{"id":132123,"date":"2022-09-16T09:15:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T13:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=132123"},"modified":"2022-09-13T10:02:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T14:02:57","slug":"puck-drop-preview-2022-23-colorado-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/09\/16\/puck-drop-preview-2022-23-colorado-avalanche\/","title":{"rendered":"Puck Drop Preview: 2022-23 Colorado Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Word On Hockey\u2019s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2022-23 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team\u2019s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We\u2019ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team over the course of the campaign. Today, we\u2019re previewing the 2022-23 Colorado Avalanche<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

2022-23 Colorado Avalanche<\/span><\/h2>\n

2021-22 Season<\/span><\/h3>\n

What a year for the burgundy and blue. For the first time in 21 years, Colorado took home the Stanley Cup. Yet again, Joe Sakic<\/a> played a crucial role in the championship too. For the franchise’s first two Cups, he captained the team on the ice. This time around, he constructed the roster as the team’s General Manager. He handled that role for a few years before it finally culminated in this victory. As early Cup favourites for multiple consecutive seasons, the whole city breathed a collective sigh of relief when it finally came true this year.<\/p>\n

Regular Season<\/h4>\n

Colorado finished 2021-22 with an outstanding 119 points in the standings. Their 56-19-7 record set a new franchise high in both wins and points. Their previous best season, 2000-01, also saw them win the Cup. Fans certainly noticed this coincidence as the postseason approached.<\/p>\n

Roster-wise, Colorado was absolutely stacked. Led by a top-line trio of Mikko Rantanen<\/a>, Nathan MacKinnon<\/a>, and Gabriel Landeskog<\/a>, the team’s best forwards also rank up amongst the entire league’s best forwards. Nazem Kadri<\/a> also posted a career-high 87 points and appeared in his first NHL all-star game. Cale Makar<\/a> and Devon Toews<\/a> ranked as perhaps the most formidable defensive pairing in the entire NHL.\u00a0In net, Darcy Kuemper<\/a> went 37-12-4, shattering his career-high win total for a single season in the process.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>