Comment on Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard outside top 5 in first returns of NBA All-Star balloting

Zach Parise called his time with the Colorado Avalanche amazing and special and said it “pushed me to a spot I didn’t feel I could still (get to)” shortly after a double-overtime Game 6 loss to the Dallas Stars last week. A few minutes later, Jonathan Drouin deemed his experience awesome and said, “It’s a great place to play hockey.” The Avs are going to have some recruiting to do this offseason, and those five-star reviews might come in handy.

If Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a $20-million guard, I’m Chris Hemsworth. But by Odin’s raven, somebody’s going to offer it. Which is why I have far more sympathy for the Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth than Chris MacFarland, his compatriot with the Avalanche, as they try to sort out the rubble this summer and make sense of where their respective seasons went wrong. While the Avs have largely been their own worst enemy, giving Gabe Landeskog’s limbo and Val Nichushkin’s demons as much runway as they need, the Nuggets have been knee-capped by forces outside their control.

Jerry DeVaul was lying in a puddle of water, his legs severed, when he made a vow to himself and the sky above. It was October 2011, and DeVaul was working at a mine in Trinidad after recently finishing his service in the U. S. Army when a coworker ran him over with a mining scoop — altering his life forever. DeVaul spent nearly two hours after that alone and critically injured, waiting for help and hoping for a second chance. Out of that trauma, and a bumpy road to recovery that included multiple detours, DeVaul eventually found his calling as a player and now president for Colorado Sled Hockey. “When I lost my legs, I made a promise to God that day that if I kept my life, I would inspire daily,” DeVaul recalled.

Not often does a coach get involved in the on-field huddle with their team coming out of halftime. Whatever Chris Armas said to his Colorado Rapids, down 3-1 at the time, worked wonders. In another world, the Rapids took advantage of just one more great opportunity and avenged a bad first half with a gritty win, but they’ll instead settle for a 3-3 draw to the Western Conference’s second-best team in Minnesota United in front of 16,201 people at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the largest crowd of the year. “In that moment (on the field at halftime), it was just another reminder of the belief and the challenge of staying focused,” Armas said.

Rockies rookie outfielder Jordan Beck broke a bone in his left hand in the Rockies’ 8-4 loss to the Phillies Saturday night at Coors Field. Beck, 23, jammed his left (glove) hand while making an excellent diving catch on Nick Castellano’s sinking line drive in left field at the end of the first inning.

The Rockies have turned heartbreak into an art form. For the umpteenth time this season, a late-inning rally against their undependable bullpen cost the Rockies a victory on Saturday night. The Phillies won 8-4, scoring six runs in the ninth off relievers Jalen Beeks, Justin Lawrence and John Curtiss. The Coors Field crowd of 37,535 fans, many clad in Philly red, held a party. “It’s frustration right now,” said Lawrence, who blew his third save and is carrying a 5.91 ERA.