When the Colorado Avalanche players boarded the team plane this past Thursday for a flight to Las Vegas, many of them were accompanied by their mothers as part of one of the NHL’s great traditions — an annual moms’ (or dads’) trip.
The players were all wearing the same shirt under their suit jackets to commemorate the trip. The burgundy shirts carried a simple message, with the words “Moms Trip” and “For Lana” emblazoned inside a heart.
Lana is Josh Manson’s mother. She passed away in August after a long battle with melanoma. The idea to honor her with the moms’ trip shirts came from Ryan Johansen.
“He had the idea, came up to me and asked if it would be alright,” Manson said. “I said I thought it would be a great idea. Very, very thoughtful of him. I don’t think I can express how appreciative I am of his acknowledgment of the situation.”
Lana Manson played volleyball in college and eventually became a hockey wife to Dave, who played more than 1,100 games during a 16-year NHL career, and hockey mom for Josh, who is in his third season with the Avs after spending seven-plus seasons with the Anaheim Ducks.
She was diagnosed with melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, in 2014. In 2016, she was told she had three months to live, but she defied the odds and was able to see her son win the Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2022.
“I try to come in every day and act positive,” Josh said. “That’s something that I wear and something I have when I’m away from the rink and at the rink, but that’s not something that needs to effect everybody else around me. Everybody has been really respectful and checked in with me, and so it’s been great. I’m really fortunate to have the team that we have here.”
Taking off for Vegas with our #1 fans!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/c2AGJtbcpD
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 3, 2023
All of the players and their moms wore the shirts at the start of the trip. Manson invited his mother-in-law, whom he called “a special lady,” to come to Vegas with him. His father is currently an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, so he missed the most recent dads’ trip and Manson invited his father-in-law to that one as well.
Manson said he collected a couple of extra shirts for family members, but didn’t want to take too many before he made sure everyone else on the team had them.
“I called (my dad) after,” Manson said. “Obviously he wanted one of the shirts, too. He just said it’s a really special thing and he appreciates it and wanted to make sure it was acknowledged how much it meant to him.
“Once I got the shirt and had it on and brought it back home and talked to my family, it didn’t just mean a lot to me, it meant a lot to my family, too, knowing the team was behind me. It was special. When I put it on, it was a little emotional.”
The players’ moms came to Denver and were together to watch the Avs beat the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena this past Wednesday night. The team went to Las Vegas a day early, leaving Thursday afternoon and taking Friday off from hockey to hang out with their moms.
They were able to watch the team’s morning skate at T-Mobile Arena, and sit in on pregame meetings with their sons before the contest against the Golden Knights.
“We’re all thinking about him,” said Jack Johnson, Manson’s defense partner. “When we found out about the moms’ trip, I think everyone’s first thought was about Josh. Great idea by Ryan, him taking initiative of it. Everyone was all on board for it.
“There’s nothing you can say to anybody that’s going through that. The first time I saw him, when I found out, I just said, ‘Sorry for your loss,’ and gave him a hug. That’s about it. That’s all you can say to someone who goes through something like that. You feel for him. A trip like that, you just have the acknowledgement from the team and everyone that you’re thinking about him.”
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