Cale Makar is the silver lining in the Denver hockey world this week.
On Thursday night, the UMass star was an enemy to the University of Denver, helping knock out the Pioneers in the Frozen Four in Buffalo, New York.
But after the Minutemen play Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA National Championship game on Saturday night, Makar will be heading to Denver to be seen in a different way by local hockey fans when he joins the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado selected Makar with its first-round pick (fourth overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft.
On top of playing for a national title, Makar started closing out his college hockey career by winning the 2018-19 Hobey Baker Award on Friday evening.
The award is given annually to the top player in NCAA hockey.
Makar was one of three finalists who were all defensemen, beatin out Jimmy Schuldt of St. Cloud State and Adam Fox of Harvard.
