Thursday, September 13, 2007

2007-08 Preseason Foreplay: Colorado Avalanche

That probably took way too much effort.
Getty Images
Quick hits
  • Yes, Colorado does still have the joy of paying Jose Theodore.
  • Last season, the team's record sell out streak ended on October 6, 2006, when the Pepsi Center was 326 people short of capacity. The bar has been set at 487 straight sell outs. Your move, Detroit.
  • Patrick Roy was a pretty angry guy, I guess.
  • The team has some new duds for the upcoming season.
  • Paul Stastny was about 2 1/2 years old when Joe Sakic made his NHL debut.
  • The Avs hold the NHL record for most consecutive division titles with 9 between 1995 and 2003.
  • Last season, Stastny set the team record for rookie points in a season (78) and the NHL record for longest points streak by a rookie (20 games).
  • Sakic scored 100 points last season, his highest total since the 2000-01 season when he had 118.
Odds for the folks at gambler's anonymous

7 to 1: The guy with the face paint won't get laid tonight... or any night this month.


Obligatory serious analysis

The Avs made some solid moves in the free agent market this summer, but they are a conundrum for many preseason prognosticators, such as myself. This is a young, inexperience team coming off what is, for their franchise, a down year. The Avs finished ninth in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs for the first time since they were known as the Quebec Nordiques more than a decade ago. Through free agency the team added Scott Hannan and Ryan Smyth, but many believe that the team overpaid for both players and they will certainly have to earn their money to lift the team back to the top of the conference.

On defense the team lost Patrice Brisebois, but he will most likely not be missed thanks to what should be a more developed core of young defenders. That being said, the team allowed the 5th most goals of any team in the West last season, and the Avs hope that Hannan will be able to help improve that mark. Either way, they're going to need to find a serious starting goaltender. Jose Theodore hasn't shown stellar form in years, so he's likely to be warming the bench yet again. The Avs are going to need Peter Budaj, who turns 25 on Tuesday, to take the role rather than simply be the starter by default. He did just that last season, improving upon all of his 2005-06 marks, with a 2.68 GAA, .905 save percentage and three shutouts in 53 starts. Hopefully for Colorado Budaj can kick it up another notch this year.

Prediction: With Hannan and Smyth on board and a load of young talent, the Avs will be improved this year, but I think they will still only sneak into the playoffs in the 8th spot.


The best looking ice girls in Colorado
Surprise, surprise the Avs don't have any ice girls. In their place is Jessica Biel, who grew up in Boulder, Colorado.


Previous Editions of Preseason Foreplay

Posted by Kevin at 6:21 PM Labels: ,

2 comments:

  1. PeteSeptember 14, 2007 at 11:27 AM

    Stastny is 7 years younger than me. This depresses me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KevinSeptember 15, 2007 at 9:47 AM

    Yeah, it's a shame. =\ Just wait till the draft year where we start talking about kids born in the 90's. That's really going to be depressing.

    ReplyDelete

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