Who do you have to kill for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson to finally wear the A for alternate captain? Well, they’re not dead, but injuries to captain Gabriel Landeskog and newly-minted alternate Matt Duchene did the trick for the game against Dallas Stars.
Erik Johnson was the first-overall in 2006, being chosen by the St. Louis Blues. He was the alternate captain for the Blues for quite a while. The Avalanche traded for him in February of 2011.
Johnson entered a dry spell for recognized leadership when he got traded to Colorado. He wore the A as alternate while then-captain Milan Hejduk was out for a while in 2012.