LOVELAND – You couldn’t wipe the smile off Gabriel Landeskog’s face on Friday night. Can you blame him?

“It was awesome,” Landeskog said after his first professional game in nearly three years. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and envisioning this and envisioning being in a competitive hockey game again. Obviously, there were times where I didn’t know if that was ever going to happen, so it felt great being in the battle again.”

By Landeskog’s count, he played just under 15 minutes on the night, more than he originally thought he would play. As the game went on, he got more and more involved, playing in every situation imaginable.

It’s been well documented that Landeskog has been skating, off and on, for a long time. One thing you can’t do in those practice situations is simulate what it’s like to take a hit or even throw one yourself. Landeskog did both of those things on Friday night, and even managed to put someone in a headlock in a scrum.

That’s the old Gabe.

“It felt good,” Landeskog said. “I wasn’t exactly sure how it was going to react and how it was going to feel, but it felt really good. Try to get involved, try not to be stupid by any means and go too crazy, but I tried to get involved physically as well. Yeah, it was fun. It felt good. That headlock wasn’t necessarily planned when I woke up this morning, but it’s part of the game.”

During a journey like this, you’re never alone, and Landeskog was not alone on Friday.

Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews, Cale Makar, Josh Manson, and Ross Colton, five players that did not travel with the Avalanche to Los Angeles, were all in the building supporting their Captain. So was Landeskog’s father and wife Melissa, as well as the Makar family.

That type of support didn’t go unnoticed.

“It means the world,” Landeskog said. “You’re not doing anything in life on your own, really. The support’s been incredible. From my family, my wife, first and foremost, she’s been incredible. She kept pushing me, my family, my friends, my teammates, they’ve always been supportive and always been in my corner and kept pushing me along. The support’s been incredible.”

And now the question will be, when does Landeskog join the Avalanche? He’s eligible to play two more games with the Eagles, but the team can pull the plug on that if they choose to. His status for Saturday’s Eagles game is up in the air, likely dependent on how he feels in the morning, but if he does play it’s tough to imagine him going on the road with the AHL squad next week.

As of this moment, there’s no concrete plan, but there is hope.

“This is a step in the process,” Landeskog said. “This was the first and we’ll see what it looks like tomorrow and we’ll see what the schedule looks like moving forward. I’m excited about what the future looks like for me. We’ll see…I want to continue building on tonight, and that’s what I’m planning on doing.”