A sixth-round selection (170th overall) by the Avalanche in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, defenseman Jonas Holos signed an entry-level contract with the Avalanche on May 26, 2010, and came to North America to play the 2010-11 campaign.

He would go on to appear in 39 games with Colorado during his rookie campaign, totaling six assists, 32 blocked shots and 19 hits while averaging 18:03 of ice time per game.

The following is a look back at the blueliner’s first NHL campaign.

NHL Debut
Holos made Colorado’s roster out of training camp and subsequently played his first NHL game on Oct. 16 against the New York Islanders.

He registered 23:57 of ice time in that contest and notched two shots on goal while becoming the sixth Norwegian-born player to ever appear in an NHL game (now seven, as the New York Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello would make his NHL debut on Dec. 23).

Logging Big Minutes
The defenseman set a career high with 27:22 of ice time (31 shifts) in just his fourth NHL game when Colorado played host to the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 23 at Pepsi Center.

Holos is no stranger to playing big minutes on the back end, as he’s often led Team Norway in ice time during international events. In fact, when he represented Norway at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver he led the entire tournament by averaging 28:56 of ice time per game.

First Point
The Sarpsborg native picked up his first career NHL point in his sixth contest with the Avalanche. He was credited with the secondary assist on a T.J. Galiardi goal in the third period of Colorado’s 6-5 victory over the Calgary Flames on Oct. 28.

Along with his first career point, Holos also logged 21:22 of ice time and finished with a +2 plus/minus rating (tying his best plus/minus mark of the season).

Another Point
Holos also picked up his second career point against Calgary when he assisted on a Brandon Yip tally on Nov. 9 at Pepsi Center.

The blueliner would go on to play in two more games with Colorado before being reassigned to the Lake Erie Monsters on Nov. 21. Overall, Holos skated in 12 of the Avalanche’s first 20 games of the 2010-11 season.

Back In Colorado
Recalled from Lake Erie on Dec. 14, Holos would spend the next month with Colorado (appearing in four games) before being reassigned to the Monsters on Jan. 14.

He picked up his third career assist/point during that stretch, assisting on a T.J. Galiardi goal on Dec. 19 during Colorado’s 3-2 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center.

Banged Up, But Not For Long
After spending nearly a month in the American Hockey League, Holos was recalled on Feb. 10 and played in Colorado’s Feb. 11 game at Columbus. However, he suffered a head injury during that contest which caused him to miss the next four games (Feb. 12-19).

In his fourth game back from injury, he recorded another assist on a Kevin Porter goal against Anaheim on Feb. 27.

Doubling Up
Holos enjoyed the most productive offensive game of his career to date on April 8 against Dallas. The rearguard assisted on both of Colorado’s goals (both scored by Brandon Yip, the first shorthanded and the second at even strength) during Colorado’s 3-2 loss to the Stars.

In addition to his first career multi-point game, Holos recorded 24:39 of ice time during the contest and had one shot on goal.


Helping Out The Monsters
Following the conclusion of the Avalanche’s season, Holos was reassigned to Lake Erie to help the club during its first playoff run in franchise history.

After appearing in 17 games (0g/6a) for the Monsters during the regular season, the Norway native skated in all seven games of Lake Erie’s opening round playoff series against the Manitoba Moose. Holos recorded a goal on April 26 during Game 7 of the series, but it wasn’t enough as the Monsters were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs.