Tyson Barrie: Season in Review

Tyson Barrie has become a recognizable name to Colorado Avalanche fans, and his 2017-18 season showed his tenacity for creating offense amongst team defensemen and being a leader on a young squad.
The Victoria, British Columbia, native had a career year for himself, setting new highs in all three scoring categories with 14 goals and 43 assists for 57 points. Barrie's 57 points were the most by an Avalanche defenseman since Ray Bourque had 59 in 2000-01 season and his 43 assists were also the most by an Avs rear guard since Bourque recorded 52 in the 2000-01 Stanley Cup championship campaign.
Barrie's offensive talent was especially on display on the power play as he registered 30 points with the man advantage, tying him for first among NHL defensemen this past year, and scored seven power-play goals, tied for first among blueliners in the league.

The 2017-18 year was the sixth-consecutive season that Barrie had led Colorado's defense in goals and was the fourth-straight time that he's led the Avs defense in points. It was his second 50-point campaign, and he is now the fourth blueliner in franchise history to record multiple seasons of 50 points or more.
He also reached the mark after playing in only 68 outings, as Barrie missed 13 games from Dec. 27 to Jan. 25 due to a broken hand. Before his injury, he was tied for second among NHL defensemen in scoring with 27 points.
The 27-year-old recorded nine points (two goals and seven assists in October, including a six-game point streak that at the time was the longest in his career. Later in the season, Barrie went on another point streak, this time for 11 games to set a new career long.
His 11-game run was the longest by any NHL defenseman during the 2017-18 season and tied for the second longest by any defender in the past 11 seasons.
"I just try to play consistently and try to play the right way every night," Barrie said during that streak. "Obviously, part of my game is jumping into the play and creating some offense. It's been going well lately so I am just going to try and continue to do that. And obviously, playing with these guys, Mikko [Rantanen], Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, we got some skill in this room. It makes it easy on me."

The 11-consecutive games with a point was the longest run by a defenseman in Avalanche history (since 1995-96), and he joined the Quebec Nordiques' Steve Duchesne as the only rear guards in franchise history to record double-digit point streaks.
During the run, Barrie became the first defenseman in franchise's annals to record five points in a single game (one goal and four assists) on Feb. 20 at the Vancouver Canucks. The Avs won 5-4 in overtime and Barrie factored in on each of the five goals, all which came on power plays. He became the first Avalanche player since Joe Sakic to have five points in a road game and the first NHL defenseman to register five power-play points in a single outing since Tomas Kaberle did it with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2009.
"I think everyone was on their game," Barrie said after his five-point performance. "We have talked about our power plays the last few games--we have been getting it in, working it around, but we haven't really been a threat. So, we were trying to shoot more and that was a big part of it. Guys were sharp tonight."

The defenseman also accomplished some career milestones in the campaign. On Oct. 28 against the Chicago Blackhawks, Barrie tallied his 200th career NHL point, becoming the sixth rear guard in franchise history to reach the milestone.
He recorded his 57th career goal on March 10 versus the Arizona Coyotes, passing Adam Foote (56) for fourth place on the franchise all-time D-man goals list. Nearly two weeks later, Barrie appeared in his 400th NHL contest when the Avalanche took on the Vegas Golden Knights on March 26.
His leadership and abilities on the ice helped Colorado to victory in a must-win 82nd game of the campaign. The Avs defeated the St. Louis Blues in the regular-season finale on April 7 to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2014.

"It's an exciting time of year, it has been exciting for the last month," he said before the last contest of the regular season. "Every game has been big, and it's kind of crazy how it boils down to this one game. If you were looking two weeks ago you maybe thought that it might come down to this and it does. You have to be proud of the guys for putting ourselves in a position we win one and we are in, so it's going to be a great game tonight and it's going to be a lot of fun."
In Colorado's postseason run, Barrie played in each of the six games and collected four points (all assists) in the team's first-round matchup against the Nashville Predators.
Colorado fans can continue to look forward to watching Barrie put up more points in an Avalanche sweater, as he will look to once again be one of the key rear guards that the Avs rely on to help them return to the playoffs and bring the Stanley Cup back to Denver.