Let the rebuild mode in Colorado officially begin and the dawn of a new era begin. Gone is the only captain this franchise has ever had, Joe Sakic who retired this off-season. Bringing in the new era will be three youthful forwards, Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski and this year’s third overall draft pick Matt Duchene. Another bottom place finish will most certainly happen this season.
There really aren’t too many veteran type players or high caliber players that can lead this team. Adam Foote and Scott Hannan are the only two players on defense with experience, but how much can Foote play at the age of 38? Hannan was a good defensemen with San Jose and looked to be on the rise, but one fat contract changed his mentality and really isn’t that good anymore. Milan Hejduk is the only veteran forward on this team that is still a threat to score more than twenty goals. Ryan Smyth could’ve fit that billing, but he is now with Los Angeles following a trade. Darcy Tucker’s body seems to have broken down, and doesn’t have that edge that he used to have.
The only player that fits the high caliber standard is Paul Stastny, but he too has struggled the past two seasons due to injury, and the magic that was seen in his rookie season with 28 goals and 78 points seems to be lost. One full season can quickly change all that, and Stastny must stay healthy in order to do that. One player that should’ve been a top player by now is Wojtek Wolski, especially after the rookie season he posted when he scored 22 goals and 50 points. Ever since then, his goal and point totals have dropped from 22 and 50 in 2007, all the way to 18 and 48 in 2008 and 14 and 42 just last season. Wolski is a player that seriously needs to get it going and he will get all the chances he needs in this rebuild season.
One rookie that will most definitely make the opening day roster is 18 year old Matt Duchene. This guy is a highly touted rookie and there were whispers that he could’ve gone first overall. Duchene is a complete player and is a perfect compliment to the retiring of Joe Sakic.
Offensively, the Avalanche will have a tough time scoring goals with incomplete forward lines and players that are very young but will stick with the big club to see if they actually can play and if there is some promise in them.
Defensively, the Avalanche will struggle there as well, because a few players can play, while others cannot and some are too old.
John-Michael Liles is probably the best defensemen the Avalanche has, and Scot Hannan and Tom Preissing are okay at best. Both have the potential to be solid and fundamentally sound players, but have to keep their games simple in order to do that.
Adam Foote as mentioned above is getting up there in age and is too old to be an impact defenseman like he once was. He’ll be a good guiding voice for some of the younger players, but that’s basically it.
Goaltending has never been settled in Colorado ever since Patrick Roy retired and it has been mediocre goalie after another. This year Peter Budaj will more than likely be the number one goalie and has shown in the past he can handle those duties, with his best season coming in 2007. During that year, he won the number one job from Jose Theodore and won 31 games out of 57 starts. If Budaj gets off to a slow start then the Avalanche will pull the trigger on him and see if another net minder is better. The Avalanche has at least six goalies listed on their depth chart.
OVERALL--> AVALANCHE WILL STRUGGLE THIS SEASON WITH A YOUTH MOVEMENT IN PLACE, AND THE ATTENDANCE FIGURES WILL MOST LIKELY DROP AND AT THE END OF THE YEAR BE WORSE THAN LAST SEASONS.
POSITIVE-->YOUTH MOVEMENT IS IN PLACE AND THERE ARE A FEW GOOD ROOKIES ON THIS TEAM, MORE NOTABLY MATT DUCHENE.
NEGATIVE--> YOUTH MOVEMENT, IT’S A GOOD AND BAD THING, IN THIS CASE IT’S GOOD, BUT THE AVALANCHE WILL BE HORRIBLE THIS SEASON.
X-FACTOR--> MATT DUCHENE, A STRONG ROOKIE SEASON FROM HIM WILL POINT THE COLORADO FRANCHISE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND IN WHOSE HANDS THEY SHOULD PLACE THE CAPTAINCY IN.
SLEEPER PICK--> CODY MCLEOD HAD A SOLID 15 GOAL’S LAST SEASON, AND SHOULD IMPROVE ON THAT NUMBER THIS SEASON.
PREDICTION--> THE COLORADO AVALANCHE WILL FINISH IN THE BOTTOM FIVE OVERALL THIS SEASON AND LAST IN THE WEST.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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