Joe Colborne

Joseph William Colborne (born January 30, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Colborne was a first round selection, 16th overall, of the Boston Bruins at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, but never played for the team. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011 and spent parts of three seasons in the Toronto organization before joining the Calgary Flames in a 2013 trade. After three seasons with the Flames, Colborne signed as a free agent with the Avalanche in the 2016 off-season.

Early Life
Colborne was born January 30, 1990, in Calgary, Alberta. His father Paul, an oil and gas executive and former football quarterback at the University of Calgary, encouraged his children's sporting pursuits; Joe grew up practicing his hockey skills on a backyard rink while his sisters Lauren, Melissa and Claire played basketball. In junior high he played AAA hockey for the Edge Mountaineers.

Junior and College
Colborne was drafted after two seasons with the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). At the end of the 2007-08 season, he was named the 2008 RBC Canadian Junior A Hockey League Player of the Year. A highly touted prospect, Colborne played in the second-tier junior league in order to maintain his eligibility for the NCAA. As a result, he was the highest drafted Junior A player in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and became the first AJHL player to be drafted in the first round since Brent Sutter in 1980.

In 2008-09, Colborne entered his freshman year for the University of Denver Pioneers in the NCAA. Named one of the team's Most Valuable Freshman and co-recipient of the Barry Sharp Memorial Award for Denver's Top Freshman.

After the Pioneers' elimination from the 2010 NCAA tournament, Colborne signed an entry level contract with the Boston Bruins. He made his debut with the team's AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, on April 2, 2010, tallying two assists in six games.

Professional
Colborne joined Providence full-time for the 2010-11 AHL season and the Bruins projected that he could become a player capable of playing on the top two lines at either centre or wing. However, after appearing in 55 games for Providence in which he scored 12 goals and 26 points, Boston dealt him to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Colborne was sent, along with two draft picks, to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Tomas Kaberle on February 19, 2011. The Maple Leafs assigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, where he played an additional 20 games. He was recalled to Toronto for the final game of the 2010-11 NHL season and made his NHL debut on April 9, 2011. He recorded his first point in the game, assisting on Phil Kessel's goal in a 4–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Colborne spent the majority of the 2011-12 season with the Marlies; he appeared in 69 AHL games and recorded 39 points. He also appeared in 10 games with the Maple Leafs and scored his first NHL goal on November 22, 2011, against goaltender Dwayne Roloson of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Colborne spent the majority of the 2012-13 AHL season with the Marlies, where he improved to 42 points in 65 games. He also appeared in five NHL games with Toronto.

During training camp prior to the start of the 2013-14 season, Colborne was again traded. The Maple leafs sent him to the Calgary Flames on September 29, 2013, in exchange for a fourth round selection at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Colborne was excited to be dealt to his hometown team and described former players Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk and Jarome Iginla as his heroes; "So to have the opportunity to come back and put on the C is pretty special. I've grown up since I was three or four years old wanting to play for the Flames". In his first full NHL season, Colborne played 80 games, scored 10 goals and added 18 assists.

While he was a restricted free agent prior to the 2014-15 season, Colborne and the Flames avoided a scheduled arbitration hearing and agreed to a two-year, $2.55 million contract.

In the final year of his contract with the Flames in the 2015-16 season, despite being unable to help Calgary return to the playoffs Colborne's versatility shone through among the Flames forward lines, establishing career highs across the board with 19 goals, 25 assists and 44 points in 73 games.

In the following off-season, Colborne as a restricted free agent was surprisingly not issued a qualifying offer by the Calgary Flames. On July 1, 2016, the opening day of free agency, Colborne opted to return to his collegiate roots in Denver, signing a two-year $5 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Colborne made an instant impact in his Avalanche debut, recording his first career NHL Hat-trick in a 6-5 victory over the Dallas Stars on October 15th 2016, but would then struggle, managing to only put up one goal and three assists in the next 59 games in a record-settingly bad Avalanche season.