Second and third opinions. Tests, then more tests. \u201cTrial and error, at times,\u201d as Bednar put it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething else came up, pretty unrelated to the hip surgery that took us, I want to say, months to figure out what it was exactly,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cIt was definitely a tough process to go through. It got to the point where it didn\u2019t even matter what it was. It was just like a, \u2018Tell me what it is,\u2019 type of thing. I ended up getting clarity months into the process, and then had a game plan in place to return to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest part was the unknown. I knew I would play again. Very different to (Landeskog\u2019s) situation. His was \u2026 didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d ever play again. Mine was, I knew I\u2019d play. It was just a matter of when, but the uncertainty of not knowing what it was for the longest time was definitely challenging. \u2026 Once we got (clarity), the process was pretty smooth from there on out, but it just took a lot of time to get to that place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not an easy re-entry<\/p>\n

There were times during the season when the local media would report that O\u2019Connor was skating at Family Sports Center. There were times when that was just to test something out, not a next step forward in his recovery process.<\/p>\n

That entire process was a grind, mentally as much as physically. Then came the next challenge.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor was ready to return, but the Avs have stopped staging traditional practices. The compressed schedule due to the 2026 Winter Olympics, combined with Colorado being an older club still trying to fend off the Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Western Conference, has meant the Avs are trying to rest as much as possible.<\/p>\n

If they do go on the ice on the day before a game, it\u2019s been an optional workout. O\u2019Connor never got to take part in a 5-on-5 drill before his return. He had very little contact in a practice environment. Players rarely come back from long-term absences without checking off those boxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tinkered with plans along the way. There was a chance I was going to go down with the Eagles, but things changed with that plan\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cMy game and mindset doesn\u2019t change. It\u2019s all about the details. It\u2019s just that much more important, because I will have a lot of that rust that I\u2019ll have to shake off. There is a time frame here to shake that off, but there\u2019s not a ton of games left.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter late than never, but there\u2019s definitely going to be challenges that will come along the way as I try and get back in the groove of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

One the ice, it didn\u2019t look like there were many challenges for him Tuesday night. He got into multiple post-whistle scrums and ended up in the penalty box after one.<\/p>\n

There was one moment where the layoff showed up. O\u2019Connor did the second intermission interview with Altitude Sports\u2019 Kyle Keefe. There were some heavy, deep breaths.<\/p>\n

At one point,\u00a0he had to steady himself against the wall<\/a> outside the visitors\u2019 locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of those PKs gassed me out a little bit,\u201d O\u2019Connor said through a laugh. \u201cYou can do whatever you can do in practice, but at the end of the day, until you\u2019re in a game, nothing will ever replicate the intensity, the battle, the shift length, how dynamic the game is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot more to it. I think the legs will come back quickly. When the mind\u2019s thinking a little quicker, the legs don\u2019t have to do as much. But when your mind\u2019s behind, you feel like you have to play catch-up at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he wasn\u2019t catching his breath, O\u2019Connor made an obvious impact. He played on a line with Nazem Kadri and Parker Kelly. He was the second forward over the boards after Brock Nelson during a 3-on-5 situation.<\/p>\n

It was a long time coming. It\u2019d be hard not to call it an overwhelming success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was really good for not having played all year long. Obviously, he did a great job with his conditioning,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cThe conditioning wasn\u2019t an issue. He wanted to keep playing, so he ends up with 15 minutes and had a great night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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