Top Moment: Milan Hejduk Jersey Retirement Night

ColoradoAvalanche.com is profiling some of the top moments from the 2017-18 regular season. This segment looks back at when the Avalanche retired Milan Hejduk's No. 23 and then defeated the Minnesota Wild in early January.
On Jan. 6, 2018, a sold-out crowd of 18,046 packed into the Pepsi Center to not only watch the Avs face off against the division-rival Minnesota Wild but to also honor team legend Milan Hejduk with his jersey retirement.
The 40-minute ceremony was full of surprises for the former right wing and was capped off by Hejduk's No. 23 being raised to the arena's rafters alongside fellow Avalanche greats Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy, Adam Foote and Ray Bourque. One of the biggest surprises came when his former linemates, Forsberg and Alex Tanguay, brought the Stanley Cup they won together as teammates to Colorado's center ice for the first time since 2001.

Another meaningful moment came when the youth hockey team Hejduk coached, which included his two sons, skated the jersey banner with his number on it to the ice.
"[The Avs] kind of kept me out of the loop on some things, and these two things were definitely them," Hejduk said of the ceremony. "I didn't know Peter and Alex would be there, and the boys that I coached, that they would be carrying the banner. It was really, really special. Really neat for me.
"It was really awesome. It was really something that I'll remember forever. It was really well done by the Avs. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed everything out of it. It was great. It was awesome. It will be fun to come back to the building and see my jersey up there. It's great."
The ceremony was only a small token of gratitude for all that Hejduk did for the franchise. The Usti, Czech Republic, native recorded 805 points (375 goals, 430 assists) in 1,020 career games, all of which came in a Colorado uniform. He won a Stanley Cup with the club, a Rocket Richard Trophy and was an NHL All-Star three times in his career. He also served as a captain or alternate captain for seven seasons. He clearly deserved his name next to the other Avalanche greats.
"It's long overdue for what Milan has done for this organization, what he has done for the community," said former teammate and current Avalanche executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic.

The Avs did not disappoint the packed crowd after the ceremony as they defeated the Wild 7-2.
Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring with 12:22 left in the first period, and the team held the lead for the rest of the game. Six different players scored for the Avs with Carl Soderberg leading the team with two goals, while goaltender Jonathan Bernier backstopped the club with 34 saves. Colorado also continued its dominance on the power play, scoring three goals on the four man-advantage opportunities.
"It was an amazing atmosphere already when Hejduk's jersey got put to the roof, and after that we got ready and I think we got energy from that," forward Mikko Rantanen said of the game. "The crowd was buzzing, so it was good for us."
"I think it was a great look at some of the history of this proud franchise, and our guys really enjoyed it," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. "We talked too about [the players'] preparation coming out of that. I think you see all the fans packed into the building, and they are already cheering before the game starts and it kind of gets the emotions up. Our guys came out and they played a passionate, spirited affair."

This was the second of four times the two teams met during the 2017-18 season, and the Avalanche went on to dominate the Wild in the four-game season series. After a shootout loss in the first meeting of the year on Nov. 24, the Avs prevailed in the next three (3-0-1), winning by four goals or more each time.
The contest also ended up being the fifth of 10 consecutive victories for Colorado from Dec. 29 to Jan. 22. The win streak was tied for the longest in the NHL last season and was the second longest for the franchise.
The Avalanche has historically showed a knack for playing well in these types of outings, as the team is now 5-1-0 in games on jersey retirement nights. The evening was certainly a big moment for one of the best players in franchise history and a fitting salute to No. 23.