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Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start

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Grading The Week: From Bo Nix’s dog days to Mackenzie Blackwood and Nikola Jokic, Denver sports’ 2026 off to rocky start


The Lumberyard is breaking boards already?

The Colorado Avalanche is becoming the Colorado Ambulanche. The Nuggets’ center options went from Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas to the 1-2 punch of DeRon Holmes II and Zeke Nnaji.

Hang on. Hang on. Wasn’t 2026 supposed to be “Denver’s Year?”

At least, that’s what the Grading The Week (GTW) crew told each other at the annual holiday soiree a fortnight ago, just before we sent everybody home for Christmas.

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Well after the last eight days or so, Team GTW thinks it might be wise now for the Broncos to double Bo Nix’s security. (Just don’t bring any guard dogs.)

Because if it wasn’t for bad luck, to paraphrase the late, great bluesman Albert King, Front Range sports fans wouldn’t have no luck at all.

Blackwood to the IR — D.

This past Friday, the Avs took a break from wiping the ice with the rest of the NHL to place goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, the younger half of its “Lumberyard” pairing of netminders, on injured reserve with a lower body injury.

You want lousy timing? Blackwood’s absence piles it on with several layers of awful.

For one, the Thunder Bay native finished December on a heater — posting an 8-1-0 record, a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a save rate of 92.3%.

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For another, Colorado is in the teeth of one of the tougher road trips of the season, with visits to division leading Carolina on tap for Saturday, followed by a matinee Sunday at Florida to cap off a night game-into-day-game back-to-back, capped off by a Tuesday evening visit to Tampa Bay.

For yet another, Blackwood only faced 13 shots on New Year’s Eve, his last start, during a 6-1 Avs win over St. Louis at Ball Arena.

Scott Wedgewood (17-1-4, 2.13 GAA, .919 save percentage as of early Saturday) has been more than good enough to shoulder the load in net, granted. But you also don’t want to overload a 33-year-old goalie who’s having a career year in his eighth full season in the NHL. Wedgewood, largely a “1B” netminder since ’15-16, had already logged 24 starts this season going into the weekend. His career high for starts is 32 and his season average has been 20 per year. Depending on the severity of Blackwood’s injury, Wedgewood, at least in the short term, is going to have to ramp up the quantity to match his quality.

In isolation, it’s a lousy way to open 2026. Add in the freak knee injury Nuggets icon Jokic suffered this past Monday night in Miami and Valanciunas’ calf strain two days later in Toronto, you wonder what Denverites did to anger the sporting gods. Or if we’re getting payback for October-December being so absolutely glorious ’round these parts.

Regardless, let’s put a pin in those multiple-championship-parades-in-one-year plans — at least until Nix and the Broncos get to Santa Clara next month in one piece.

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CSU women’s hoops rolling — A.

May whatever karma that’s haunting Ball Arena spare the good folks up in FoCo. The CSU Rams’ women’s basketball team finished the December part of its ’25-26 slate with a flourish on Dec. 31, stomping Grand Canyon in Phoenix 61-47 and improving to 12-2 overall, 3-0 in Mountain West play. CSU has won 12 straight away games dating back to last season. The Rams get a two-game homestand against Fresno State (Saturday) and New Mexico (Wednesday) before returning to the road on Jan. 10 (at Boise State) and Jan. 14 (at Air Force).



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Denver, CO

Denver police use Aurora’s license-plate reading system to ID, arrest a teenage murder suspect

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Denver police use Aurora’s license-plate reading system to ID, arrest a teenage murder suspect


Denver police used license-plate reader technology from neighboring Aurora to identify and arrest a 19-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

Police arrested Daniel Villegas on Saturday on suspicion of shooting and killing another 19-year-old male in the 10100 block of East Virginia Avenue two days earlier.



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New video captures deadly shooting at Denver park on Easter Sunday

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New video captures deadly shooting at Denver park on Easter Sunday


DENVER (KDVR) — A new video captured several shots being fired in a deadly shooting in broad daylight at a Denver park on Easter Sunday.

On Sunday, around 6 p.m., the Denver Police Department said it responded to a shots-fired call in the area of the 3600 block of North Vine Street. This is at Russell Square Park in the Cole Neighborhood.

Police said two people were sent to the hospital, and they were still looking for a suspect. On Monday morning, police said a woman was pronounced dead, and they were still working on developing suspect information.

FOX31’s Jim Hooley spoke with neighbors in the area on Monday morning, who captured a video of the shots being fired. On a smart home camera in the area, it showed a video of the park, with the sound of over 20 gunshots.

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Neighbors told Hooley there were more than 50 people, as many as 100, at the park celebrating Easter. Neighbors believe it was a drive-by shooting, and they all ran for cover once the shots were fired.

At this time, it’s unclear what led up to the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.



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Long Before Messi Came to MLS, These Players Brought Soccer to Denver

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Long Before Messi Came to MLS, These Players Brought Soccer to Denver


In 1996, a group of strangers arrived in Denver with their cleats and a common goal: to build professional soccer in America from the pitch up. Two years earlier, the United States had hosted the FIFA World Cup, igniting a national fervor for the sport. That energy helped birth Major League Soccer, with the Colorado Rapids as one of its 10 founding clubs. Players from around the globe converged on what was then Mile High Stadium (where the Rapids played until the 2007 debut of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City).

Thirty years later, the team has drawn stars, hoisted the 2010 MLS Cup, and earned a devoted local following. Ahead of the Rapids’ return to Empower Field at Mile High on April 18 for a special anniversary match against Inter Miami CF, we spoke with players from that first season about the mayhem and mirth that helped bring the world’s most popular sport to America.

Colorado Rapids History: The First MLS Season in Denver

“We literally went to a liquor store [on Federal Boulevard] in rush-hour traffic. We were outside with a table with banners, and we were waving Rapids flags. People would roll down their windows and ask ‘Who are the Rapids?’ as they’re stuck in traffic.” —Marcelo Balboa, center back, 1996–2002

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“For the July 4 game, we had a massive crowd. We played the [New York/New Jersey] MetroStars, and it was like, Wow, to be able to play in front of over 20,000 people. The lower bowl was packed and loud.” —Denis Hamlett, defender, 1996

“We trained in the Westminster rec center. I remember the first month we were there, we would walk down the hill from the rec center. It was pretty much an open park…. There’d be people coming from the street to work out, and they [would] look at us like, ‘Are you guys a college team?’ ” —Chris Henderson, midfielder, 1996–1999 and 2002–2005

“After the first few games, we started realizing that people were staying after [for autographs]. Almost every game, I would walk off the field without a shirt and without my socks. Kids wanted socks.” —Balboa

“Being a guy who played on the national team and played in the two World Cups leading up to the league—we were always hoping and praying that we were finally going to be able to get a league in the United States…. So when we all got to the stadium and saw [so many] people there, we were like, ‘OK, we got something here.’ ” —Balboa

“We had a mascot called RapidMan [who would go] on all these appearances with us. His costume was like water inside a river. I remember him high-fiving the fans and taking photos with the players.” —Henderson

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Tickets for the Colorado Rapids match at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, at Empower Field at Mile High start at $100.



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