Raimo de Vries (1996)
Joey DiGimarino (1998-2000)
Raul Palacios (2002)
Casey Schmidt (2003)
Alain Nkong (2005)
Nick LaBrocca (2007-2009)
Marvell Wynne (2010-2014)
Lucas Pittinari (2015)
Micheal Azira (2016-2018)
Sebastian Anderson (2019-2020)
This is, clearly, a three way battle. LaBrocca, Wynne, and Azira are the only considerations. I do wonder how good Nkong could have been for the team had he gotten more than one season here. LaBrocca is already the best player to have worn #2, and he doesn't stand up to the other two who wore #22. So lets make it a two way battle.
Both players were regular starters for most of their time in Colorado and both were let go at low value to the club. Azira was one of the early victims of the Anthony Hudson era, being traded for a 4th round pick while Wynne was allowed to leave for free after Pablo's first season. Azira was a key component of the successful 2016 team, and his trade is seen by many fans as removing the lynch pin that made the teams of that era work. Certainly the team didn't get any better after he left.
That said, his numbers and role don't hold up to what Wynne did. He was the regular starter alongside Drew Moor in our 2010 Cup winning season, playing all 120 minutes of MLS Cup. He has the 5th most Starts and Minutes and 7th most Appearances in club history, those numbers are almost exactly double Azira's. He provided the speed to Moor's rock in the center of defense during their pairing, and I can't count the number of times an attacker thought he had a path at goal only for Wynne to come out of nowhere to end the threat. Plus, as you can see, he loves cats.
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