Brendan McNicholas

Brendan McNicholas enters his 17th season with the Avalanche's communications department, his 26th year of working in the media relations field at both the collegiate and professional sports level. Named vice president in 2019, McNicholas' ties to the organization date back to 2000-01 when he served as the hockey operations intern for the Stanley Cup champions.

In addition to overseeing the organization's communications and media relations efforts, McNicholas' role includes coordinating individual player appearances and team events, handling tickets for the players and their families and working as a liaison with the team charter, bus companies and hotels. His previous duties have also included overseeing the team's official website and social media efforts.

McNicholas' career has included working in the front office for an MLB, NHL and NFL team, as well as two NCAA Division I athletic departments. He has staffed All-Star Games in three of the four major sports, as well as a Stanley Cup Final, three AFC Championship games, the NLCS and NLDS, as well as numerous NCAA championships, bowl games and conference championships.

Prior to joining the Avalanche, McNicholas, 43, spent five seasons with the Colorado Rockies Public Relations Department as a coordinator and manger. He worked as one of the team's primary media contacts while also serving as the writer, editor and designer of the team's annual media guide, postseason media guide and draft prospectus.

A graduate of the University of Colorado, the Denver native worked all four years as a student in the school's sports information office, which included a promotion to Graduate Assistant SID during his junior year in 1999. He mainly worked with the nationally-ranked football team during his years in Boulder but also served as the SID for the 1998 and 1999 NCAA championship ski team.

While a student at CU, McNicholas interned for the Denver Broncos Media Relations Department in 1999 and has continued to work for the Broncos as a statistician or spotter for network television and radio broadcasts.

Throughout his college career, McNicholas also did internships with the University of Denver Athletic Media Relations Office, the 2000 INTERNATIONAL PGA Tour event and worked as a freelance writer for The Associated Press and The Colorado Daily.

McNicholas is a graduate of Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora. Brendan and his wife, Eimear, have a son, Caoimhin (6), and daughter, Fiadh (2).