Late Gm Pierre Lacroix, “architect Of The Avalanche,” Honored Pregame

The best comeback team in the NHL during the regular season did it again in its first home game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche quickly erased a one-goal deficit early in the third period and got plenty of help from a suddenly undisciplined Winnipeg Jets club en route to a 6-2 victory Friday night at Ball Arena in Game 3 of this opening-round series.

The Post’s sports staff weighs in with grades after the Denver Broncos drafted Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss on Day 2 of the NFL draft. Parker Gabriel, Broncos beat writer Grade: B+ A solid grade for Denver on two fronts and with one caveat. The Broncos hit a position of need at No.

Almost anything in football can be viewed in relation to the quarterback. The premium positions beside the guy under center? Those who can protect him, impact him or make plays in the passing game for him. When you’ve got a rookie like the Broncos do after taking Oregon’s Bo Nix in the first round Thursday night, that emphasis only grows. “The (rookie quarterback) challenge is exciting, but it’s still, you want good quarterback play,” Denver head coach Sean Payton said Thursday night.

After the Broncos landed its franchise quarterback, they addressed the defense on Day 2 of the NFL draft. Denver drafted former Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss with the 76th overall pick in the third round on Friday night. Elliss will join quarterback Bo Nix, who was selected in the first round (12th overall) on Thursday. Elliss played in 35 career games (18 starts) at Utah, totaling 78 tackles and 16 sacks — tied for seventh-most for a season in program history.

Former Valor Christian football and basketball star Roger Rosengarten watched his dream turn into a reality on Friday night. The Baltimore Ravens took Rosengarten, a Highlands Ranch native, in the second round (62nd overall) of the NFL draft. Rosengarten will join a Ravens draft class that currently includes Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins, who was taken 30th overall on Thursday. When Rosengarten received word that he was going to Baltimore, the first thing that came to his mind was the opportunity to block for quarterback and 2-time MVP Lamar Jackson. “That’s an elite level quarterback.

For all the talk on what he is, or what he will be … let’s start with who Bo Nix isn’t. He’s not Russell Wilson. Thank goodness. “I know my role, OK?” David Morris, Bo Nix’s personal QB coach and founder of QB Country, told me with a chuckle. “And I’m not up there to try and tell Sean Payton how to coach quarterbacks.