Landeskog Leading The Way

It seems like it wasn't that long ago that Gabriel Landeskog was named the youngest captain in NHL history at the ripe age of 19 years and 286 days old.
Now at 25 years of age, he is in his seventh season at the highest level of the sport and is in his sixth campaign with a 'C' stitched onto the front of his jersey.
"My mindset right from the bat was that I wasn't going to be the perfect captain," says Landeskog. "My mindset was just if I keep learning and keep growing, I think I will be fine in the locker room. I still have a lot to learn. The last couple of years are really the first time where I started getting comfortable."

He is just the fourth captain in Colorado history, joining Joe Sakic, Adam Foote and Milan Hejduk and is the 11th in the history of the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise.
The left wing has matured and developed through the position, though he no longer holds the title of youngest team captain in in the league record books. Connor McDavid surpassed Landeskog when he was given the honor by the Edmonton Oilers at 19 years and 266 days before the 2016-17 season.
"For every year that goes by you get more and more comfortable in your role and I am sure that's the situation for anybody that is in that leadership role," Landeskog says. "Especially at a young age, you are not comfortable right off the bat, and with different groups it will feel different. But with this group right now, I got some experience compared to some of these guys and our whole leadership group really is a veteran group."
The Avalanche has one of the youngest teams in the NHL this campaign with multiple players in their teenage years.
"Having a young group just makes it that much more important that we make sure we talk to guys, and we make sure we communicate well and we point out things that we see out there," says Landeskog. "Whether it's attitude wise in the room or just the way we play or prepare, things like that. These young guys are real susceptible to that and they want to learn every day, so that makes it easy from a leadership standpoint."
It isn't that hard for Landeskog to relate to his youthful teammates as he was just 18 when he was selected by Colorado with the No. 2 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and started his NHL career the following season.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native won the 2011-12 Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie after recording 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) in 82 games. He was the youngest player and one of four born in the 1990's on the Avs' roster that year, and he leaned on the more experienced players in the locker room to help him figure out life in the NHL.
One of those players was defenseman Erik Johnson, who was named a full-time alternate captain for the first time in his NHL career prior to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
"I came in the league and E.J. was 23 or 24 years old, and I was 18. We were roommates on the road," Landeskog recalled. "We have a good relationship and know each other really well. He kind of took me under his wing when I came to the league, and we have grown together and been able to be there for each other and support one another. With him wearing an 'A' on the ice it's been big for us and he has played like the defenseman that we need him to be."
Joining Johnson with alternate captain responsibilities this season is 22-year-old forward Nathan MacKinnon, who has led Colorado in all three scoring categories for most of the season.
"He has taken it upon his shoulders to be that No. 1 guy for us, and he has done real well," Landeskog says of MacKinnon. "With his determination and his will, he pushes this group forward. He wants to win real bad, and he works real hard at his game, trying to perfect it. It pushes everybody when you see your best player doing those things. It rubs off on the rest of the group."
Landeskog relies on Johnson and MacKinnon, as well as a few more seasoned players in the Avalanche dressing room, for help in guiding the team in the right direction.

"We have veteran guys that are good guys to be able to use to bounce some ideas off of or bounce different thoughts off of," said Landeskog. "It's a constant growth. I think just because guys have been around the league for a while, I am sure E.J. and other experienced guys would say the same thing, there are still things to learn and things to figure out. It is a group of 22, 23 personalities that you have to try to manage and it's been fun. The guys have been really good and the guys have been stepping up."
Like any team in the NHL, Colorado has to manage the ups and downs that come with an 82-game season. The guidance of the more seasoned players has helped the younger guys stay even-keeled throughout different situations.
"There are waves in the season, and our leadership group keeps everyone composed," says first-year forward J.T. Compher. "Whether it is up 2-0 after the first period, or down 2-0, there is always a lot of hockey to be played and these guys keep us levelheaded and focused on the game."
The core of the team has proven itself to be a mature and knowledgeable group that the coaching staff can trust to enforce the right mindset in the locker room.
"We just kind of stick with it, and I think a lot of that has to do with Landy's leadership on the bench," head coach Jared Bednar says. "Other guys are buying in. He sets the tone for what we want to do on the ice and our guys follow that.
"The things that our guys are saying on the bench, our leadership and guys chiming in with our puck decisions and talk from the bench and talk on the ice are positive signs that we are trying to do the right things and play the right way all the time, not just when games are tight."
He is not necessarily the most vocal guy in the dressing room, but the way Landeskog carries himself and demonstrates his character is recognized by those around him.
"For Gabe, he shows a lot of his leadership through how he acts," said Compher. "It's work ethic and compete level every day. It's being courteous and being nice to everyone around you that all of the rookies have really noticed about him. It makes it easy for us to follow in those footsteps.
"For having as many rookies as we do in this locker room right now, it makes a huge difference to have that voice of reason and that leading voice that has driven us on and off the ice this year. There are a lot of ups and down in the season, especially as a rookie, you are experiencing a lot of things that you haven't before."
Landeskog got to evolve his role as captain to the part of tour guide in his hometown when the Avs traveled to Stockholm for two games against the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series this past November.
The trip to his native land gave the club time to be together and explore a new country and culture without the distractions of everyday life in North America.

"We had a really quiet group to start the year with a lot of new guys, whether young or older," recalled Landeksog. "It takes time to click and mesh as a group and get comfortable with each other in the room. But I think that Sweden trip that we went on and spent a week there together, coupled with some other road trips and team activities, we have become a real tight-knit group in here.
"It's fun coming to the rink with all these guys. We had a real good group in the past, but with the additions of all these young guys it's just made it that much more fun. We are a young group and the guys are close in age, so it makes it so everybody has a lot in common and we enjoy being around each other."
The chemistry that the team has developed in the dressing room has shown through the belief that this group has in itself and is translating onto the ice.
For Landeskog, it is essential that the guys stick together and develop as a group to help drive the club to success.
"We continue to learn and grow together. It is going to be important for this group to make sure that we keep raising the ceiling for what we can do," said Landeskog. "Keep pushing one another and get the Avs back to where we belong. Really, there is no limit to how good this group can be."

A version of this story appeared in the 2017-18 second edition of AVALANCHE, the official game magazine of the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club. For more feature stories, purchase a copy of the magazine during Avs home games at Pepsi Center. All proceeds from game-magazine sales support youth hockey associations in Colorado.