Avalanche stars chat with old teammate in YouTube series

Technically there will be another day of hockey played as the Colorado Avalanche’s development camp continues on Friday, but the next story takes place more in the offseason, so be warned.

Remember Pierre-Edouard Bellemare? The veteran forward played two seasons with the Avalanche and gave a fantastic interview in the locker room. He’s smart, articulate and really funny. His wife Hannah has a YouTube series called “Cooking with NHL Players” where she teaches people how to pair food and wine while hosting other NHL players for dinner. In her last episode, she hosted Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen for dinner and it was pretty entertaining.

In this episode, you can see the three NHL players just having fun chatting about different topics while Hannah explains to them all why they pair each wine with their food. It’s a different side of the players that you don’t always get to see on a regular basis. You’ll learn about Mikko Rantanen building a new home in Finland and some of his favorite foods. Bellemare asks the two Avalanche forwards about the locker room remodel at Ball Arena and remembers how he kept catching his old teammates doing unsanitary things because of the old facility. He also discusses some of the contract offers he’s had to decide on over the course of his NHL career, which didn’t begin until he was 29. You’ll also see MacKinnon talk about possibly becoming a father in the future.

Since we’re heading into the trough of summer where we probably won’t see much new hockey related, I thought it would be worth a post. You can see what these guys are like away from the rink, and maybe learn a thing or two about food and wine pairing. I’ve been to wine country a few times myself and found the 20 minute episode to be pretty entertaining.