CHICAGO – Defenseman Erik Johnson says the Avalanche began to gel in November during their weeklong trip to Sweden, which began immediately after Colorado traded disgruntled center Matt Duchene to Ottawa.
“We came together pretty early,” Johnson said from the United Center, where the Avs on Tuesday night solidified their Western Conference wild-card playoff standing with a 5-1 victory over Chicago. “The trip to Sweden helped us out a lot. We had a lot of fun together and got to know one another. It kind of took us a little while to hit our stride, but we’re a team that really gets along on and off the ice and we have fun coming to the rink together.