After the dismal season the Avalanche had, it was obvious that some kind of major change was happening in order to change the culture and it seems that the team has taken this seriously.

The Message Being Sent

With the fan base not happy about where things were headed, the Avalanche needed to be very careful about what their actions would be saying. Had the Avalanche kept Joe Sacco, who led the Avalanche to one playoff appearance and two finishes in the basement of the Western Conference in four years, the Avalanche would essentially be telling the fans they don’t care about winning enough to change coaches.

The Avalanche sent the correct message by firing Joe Sacco after what was a dismal season. The Avalanche must be very careful about the message they will send with the next coach they will hire.

Josh Kroenke finally stepping in and assuming the role of Team President now gives him the opportunity to prove to the fan base that he does care about the Avalanche just as much as the Nuggets. Terry Frei had this take on Kroenke’s answer to that very question at the recent press conference.

Josh Kroenke was asked the obvious, but reasonable questions, about a basketball-savvy ownership’s commitment to hockey, and he said all the right things. No, they won’t just throw money around, but they’ll give Sakic the financial resources he needs. 

 

In my view, he should have been more assertive about it. He acknowledged the perception is out there, but whiffed on a chance to more assertively try to shoot it down. This has reached the point where not combating that image, including with aggressive spending, is a bad business move in the  wake of the skepticism about ownership commitment, the deterioration of attendance and the shoving of hockey into the background of the general sports fans’ consciousness in this area.

Frei hits the nail on the head with this. The fan base will love the fact that Kroenke is going to take a more active role with the team, but they’ll need more than just his word that he cares just as much for the Avalanche. Actions speak louder than word.

Giving Joe Sakic all final say on hockey decisions sends a couple of messages. The largest message being that they don’t have complete and total trust in Greg Sherman. The other message is that Joe Sakic has the knowledge and competitive ability to get the job done for the Avalanche.

Perhaps the biggest message of all is that or Pierre Lacroix’s departure. Lacroix is held in high esteem by all in the Avalanche organization, and rightly so, but it because obvious that his management style was a thing of the past. Fans and players are tired of the strong arming and “take it or leave it” negotiating style that has forced many players out of this organization.

How They Can Make Good

Josh Kroenke was asked, towards the end of the press conference, how the team could win back fans. Kroenke’s answer was simple, “Win.” While this will certainly help win back some of the fan’s good graces, there are a few other ways that the Avalanche could look to make nice with the fans.

First, they could lower ticket prices. The NHL, as a whole, has raised their ticket prices the most of any profession sport. The Avalanche could win the good graces of their fans by admitting that they have done nothing in their recent history to justify any type of hike in ticket prices. Lowering prices would be a huge step in repairing fan relations.

Changing certain old habits of Pierre Lacroix would be another huge step in the right direction. The Avalanche have made a common practice of not offering player extensions during the season have almost always waited until the season was over until any type of contract discussions began.  If the Avalanche want to show a strong departure from these days, they need to be pro-active and move to sign Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly to long-term extensions.

Finally, Josh Kroenke could open up the purse strings in free agency. Now, it’s important that he not just spend money for the sake of spending money, but the past few seasons the Avalanche have made very few big moves in free agency. It’s time for the Avalanche to go after some big names again, when they’re available.

Better Days Are Ahead

While there are still a lot of things that are left unanswered for the Avalanche moving forward, the fact that they have made the choice to change direction is encouraging in and of itself. The Avalanche have acknowledged that the way they used to do things are no longer getting the job done.

With a new guard in place, fans have to believe that better days are finally ahead for the Colorado Avalanche. After all, after this year, how could things possibly get much worse?

Author information

Kevin Goff

I'm a Denver native who has been a fan of the Avalanche since they came to town and a fan of the game before that. I started writing my own blog a couple years ago before moving to Bleacher Report and becoming a Featured Columnist there. You can also find me the Burgundy Brigade Podcast

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

The start of the 2013 – 2014 season for the Colorado Avalanche will be one that marks a change. The severity of the change, however, might be the thing that determines Colorado’s success in future years as a franchise. This change has been set into motion by the firing of coach Joe Sacco who led the team for the past four seasons. A move that surprised nobody after three straight seasons out of the playoffs and two at the bottom of the league standings. The important question that must be answered soon for the Avalanche, and may determine fan support for the following season, is “Who will replace Joe Sacco?”

History Leaves Clues

The Colorado Avalanche have had five coaches since moving to Denver. Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, Tony Granato, Joel Quenneville, Tony Granato again and Joe Sacco. Each of these guys have something in common, they were all in the Avalanche system as coaches before becoming a coach. Marc Crawford was the coach when the team arrived in Denver, so we’ll forgive his AHL coaching outside of the team. Bob Hartley came up through the Avalanche affiliate at the time, the Hershey Bears. Granato was an assistant under Hartley. Joel Quenneville was an assistant to Marc Crawford before taking the head job in St. Louis. Joe Sacco spent two seasons as head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters. All of this leads us to two logical conclusions for Colorado’s current situation.

The Avalanche could go with now assistant coach Tim Army, who replaced Adam Deadmarsh this season as an assistant coach. Army has been a head coach in the past for Providence College and the Portland Pirates (AHL). Prior to being on the bench with the Avalanche, Army was the video coach for the team.

The other option for Colorado, and seemingly more likely than Army, is current Lake Erie Monsters head coach, Dean Chynoweth. Chynoweth has a long career as both a player and a coach. As a player he was a bruising defenseman that spent a lot of time in the penalty box (667 penalty minutes in 241 NHL games). As a coach, he has been both an assistant and a head coach in several different areas. He has been an assistant with the New York Islanders and Utah Grizzlies, and has been head coach of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos. He also spent the past season as head coach in Lake Erie.

As a head coach, Chynoweth has seen some success, but not a lot. His teams have seen postseason action in only five of his ten years as a head coach. To go further with this, his teams have only finished over the .500 mark four times, including this season in Lake Erie. It’s hard to say whether Chynoweth would be a good or bad choice as a new coach for the Avalanche.

Joe Sacco (Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports)

Why This Would Be a Mistake

The Avalanche have always stuck within their system, and things were always fine. The problem is that now things are very different with this franchise. It was fine to stick within the system back in the mid-1990′s for the Avalanche because they always knew that they had their brilliant core of players in place. When you have Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Rob Blake, Patrick Roy, etc. in place, the truth of it all is it really doesn’t matter who your coach is. Those guys are always going to find a way to win because they were that brilliant. Well times have changed and right now we are currently being reminded about what the definition of insanity is. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting difference results.

The biggest issue now is that there are guys on the market, right now, that have an established NHL pedigree in coaching. Lindy Ruff was fired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier this year. Guy Boucher was fired from Tampa Bay earlier this season. There are rumblings that Alain Vigneault could be fired out of Vancouver if the Canucks are ousted in the first round, again. These are all guys who have had success as coaches at the NHL level. Would they work with the Avalanche? You can never really tell until they get in there and start working, but why wouldn’t these guys be better options than somebody who has only had one year of head coaching experience in the AHL?

With names like this available, the Avalanche would be making a huge mistake to just “keep it in the family.”

There Are Still Other Better Options

If the Avalanche remain determined to not go with a coach that has an established NHL coaching record, there are still better options than Army or Chynoweth. Patrick Roy, as a possible head coach, was an option before they hired Joe Sacco, why wouldn’t he be a decent option now? Yes, he has only had head coaching experience in the QMJHL, but his track record of success as a head coach and GM shows he has a strong potential. Not to mention, if you look at the way the Avalanche responded after being called out by J.S. Giguere for their work ethic, Roy’s fiery temperament might be exactly the thing this team needs to gain some consistency. Plus, Roy might satisfy Pierre Lacroix as being sufficiently “within the family.” 

Another interesting name that might pay dividends could be a guy like Dallas Eakins, current head coach of the Toronto Marlies. He has had four years to prove himself as a head coach in the AHL, and he has shown himself to be a very good coach. The most telling thing about him as a coach is that every year he has been behind the Marlies’ bench, the team has improved their standing in the AHL. Last season the Marlies fell just short of winning the Calder Cup, but are primed to be serious contenders again this season.

If you’re wondering how he would be able to develop talent, all you need to do is look at the production of one Nazem Kadri in Toronto this year to see what kind of an impact his coaching can make. On a team that loves to remind their fan base how young they are, a talented teacher like Eakins could do wonders for the development of guys like Gabe Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and hopefully Seth Jones.

The most important part of both of these coaches, Roy and Eakins, is that they have established a track record of success as a head coach in their respective levels. Chynoweth and Army simply don’t have that successful track record. Nothing against either of those men, but the products simply show that the Avalanche organization would be making a gigantic mistake by sticking within their system. The time has come for Pierre Lacroix and the rest of the Avalanche front office to realize that the times have changed and that their way of evaluating and hiring coaches is a thing of the past.

As Bob Dylan once wrote, “You’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin.’”

Author information

Kevin Goff

I'm a Denver native who has been a fan of the Avalanche since they came to town and a fan of the game before that. I started writing my own blog a couple years ago before moving to Bleacher Report and becoming a Featured Columnist there. You can also find me the Burgundy Brigade Podcast

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Gabriel Landeskog – (Ashton Bode – Flickr)

The 2013 Colorado Avalanche season has mercifully come to an end. The season, as a whole, was definitely a disappointing one for the Avalanche, who had such high hopes at the start of the season.

Finishing dead last in the Western Conference is not where this team should be, but there it is. Perhaps some of these grades will help to explain why the team finished as low as they did. So, here is my second part of my grades for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013 season.

Grading the Forwards

P.A. Parenteau: Grade – A+

Parenteau might have been the best offseason move of any team in the NHL, let alone just the Colorado Avalanche. His production was just barely beneath a point per-game and he was simply fantastic. He had great chemistry with Matt Duchene, helped the power play and was everything that the Avalanche could have wanted and more. He earned every penny of his contract with his production and by not missing a game all year.

Matt Duchene: Grade – A+

Duchene also had a fantastic year and finished the season tied for the team lead in scoring with Parenteau. Duchene really came into his own this season after a disappointing season a year ago. He re-dedicated himself in the offseason, changed his diet, increased his workout regiment and it all paid off this year. Duchene was a stronger, faster, healthier and more confident version of himself than we’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to see what he does with next season.

(Icon SMI)

Paul Stastny: Grade – C

Stastny battled through injuries and through having to play with a non-existent David Jones. He was used a lot as a defensive center this season and his numbers suffered a bit for it. Nonetheless, he continued his streak of finishing in the top three on the Avalanche in scoring, even though he played seven fewer games than the others near the top. Stastny will hopefully be used better by his next coach and get back to his 70 point form.

Jamie McGinn: Grade – C

McGinn scored 11 goals this season and also had 11 assists. He went through a bit of a slump in the middle of the season before finally finding his game. McGinn really turned up his physical game later in the season and has shown flashes of great play this year, just none of it was consistent enough. McGinn had an okay year, but nothing really to brag about.

John Mitchell: Grade – B+

Mitchell gets a very high grade because nobody expected the type of production out of him that he gave this year. 10 goals was definitely not something that Avalanche fans were expecting from the guy expected to replace Jay McClement on the third/fourth lines. Mitchell even ended up on the top line as a left-wing towards the end of the season. That really didn’t make any sense, but it showed how much faith the team had in him. He will likely return to that third/fourth line center position next year.

Ryan O’Reilly: Grade – B

20 points in 29 games for O’Reilly, which isn’t bad at all. The main storyline with O’Reilly for the year, however, was his hold out. It definitely wasn’t entirely O’Reilly’s fault for letting the contract issue get as out of hand as it did, but he does share a great deal of blame. Once he got back on the ice he definitely looked ready to be a player for this team. He looked faster and stronger than a year ago and his production was good. Now we can just hope that another one of those ridiculous contract disputes isn’t waiting for us at the end of next season.

Gabriel Landesk0g: Grade – C

Landeskog had a tough season this year, and there’s a lot of reasons why. Second year in the league, spotlight of being the youngest captain in NHL history and, most importantly, dealing with injury. Landeskog dealt with a head injury early in the season and had some issues coming back from it. He just didn’t seem the same. Landeskog did, however, manage to tally three shorthanded goals this year.

P.A. Parenteau (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Cody McLeod: Grade – A

Cody Mac finally got a chance to show everybody what he could do this year and didn’t disappoint. McLeod proved that he is more than just a guy who can fight, he can be on the ice whenever you need him. McLeod earned time on Colorado’s second line, second power play and penalty kill with his impressive play this year. Even ending up with a five goals in five games stretch near the end of the season. Huge props to McLeod.

Milan Hejduk: Grade – Incomplete

Hejduk was a healthy scratch a lot towards the end of the year and also dealt with some injuries. It was very sad to see Hejduk being sat out in what could be the final year of his career. He deserved to go out on better terms.

David Jones: Grade – F

David Jones signed a big contract at the end of last season and did absolutely nothing to show it was worth it this year. Jones had three goals all season long and was a consistent healthy scratch down the line. He was horrible all year.

Aaron Palushaj: Grade – Pass

A wavier-wire pickup early in the year, Palushaj brought a lot of energy to the Avalanche. He found himself in and out of the lineup a lot but was still able to produce some energy and some points when in the lineup. There is still a lot to get to know about Palushaj, but he proved that he belongs on an NHL roster.

Chuck Kobasew: Grade – Pass

Another guy who was in and out of the lineup a lot this year, but you expect that with Kobasew. He played his role well and did what was expected of him, so he gets a passing grade.

Mark Olver: Incomplete

Olver pretty much became the guy that traded healthy scratches with Aaron Palushaj, which didn’t really seem right. Olver gives strong effort every night and can play in a lot of situations. In one fewer game, Olver had more goals than Colorado’s $16 million man, David Jones. When Olver is in the lineup the team is usually scrappier, so it never really like it when Olver gets caged.

(Icon SMI)

Patrick Bordeleau: Grade – A

Bordeleau proved that he could be both a legitimate NHL Heavyweight but also be a responsible player for his team. Bordeleau has spent all of his career in the minors, before this year. So to see him not only get the shot to make the NHL team but then become a mainstay was great to see. After fights like this one, don’t be surprised to see him stick around for a long time.

Players Not Graded

Brad Malone, David van der Gulik, Tomas Vincour, Steve Downie and Michael Sgarbossa all played in only a handful of games, so they will not be graded.

Forwards Grade As A Whole – D+

Some great highs but far too many disappointments as a whole for these forwards. Hopefully a new system will help them figure things out when the 2013 – 2014 NHL season begins.

Author information

Kevin Goff

I'm a Denver native who has been a fan of the Avalanche since they came to town and a fan of the game before that. I started writing my own blog a couple years ago before moving to Bleacher Report and becoming a Featured Columnist there. You can also find me the Burgundy Brigade Podcast

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

Seth Jones is like Superman mixed with Captain America mixed with Indiana Jones but on skates (Image Courtesy of TheHockeyGuys.net)

All true hockey fans have by now heard of Seth Jones. The young defenseman has rocketed up to the top of every major hockey scouting services’ rankings for the 2013 NHL entry draft. His skating ability and athleticism are positively electric, uncannily belying his tremendous size at 6’4″ 210 (and possibly not done growing). His off-the-charts smarts and hockey IQ make him a stifling presence in the defensive zone and virtually a scoring chance any time he gets the puck in the offensive zone. As former teammate and Winnipeg Jets top prospect Jacob Trouba says, Jones is “a one-man breakout”. Jones’ character and leadership are unquestioned, his talent ceiling so high it is nearly incomprehensible, his athleticism elite in not just the world of hockey, but in all North American sport. Compared most often to future Hall-of-Fame blueliner Chris Pronger, it would be quite a shock were Jones’ name not called first overall at the 2013 draft in New Jersey.

All true sports fans will soon hear of Seth Jones. The son of longtime NBA basketball player Popeye Jones, he seems destined to become just the second ever American-born defenseman to be drafted first overall in the NHL. More historically, he seems destined to become the first ever African-American to be selected first overall in the NHL draft. The significance of this cannot be understated. Though the NHL has had African-American superstars before, from Grant Fuhr to Jerome Iginla, it has yet to have an American-born, African-American superstar with the media hoopla requisite to snatch the sports pages and transcend the stigmas prescribed to the hockey world by some major media outlets, especially ESPN. With all the (well-deserved) recent attention being given to the new Jackie Robinson movie and to the history of integration in North American professional sports, it would be impossible to ignore the relevance of Seth Jones being selected first overall in the NHL draft. Already NHL-ready due to his hockey talents and already media-ready due to his advanced intelligence and maturity, Jones could vault the league into a media spotlight it is often shunned from and single-handedly increase the numbers of youths who decide to try their hand at the sport.

All Colorado Avalanche fans should get ready to have Seth Jones play for their team. Jones began playing hockey as a young child living in Colorado, when his father Popeye was a member of the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets, of course, played in the same building as the Avalanche. In a true and soon-to-be famous story, Popeye struck up a friendship with Avs’ captain Joe Sakic. When his son became interested in playing hockey, Popeye asked Sakic for advice. Sakic eased Popeye’s mind about a sport which was foreign to him, and helped convince Popeye to encourage Seth in his desire to play hockey. The Avalanche became Seth Jones’ favorite team, a team which still employs the now-retired Joe Sakic as executive advisor.

Having not won a playoff series since 2008 and having just stumbled out with the second-worst record in the NHL in 2013, the Avalanche are in the midst of the darkest period in franchise history. Despite a flock of talented young forwards spearheaded by Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly, their defense corps’ poor play has doomed them all season long. The team which once set the NHL record with 487 consecutive home sell-outs from 1995 to 2006 seems to perform with as much mediocrity at the ticket gate as they do on the ice.

One player would immediately help them both on the ice and at the ticket counter, and that player is certainly Seth Jones. From the mid-1990′s through the early 2000′s Colorado was one of the NHL’s marquee franchises. Those glory days were starlit by names like Sakic and Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy, punctuated emphatically by a pair of Stanley Cup championships. Jones certainly would have the potential to lead the Avs to a return to those days of marquee status, to become the face of a young and talented team poised to soon compete for titles again. Certainly, with Jones’ past connections with both the team and Sakic, Jones’ potential future in a Colorado sweater seems absolutely perfect.

Drouin would go first most years, but not 2013 Photo Mike Dembeck

Colorado Wins Lottery, Is There Any Doubt Who They’re Drafting?

The 2013 NHL entry draft is widely considered the strongest in terms of talent since 2003. Aside from Jones, there are four other players widely considered by various scouting services to be franchise-caliber players. Halifax center Nathan McKinnon entered the season ranked ahead of Jones, and is considered a bona fide future star, similar in style to Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux and somewhere between them talent-wise. McKinnon’s left wing for the QMJHL’s Mooseheads is left winger Jonathan Drouin, a magician with the puck likened to Chicago’s mega-star Patrick Kane.

Overseas, Russian winger Valeri Nichushkin is a 6’4″ power forward with a stunning skill set, a mix of power and tools equivalent to former Oilers’ first-overall pick Taylor Hall. Finnish center Sasha Barkov is one of the youngest draft-eligible players, but was simply dominant as a two-way force in Finland’s elite league.

All of these forwards would surely be tantalizing to envision scoring copious goals for the Avalanche, but truly there is only one name for Colorado to call in New Jersey when they select first overall in the 2013 NHL entry draft. When the Colorado Avalanche won the draft lottery ensuring the first overall selection, it resonated with a sense of destiny. Seth Jones began what is certain to be an outstanding hockey career because of the Colorado Avalanche, so it is only fitting that his NHL career will begin as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Author information

Steven Ives

Writer/lunatic, hockey columnist, mlb.com, aspiring cryptozoologist, estrogen addict, patron saint of vertigo, unintentional ghost hunter. Brooklyn, New York

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

(Ashton Bode/Flickr)

If you had to pick one part of this team that completely fell apart this year, it was the defense. The Avalanche defense looked so lost most of the year that it was never a question of if there would be a ridiculous defensive lapse, just when. The goaltending suffered as a result of this as well.

Here’s the report card.

Defenseman

Tyson Barrie: Grade – C

Barrie finally solidified himself in the lineup for the Avalanche this season. He started to show glimpses of the strong offensive defenseman that the Avalanche want him to be. He still has some work to do in his own zone, but it is becoming apparent why the Avalanche believed that Kevin Shattenkirk was expendable.

Jan Hejda: Grade – B

(Anne-Marie Sorvin-US PRESSWIRE)

Jan Hejda has had a pretty solid season for the Avalanche, all in all. Despite not really having a consistent partner in his pairing, Hejda played solidly in his own end and helped create chances offensively with his great shot.

Greg Zanon: Grade – Whatever is less than an F

Zanon was a perplexing signing during free agency, made worse by the fact that he is horrible at hockey. He’s undersized, but doesn’t have the benefit of the speed that most undersized defenders have. His skating his horrid, his decision making is just plain bad, he has a negative physical presence and constantly takes unnecessary icing calls. Zanon is probably the worst free agent signing from last season in the entire NHL.

Matt Hunwick: Grade – C+

Matt Hunwick is a perplexing player. There are times when he is so strong and makes such great plays, and there are others when you just sit there and go, “Was that Greg Zanon that made that play?” Hunwick moves up in my book and gets a C+.

Shane O’Brien: Grade – C

Shane gets a solid C because he was probably the most unfairly treated person on this team. Somehow, some way, O’Brien found his way into the Joe Sacco doghouse and only ended up playing in 28 games. He had four assists and was even on the plus/minus in those games. A season ago, O’Brien was lauded by fans as a hard-working, glue guy that sticks up for his teammates and plays with an edge. The type of guy you really want in the locker room. Suddenly, and inexplicably, this season people have made him the goat and unfairly so. O’Brien found himself in the press box while guys like Greg Zanon and Ryan O’Bryne stunk up the ice night in and night out.

Erik Johnson: Grade – D

(Icon SMI)

Really down year for EJ. No goals offensively, struggled defensively at times, seemed to start to turn things around and then he got hurt. No doubt this is a year that Johnson wants to forget, and quickly. Hopefully he will be back with a vengeance at the start of next season.

Stefan Elliott: Grade – Pass

Elliott only played in 18 games, ended up with a goal and three assists. He struggled early in the year, was sent down to Lake Erie for a while but managed to work back into the Avalanche lineup by the end of the year. He still has a ways to go, but he gets a pass on the pass/fail scale.

Ryan Wilson: Grade – Incomplete

Poor Ryan Wilson. Once again he had to deal with some injuries of a sensitive nature that never really let him get into the swing of things in the season. He gets an incomplete and hopefully we will, one day, see a fully healthy season from Ryan Wilson.

Goaltenders

Semyon Varlamov: Grade – D

Varly started off the season so well. He was the reason that the Avalanche were even in so many of the games that they played after being constantly left out to dry by his teammates. As time wore on, however, his confidence simply was shot. It’s hard to blame a guy for getting deflated when his team constantly gives up so many quality scoring chances against, but one thing Varly didn’t do very well was battle through the adversity. As a goalie, you simply need to be able to battle more. Varlamov has one more year left on his contract, and he’s going to have to make it a good one if he wants to be the solution in Colorado for the long term.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere: Grade – B

Giguere gave the hockey world the most memorable story line of the season earlier after he ripped his team a new one for caring more about going to Vegas than playing the season out. Jiggy was in net for all of the road wins that the Avalanche had this season, and proved to be a strong locker room presence once again. He’s a keeper, and more of the players on the team need a heart like his.

Author information

Kevin Goff

I'm a Denver native who has been a fan of the Avalanche since they came to town and a fan of the game before that. I started writing my own blog a couple years ago before moving to Bleacher Report and becoming a Featured Columnist there. You can also find me the Burgundy Brigade Podcast

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.

(Icon SMI)

Milan Hejduk has worn only one jersey his entire NHL career. He has never known another NHL home crowd than those that have crowded the Pepsi Center and the old McNichols Arena. He has had so many wonderful memories as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, and he now comes into what may be the final games of his NHL career.

As we count down what may easily be the final days of Hejduk’s career, it has become obvious that Father Time has caught up with the old sniper. Hejduk’s numbers have plummeted each of the last two seasons, but even with that drop in his production he has not deserved to be the consistent healthy scratch he has been of late under Joe Sacco.

I do believe Hejduk will play his last game Saturday in the Pepsi Center, and it’s a shame that such a brilliant career will have to come to an end the way that it has.

Young Stud

Milan Hejduk has flown under the radar on the Avalanche ever since the beginning of his career. It started right at the beginning when, despite leading rookies in scoring, fellow Avalanche rookie Chris Drury took home the Calder Trophy and was under a biggest spotlight.

It’s true that Drury always had a knack for scoring big goals, but Hejduk showed his ability to do so early in his career as well, scoring winning goals in the playoffs during his rookie season. Hejduk made a huge jump in his second year, tallying 36 goals in his second season and improving his overall point total of 24 points.

In his third season with the Avalanche, a year in which Colorado won the Stanley Cup, he broke the 40 goal mark for the first time in his career. That same season he had his best playoff statistics as a professional, putting up 23 points in 23 playoff games on the way to Colorado’s second Stanley Cup championship.

Yet, even with all these accomplishments in his first three seasons, Hejduk was never really the talk of the Avalanche. Part of that was because he played with future Hall of Famers like Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy and Peter Forsberg (Yes, I know Forsberg has yet to be inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame), but the other part of it is how he has always carried himself. He’s not a flashy guy. With one very notable exception, Hejduk has never been a guy with big celebrations after he scores. He scores, puts his stick up and then joins the celebration. No need for and any theatrics.

Career as an Avalanche

(Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

Hejduk’s career numbers are outstanding, especially when you remember that he played much of his hockey during the “Dead Puck” era of trap defenses. Since the team moved to Colorado, nobody has played more games in an Avalanche jersey than Milan Hejduk, who has over 1000 games in the burgundy and blue. Joe Sakic holds the all-time franchise record, if you go all the way back to Quebec, but even “Super Joe” hasn’t worn the sweater as long as Hejduk has.

Hejduk’s 805 points are second in the history of the Colorado Avalanche, only to Joe Sakic. He is also second to Sakic in goals as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, but not by much.

Sakic has a grand total of 625 goals in his career, but only 391 as a member of the Avalanche. Hejduk’s 375 goals fall well short of Sakic’s career numbers, but speaks volumes about the time period he spent on the Avalanche and his ability to keep pace with the greatest of all the Avalanche.

Looking at the all-time leaders for the major statistics, Hejduk is part of all of them. Goals, assists, points, plus/minus, all of them include the name Milan Hejduk. Keep looking at shots, game-winning goals, power play goals, you get the point.

Accomplishments

The stat sheet is pretty impressive for Milan Hejduk, but his trophy shelf is also pretty amazing.

Hejduk was impressive right from the start of his career, making the 1998-1999 All-Rookie Team. Hejduk continued to impress and has appeared in three All-Star Games, and was a second team All-Star in 2002-2003. His consistency was also amazing, which was illustrated by his 11 straight seasons of scoring 20 goals or more.

His scoring touch certainly helped Hejduk earn some recognition as he captured the 2002-2003 Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal-scorer and also won the Bud Light Plus/Minus award in the same season. Hejduk was also a Stanley Cup Champion in 2001.

Hejduk was also very successful in international play. Hejduk has an Olympic gold medal (1998) and bronze medal (2006). He also has a bronze medal for the World Championships back in 1998. He simply has been successful in everything that he has done that is hockey related.

Final Farewell?

If this is indeed Hejduk’s last season, which is still up in the air, his last two seasons will not have been indicative of what a great career he has had. It will also be a complete disgrace to the franchise that they will have allowed one of their all-time greats to be constantly, and embarrassingly, scratched by a coach who has no idea how to formulate a lineup.

Milan Hejduk is one of the top-five Avalanche players of all time, and he deserves better treatment and more respect at the end of his career. No matter what, Avalanche fans will always remember what an amazing player Hejduk was. Consistent, classy, team-oriented and brilliant. Colorado loves you, Milan.

Author information

Kevin Goff

I'm a Denver native who has been a fan of the Avalanche since they came to town and a fan of the game before that. I started writing my own blog a couple years ago before moving to Bleacher Report and becoming a Featured Columnist there. You can also find me the Burgundy Brigade Podcast

Twitter

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.