Gabriel Landeskog’s Pro Game Debut - 4/11/25

After the Colorado Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup win, Captain Gabriel Landeskog faced an uphill battle as he experienced multiple setbacks and challenges due to a lingering knee injury which had finally caught up to him. As highlighted in his documentary series, “A Clean Sheet: Gabe Landeskog”, this lingering knee injury was sustained when Cale Makar’s skate blade sliced the bottom of Landeskog’s patella and ultimately caused a cartilage injury during Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. At the time, it was seen as a simple stitch-up and power through the uncomfortable feelings. However, the knee pain worsened as time went on and got to the point where Landeskog missed practices and only played the live games during the Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup run. 

Landeskog underwent an arthroscopic knee surgery which made him miss the 2022-23 regular season and the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. On May 10, 2023, Landeskog missed out on the 2023-24 regular season, the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the 2024-25 regular season after he underwent a cartilage transplant surgery. This time of rehabbing was both a physical and a mental battle as there would be multiple setbacks after making progress. Although the setbacks were discouraging, his family, teammates, and determination was what fueled him towards doing what others believed was impossible. Landeskog made his debut with the AHL Colorado Eagles on April 11, 2025 and played his first pro game for the first time in 1020 days. His family as well as current and/or former teammates, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Towes, Josh Mason, Ross Colton, Andrew Cogliano and Milan Hejduk were in attendance of this game to support Landeskog. 

Landeskog’s first professional league game mirrored his pre-injury gameplay which included a game that is physical and one where he always made his presence known while on the ice. There were a couple hiccups during the first few minutes of the game such as a near collision on center ice with an Eagles’ player and looking a step behind. Landeskogs’ early attempts to find his rhythm early on in the game may have been due to trying to find his place with an established team who is currently number 1 in the AHL 2024-25 standings. Landeskog was able to find his footing in the latter half of the period and kept up with the rest of the team. His first penalty back was a controversial hooking penalty as many people within the fanbase described the call as “soft” and “weak”. The Eagles were able to kill the penalty successfully and continued to remain strong during the rest of the period. Landeskog had one shot on goal and delivered a hit during his 4th shift of the game which mirrored his physical play pre-injury. With 23 seconds left of the first period, tempers flared between the Colorado Eagles and Henderson Silver Knights. Landeskog did not shy away from the action and quickly put a Knights player in a headlock while in the pile-up. 

As the game went on, Landeskog’s presence electrified the fans and the team as he continued to deliver hits and had a couple great opportunities to score a goal. Other memorable moments included the following: Landeskog’s faceoff win where he nearly tipped the puck into the net during his power play shift about 17 minutes and 33 seconds into the period, almost scoring a short-handed goal during his 9th shift, and doing his best to poke check the puck as well as win a couple foot races when necessary. There were a couple moments when Landeskog nearly lost his balance, however, he stayed on his feet and continued to create some meaningful plays while on the ice. 

During the final minutes of the game, which ended with a Colorado Eagles' 2-0 shutout against the Henderson Silver Knights, Landeskog was showered with “Landy” chants which shook the arena. Landeskog reassured everyone that his body and knee felt great and thanked the crowd for making the night so special. What seemed like a dream in a nightmare of setbacks became a reality after all of the hard work that went into rehabbing these past couple of years. This conditioning stint has shown that Landeskog looks to be on the right track and that his return to the NHL may be plausible. Overall, Landeskog did fine with keeping up with the rest of the Eagles and the Silver Knights players. He may not have played as many shifts as he did pre-injury, however, his performance exceeded expectations as he maintained a physical game and made his presence on the ice known. 

The job is not done yet for Landeskog as he is scheduled to play in game two of this weekend’s two-game series between the Colorado Eagles and Henderson Silver Knights on April 12, 2025. It will be interesting to see whether his play is affected by the previous nights’ performance and what the next steps would be for Landeskog moving forward.