Colorado Avalanche 2005-2006
TEAM PAYROLL: $37,781,628
GENERAL MANAGER: Pierre Lacroix became the forth general manager on May 24th 1994.
HEAD COACH: Joel Quenneville became the fourth head coach in Colorado Avalanche and 12th in franchise history on July 7, 2004. ( He was also picked up in the off season of 2004 )
FORGOTTEN MOVES: The Avalanche picked up a few “key” players in the off season of 2004. 1). Ian Laperriere. Right wing – 6’1 220lbs, Ian is a dynamic player who can be a solid goal scoring threat to many teams he will put up 15-20 goals and about 20-25 assistant in 2005. Watch him to be a contributor to the avalanche offence. 2). Antti Laaksonen. Left wing 6’0 180lbs. “Lakks” another solid offensive player who should have another good year with the club he should put up good number and be a leader on and off the ice expect him to get about 10-15 goals and 10-15 assist but his presence in the locker room will be his “star” on the team.
TEAM MODE: Avalanche are in the chase for the cup each and every year. With Quenneville the Avalanche should come out crisp and ready to play. I think that he is a perfect choice for coach for the avalanche. They get a man they can respect and a true leader and I think it will show on the ice and how the players conduct them self’s. With the new NHL the Avalanche should be right at home, less clutching, grabbing should make players like Tanguay and Sakic and Hejduk have more room to skate witch will lead to much more points and more wins – Outlook for 2005 – good chance to win the western conference and maybe return the cup the rocky mountains.
TO TAKE CHARGE!: The one and only pick for the team is the caption of captions Joe Sakic one of the most dynamic players in the Avalanche and NHL history. Makes the all-star game almost every year and has been the caption before the move to Colorado. He will be a first ballet hall of fame player and still in his older age is still one of the best players in the NHL. Joe Sakic is in charge and all the players know it … no one crosses him his word is the final word. And he is one of the nicest players I have ever meet. When it come to players who lead the NHL in to a new day Sakic has to be on top of the list.
ON THE RUSH (OFFENSE): If you want offense the Avalanche have a lot of it. Between Joe Sakic, Alex Tanguay , Milan Hejduk , Rob Blake , Steve Konowalchuk , Wojtek Wolski , Andrew Brunette the Avalanche should be able to put up some top offensive numbers. With 8 players over 15 goals in 2004 and 12 players over 10 goals I think that makes for a good offensive line up. Watch for Tanguay and Hejduk and Sakic to all score over 30 goals and with Blake and Liles two very offensive defense men should score 10-15 goals also. Also the Avalanche have two very young and talented forwards in Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos they should step up this year and score over 20 goals apices.
COVERING THE D-ZONE: The lose of foote is not going to be easy to fill in but the Avalanche still have a great D. With Blake as the leader and John-Michael Liles and Patrice Brisebois as the other big names the Avalanche D is still in the top 10. Karlis Skrastins and Ossi Vaananen and Curtis Leschyshyn also will contributing factors with good size and good defending abilities the Avalanche D should be solid … But … it is also the weakness piece of the team witch means watch for another big name defender to come to the Avalanche some time this year.
GUARDING THE NET: Since the 1st Stanley cup in Colorado the Avalanche have had great net minders with Roy the greatest of all time and now “Abby” David Aebischer the Avalanche net is covered. In 2004 Abby won 32 games and only lost 19 witch is a really good stat but with the new rules its going to be hard to do that again. With a lot of the new rules going against the net minders I would have to say the Aebischer is still one of the top in the NHL he is young and with youth comes change and this is going to be a big change but I think he will be up for the task. Expect 30-25 wins again I might be over estimating but I think the goals scored for the Avalanche will out weight the ones lost.
TALKING ABOUT MY GENERATION!: Prospects for the team include Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos two young and very talented forwards. Wojtek has spent the last three seasons with Brampton of the Ontario Hockey League. He led Brampton in scoring for the second straight season in 2004-05, compiling a career high 73 points (29 goals, 44 assists). A native of Zabrze, Poland, Wolski was named to the OHL’s First All-Star Team in 2003-04 after notching 70 points (29g, 41a). Savtos Colorado’s tenth selection (227th overall) in the 2001 Entry Draft. Has put up some good numbers in 2004 in Hershey he scored (18g, 28a.) he Also came up to Colorado and scored 2 goals in 2 games with the Avalanche witch gives fans a taste of what is to come.
PROJECTED LINES: 1st line – Tanguay – Sakic – Hejduk
2nd line – Brunette – Turgeon – Svatos
3rd line – Konowalchuk or Wolski – Laperriere – Laaksonen
4th line – May – Richardson – Hinote
All of these could change but this is how I think it will got for a while atlases.
Dline1- Blake – Skrastins
Dline2- Liles – Brisebois
Dline3- Vaananen – Leschyshyn
Dline4- Boughner – Sauer
Same goes for D this is how I think it could be but it will change im sure.
Goal – Aebischer
Backup – Budaj or Lawson
EXPECTATIONS: The Avalanche expectations every year is to win the Cup and this year is no exception. I could say that we will win the western conference but who really knows with how good our division is. If things go right and all players are clicking they could win the west an maybe win the Cup. The Avalanche are still one of the best teams in the NHL and they will prove it once again.
PROJECTED: Win the Stanley CUP in 2005 – 2006 !!
23 Responses to Colorado Avalanche 2005-2006
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From what I read on tsn, Leschyshyn is done. Even so…I think that their defense will be fine this year. The Avs still have some solid defenders they can throw out on the PK. Liles will see a nice spike in production since he’ll have more ice time. Boughner, Sauer, Vaananen, even Brisebois and Blake are all guys that can be thrown out on the PK and be counted on to do their jobs.
The Avs get a lot of flack for not having a “proven goaltender” but Aebischer is the guy for the future, and he’s a good one too. You can’t compare him to Patrick Roy right now. They did lose Forsberg, but the Avs are very, very used to playing without him. Even though I’m not a Turgeon fan, I think that they’ll still be able to hurt teams offensively, although not as badly as in their glory years. Brunette was a nice addition, he’s a clutch guy. They also have the pieces to put together a nice checking line, with Laaksonen and Laperriere. The Avs are definitely a playoff contender this year, but I don’t know if they can win the Cup. They have such a winning attitude in Denver, I wouldn’t put anything past them.
VERY WELL DONE about the avs and i loved how we share the same vision for the team.
1) People poke fun at Cloutier’s playoff problems, but Aebischer hasnt been much better
2) Colordo’s D is weak, apart from Foote
3) Colorado is a true one line team
They will finish no higher than 6th in the wetsern conference
1) People poke fun at Cloutier’s playoff problems, but Aebischer hasnt been much better
2) Colordo’s D is weak, apart from Blake
3) Colorado is a true one line team
They will finish no higher than 6th in the wetsern conference
Are you ever an idiot…
The Avs will be fine, much to the distaste of ill-informed nuggets like gtweb.
I completely agree with you. I can’t believe everybody is counting us out. Hell, Sports Illustrated ranked us number 18 in the league! What gives?! Budaj is going to be a great backup, he’s been playing really well. We’re going to be the Calgary Flames of 2005.
The Avs defense is pretty weak and really they have only one good forward line. If they want to make the playoffs Aebischer is going to have to have a great year. I can see the Avs really hitting rock bottom this year.
lol shows what you know.
1) foote was a powerplay specialist bud and we have enough of those with liles and blake.
2) aebischer hasnt been better then cloutier. 2.09 gaa average in his first season as a starter. considering he had to replace roys shoes thats impressive.(mind you that was his best stat)
3) one line team maybe but when svatos and wolski get 25 a piece i will expect you to retract your statement
As depressing as it is to acknowledge this as a Wings’ fan, you’re right. Aebischer has been buoyed by a strong team in front of him; he’s not bad but he hasn’t shown us anything special. Blake is closer to 40 than he is 30, and big old guys with bad knees who play a physical game aren’t all that reliable. That pretty much means that Colorado has got an aging #1 D-man and a collection of 4th and 5th D-men behind him. While the Avs have plenty of serviceable guys on the blueline, you’d like to have 2 clear top guys to anchor the special teams (and contrary to comments above, Foote was actually the opposite of a “PP specialist,” being invaluable on the PK). The forward lines are scary thin, as the Hejduk injury has made clear. The top line that Joel Quenneville can throw out there is Sakic (aging but still impressivley effective), Tanguay (tends to be streaky but a legitimate scoring threat), and … Svatos??? Umm…OK. Finally, as far as the coaching goes, what’s Quenneville’s lifetime playoff record (coaching a team that has frequently been a legit contender): 5-7. It’s just hard to see this team as a serious contender. Now, I’m not so sure the Wings are much better: I see the goaltending and forward lines as about comparable while the Wings have an edge on D (and we’ll see about this Bab***** fellow). The epic battles between the Wings and Avs might now be for the 4 or 5th playoff spot instead of a trip to the finals.
This “article” is so biased, but it is written by a ‘homer’.
Well, tonight is opening night, and the Avalanche are playing the Oilers. Make sure that if the game is played in your area, that you watch carefully, as my EDMONTON OILERS squash the Quebec Nordiques…..I mean the Colorado Avalanche.
GO OILERS GO
Your oilers havent won anything thing since I was born … you make me laught reading this about them .. your team sucks it has for the last 15 years and oh by then way i sure hope pronger dosent do to good this year .. they might just ship him away like everyone else they might just have to pay for .. face it the oilers are a dead team even befor the season started witch is funny
You know absolutely nothing about hockey. The last 10 to 15 years of NHL hockey was dominated by the teams with the big budgets, not by talented hockey people. Teams like the Av’s can’t outbid everyone anymore or have teams that are all all-stars anymore. That is why you guys have won a couple Stanley Cups in the last 15 years…………..But wait, the Edmonton Oilers won 5 Stanley Cups (83-84, 84-85, 86-87, 87-88, and 89-90), that is three more than the Avs, and the Oilers did it fairly, not by spending more than other teams could afford………..So, maybe you should educate yourself on hockey a little bit. Just because you weren’t born when something happened, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The Av’s will suck now that they can’t buy all of the All Stars each season, they will go back to being the sucky team they were before they moved to Denver.
Tonight is the start……Oilers will pound the Avalanche tonight. Start of the Oiler dominance over the Avs.
City of Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, I get so fed up hearing people from E-town talking like they own sports in Canada or anywhere else for that matter. I live in the city (not by choice) and it perenially warms my heart when Calgary beats Edmonton at something sports related.
That said, of course Colorado has lost a bit of its $50 million edge against other teams. Of course players like Peter Forsberg (the walking Band-Aid), who earlier in the summer beamed about wanting more than anything to come back to Denver and compete for the Cup, only to book it out of Colorado when a team like Philly was willing to exceed the cap limit paying for him. Of course the Avs have a bunch of untested players in Svatos, Liles, Aebischer…and grumpy old men like turgeon, Breisbois and Sakic.
But are they going to finish in the playoff race? Not a shred of a doubt.
Will Edmonton? Unless Markannen changes his name to Roy, there’s no way. And I love it.
If you don’t like it here, then leave. I can’t help that we are the city of true champions. And now with the salary cap, we will prove it once again…………….We will have a Grey Cup and Stanley Cup within the year 2006…………..Why don’t you move to Calgary (city of chumps) if you don’t like it here!!!!!
Please dont quote the grey cup for god sakes
How can I not? The Oilers are gonna win the Stanley Cup, and the Eskimos are gonna win the Grey Cup (Got RB Troy Davis today)…….A great time to be in the City Of Champions!!!!
your forgetting pierre lacroix has a history for deadline deals. im aware of the lack of cap room but dont be surprised if he pulls it off.
colorado bought the stanley cup??????? only people for our 2 stanleys we didnt have were blake bourqe and roy. (forsberg was traded before the season started i believe.) anyone else was drafted. and last i checked bourqe lasted for the rest of that year. and the oilers only did well cause of 1 player gretzky. you wouldnt have won 2 of those cups without him. yes you had a good team but half of everyones goals those years were off the end of his passes. heck ask jari kurri all of his goals were from gretzkys passes.
Ok, first, Forsberg was acquired by the Quebec Nordiques in the major trade for Eric Lindros (bust), then the Nordiques moved to Denver, so Forsberg was in your lineup from the start in Colorado, and was a MAJOR factor in your Stanley Cup win the first year………I am not saying you bought a cup, cause I have respect for the team of Avs that was put together thru the draft. What I am saying is that while you guys could keep all your top guys cause you had the budget, you were also part of buying guys from small market teams for big bucks. Had we been able to keep our big guns (Doug Weight, Bill Guerin, Curtis Joseph, etc.), and had other small market teams been able to afford their big guns, the whole history of hockey over the last 15 years would have been dramatically different. The NHL sucked when 7-8 teams bought all the stars, and the small market teams were left with the excess waste. It’s much better now that we can all have competing teams…………..And if you remember, in 1989-90, after Wayne Gretzky was traded to the LA Kings (summer 88), Mark Messier led the Edmonton Oilers to their fifth Stanley Cup in seven years. Gretzky is great, but without guys like Glen Anderson, Grant Fuhr, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Esa Tikkanen, Craig Simpson, Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish, Paul Coffey, etc. etc. etc. to support him, he wouldn’t have won 4 Stanley Cups or broken most of the records that he did. Most of his points/goals/assists were as an Oiler with those great supporting players.
Another point…..Had the Av’s stayed in Quebec as the Nordiques, they would not have been able to keep Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, etc…….They would have been a small-market team too……..Which is why they left for Denver so they could compete with a big budget……..While other teams like the Oilers, Flames, and Senators stayed in Canada to try and keep NHL hockey here in these cities. I don’t know if you are American or Canadian, but hockey is HUGE in Canada. If we lost the three small-market teams in Canada, life would suck so bad………And the NHL wouldn’t be even close to as strong as it is now.
OILERS WIN!!! OILERS WIN!!! OILERS WIN!!!
Congrats .. man the NHL looks so strange to me … nothing looks the way it did .. but the oil look good and I really dont hate them .. i have meet Laraque a few times when he has come to colorado .. and if it was anyone else I would want them to win so congrats to the oilers tonight and good win !
A reporter overheard the following in the Avalanche dressing room during the pre-season…
‘…it’s not fair anymore, Edmonton never went out and spent 6 million on a player (Pronger) before, and they cried poor, now they go out and buy whoever they want.’
Now, I may have paraphrased a little (observe the single quotes, not double) but the message is clear, the Avs have no faith that they can compete on an even field. I saw the game vs the Oilers and I feel the same. Colorado looked like they had no confidence.
I still think the talent level on the Avs is okay, but they may not be a playoff team this year.
My prediction, 7 to 9 seed in the West, 1st round knockout. If they miss the playoffs look for Sakic and Blake to go as rentals for a Cup run, if they can stay healthy until the playoffs.