2010-11 NHL Season Preview: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche of the 2009-10 NHL Season had no business doing what they did. The team was full of rookies, some of which had only been drafted in 2009, their goaltender was a former backup for the Florida Panthers, a team which never wins, and the proven talent they did had spent most of the season sidelined with injuries.

So how did they ever manage to find success? A lot of that can be attributed to rookie coach Joe Sacco, who meshed incredibly well with his hungry young team. The Avalanche surprised everyone by making the playoffs, something they hope to replicate in 2010-11.

Sophomore Slump
A very real danger that the Colorado Avalanche needs to watch out for is the dreaded sophomore slump. Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly especially need to at least remain consistent for the Avalanche to succeed. Any step backwards could be catastrophic.

Not helping matters is that team captain Adam Foote is getting up there in age pretty well, and he has missed a large number of games over the past few years due to injury. The Colorado Avalanche need direction, and an absent captain will not provide it. It might be time to shift the captaincy to someone new, with either Milan Hejduk or Paul Stastny looking like the likely possibilities at the moment.

No More Surprises
Last season the Avalanche had the element of surprise on their side. They were coming off their worst season since moving to Denver in the mid-90s, with a largely unproven roster. When the Colorado Avalanche started winning games no one expected it.

Even as the 2009-10 NHL season wore on, however, the Colorado Avalanche started to slip down the rankings at an alarming pace. Once other teams realized that the Avalanche were capable of stealing games, they wised up and did not allow the Avalanche to do that. With pretty much the exact same team as last season, the Colorado Avalanche will have trouble flying under the radar, with most opponents probably even overrated them.

Repeat or Relapse
The Colorado Avalanche have a lot of expectations to live up to going into the 2010-11 NHL Season. They overachieved in 2009-10, and a bounce back would seem logical.

If the team can find a way to improve, they will hold up well. The problem is that most of these players, and head coach Joe Sacco, have not been in this deep before. There are bound to be some stumbles along the way. Can goaltender Craig Anderson continue to impress? Will Matt Duchene explode in his second season? Will the depth the Avalanche had last season play the same? These are the questions that will need to be answered.

Predicted Standings
Northwest Division: 5^th
Western Conference: 13^th
NHL: 22^nd

Depth Chart

Forwards
Peter Mueller - Paul Stastny - Milan Hejduk
TJ Galiardi - Matt Duchene - Chris Stewart
Cody McLeod - Ryan O'Reilly - Brandon Yip
David Koci - Daniel Winnik - David Jones
Ryan Stoa - Kevin Porter

Defense
Scott Hannan - John-Michael Liles
Kyle Quincey - Adam Foote
Kyle Cumiskey - Ryan Wilson
Tom Preissing

Goaltenders
Craig Anderson
Peter Budaj

Sources

http://www.nhl.com
http://www.tsn.ca
http://www.espn.com
http://www.hockeydb.com
http://www.nhlnumbers.com