It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that the 2013-14 edition of the Colorado Avalanche appear to be for real, and are stepping out of the darkest days in franchise history into a brighter future. With only one playoff appearance in the last five years and a 29th overall finish last season, it’s no surprise that many people were writing the team off for this year. However, things have turned around for this club, and in a big way.
It all started with an organizational house cleaning in the off-season. Franchise icon Joe Sakic was brought in as Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations, a role seemingly created just for Sakic to give him control over player personnel decisions for the club. Then the Avs dipped into the nostalgia barrel again and brought former Conn Smythe winning goaltender Patrick Roy into the fold as head coach.
Sakic and Roy have been instrumental to the team’s success so far this season. Not only do they bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, but also a winning attitude that seems to have rubbed off on the players. No disrespect to former coach Joe Sacco (though he certainly deserves some for the way he ran his roster), but Roy is a guy that current NHL players can’t help but respect and pay attention too. Especially when he’s screaming at opposing coaches.
People might slight Roy for his exuberance behind the bench, but I personally expect that his fire translates to his young roster, many of whom hold that same fire and passion. Roy has developed a mantra for the team, borrowed from the great Ray Bourque, “why not us?”, which seems to have struck a chord with the players. The negative attitude that permeated the dressing room for the last handful of seasons is gone, replaced with a new optimism and self-assurance.
Lost in all the hoopla of Sakic and Roy coming back to town was the addition of Francois Allaire to the staff as the goaltending coach. Allaire was the former mentor of Roy, and also current back-up goalie J.S. Giguere when the latter was in Anaheim. Allaire is a goalie guru of the highest order. He pushed both Roy and Giguere to their greatest heights, and he appears to now be doing the same with Semyon Varlamov.
A quick perusal of the NHL goaltending leaders sees both Varlamov and Giguere near the top of nearly every category. The 25-year-old Varlamov is having by far the best season of his career, with a 1.76 goals against average and a .945 save percentage with seven victories in eight games. Giguere has been used sparingly, though he has been outstanding in his three appearances, allowing only two goals and posting two shutouts. Together the pair have allowed the fewest goals against the NHL, with only 16 in 11 games. Needless to say that results like that are unsustainable over an 82 game season, however the effect of Roy, and Allaire in particular, are already apparent.
So while new management has played a role and the goaltending has been otherworldly, those aren’t the only keys to Colorado’s magical 10-1-1 start to the season. The roster in front of the goaltenders has been, as a whole, completely accountable. From veteran to rookie, every single player on the roster has recorded at least one point so far this season.
It starts with 22-year-old top line center Matt Duchene of course. The 2010-11 NHL all-star sits third in goals (with nine already), ahead of such names as Crosby, Marleau and Kane, and looks to be taking the next step to NHL superstardom. Veterans such as former Avalanche Stanley Cup winner Alex Tanguay, the long-maligned Paul Stastny, and former Islander P.A. Parentau have all stepped up this season, each scoring at least seven points through 11 games.
Then there are the young guys who also play a crucial role on the team. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is still only 20 years old, yet he leads by example both in the dressing room and on the scoresheet with eight points in ten games.
And lest we forget super-rookie Nathan MacKinnon. In retrospect, it should have been foreshadowing the team’s luck this season when they won the draft lottery and the first overall pick that comes with it during the summer. With the pick of the litter, Sakic and company turned to MacKinnon, and they haven’t been disappointed. The 18-year-old fresh out of the QMJHL has largely been centering a third line with Parentau and Jamie McGinn, and producing good results (one goal, six assists) in limited ice time.
All this production has allowed the Avs to ascend to sixth in the NHL in terms of goals per game, despite having the third lowest cap hit in the league. A word of caution however, that number is misleading. Both Duchene and Landeskog (who is still on his entry-level contract) are going to see a huge jump in salary next season. Key players such as Stastny, McGinn, Ryan O’Reilly, Steve Downie and both goaltenders are going to be free agents next summer. Sakic (and to a lesser extent, GM Greg Sherman) will have a lot of work to do to keep the team together.
For now though, he has the joy of sitting back and watching his team ride the wave of early success. While it seems unlikely that this roster is elite just yet (I would pose that the defense still needs an upgrade, despite it’s goals against record), it’s very close to proving they are the real deal. And while Stanley Cup dreams at this point might be a bit unrealistic, the goaltending, the forward depth and the strong coaching of Roy will carry them further this season than anyone (myself included) thought that they could.
Thanks for reading. Please give our Hockey Department a follow on Twitter – @lastwordBKerr, @RickW10, @TheHockeyMitch,@LastWordBigMick, @crimsonskorpion, @CMS_74_, @TwoTurtleDuffs,@d_rochi, @dasimonetta, @ddmatthews, @evan_lacey, @thetq21,@CanuckPuckHead, @NKonarowski2, @LarryScotti, @PurpleRocktober,@jaynichols11, @meaghannn_, @LastWordOnNHL, and @darrinharmyand follow the site @lastwordonsport and like our Facebook Page.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? If so, check out our “Join Our Team” page to find out how.
