New netminder, resurgent young stars propel Avalanche
By Gaby Martinez
Hockeytalk.biz

NOVEMBER 12, 2009 -- The Colorado Avalanche have a 12-4-3 record, good for second place in the Western Conference with 27 points behind only the San Jose Sharks. The Avalanche have surprised the NHL this season with strong goaltending, renewed young stars, draft picks that have produced earlier than expected, and a new coach and general manager. The question remains whether the Avalanche will continue their winning ways into the rest of the season.

Craig Anderson

The signing of goaltender Craig Anderson may have been one of the most underrated off-season signings, courtesy new GM Greg Sherman.

Anderson previously played six seasons in Chicago and Florida, but he never fully established himself as a starting goaltender in either place. Last season, Anderson played 31 games behind Tomas Vokoun. This season, he is the definitive starter for the Avs and has proven his worth by simply winning games.

“I'm getting wins, and that's all that really matters,” Anderson told nhl.com. “The main goal is to get ‘W’s’ and try to find a way to win, and right now I'm seeing the puck well and the guys are getting goals for me. I'm just doing my job, and my job is to stop the puck.”

So far this season, Anderson has played in 18 of 19 games for the Avalanche with a 11-4-3 record and has evolved from a backup to a successful starter. Coach Joe Sacco has also been impressed with his play this season.

New 3rd Jersey: Debuts Sat., Nov. 14 @ Pepsi Ctr.

“He seems like he's on a mission,” Sacco told nhl.com. “He wants to be that No. 1 guy, not only on our team, but he wants to be considered one of the elite goaltenders in the League.”

He was named NHL’s First Star of the Month for October, his ten victories tying the NHL record for victories in that month with Carolina’s Manny Legace, who accomplished the feat with the Wings in 2005. He is also third in the league with a .930 save percentage and is tied with Evgeni Nabokov for the league lead with 11 victories.

He has been recognized by the NHL for his improvement this season, his save against Joe Thornton Oct. 30th was named the Play of the Week.

Anderson have impressive stats is one of the main reasons that the Avalanche have been so successful this season. Last season, Colorado’s shoddy goaltending with current backup Peter Budaj barely giving the team a chance to win.

“He's been very solid so far,” Sacco told espn.com. “Craig has given us a chance to win every game and that's all you can ask out of your goaltender.”

Young stars have also been a factor in Colorado’s winning ways. Stars Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski have started the season brilliantly.

So far this season, Stastny remained healthy and has been consistently producing (19GP: 4-14-18). In his rookie season, Stastny played in all 82 games and scored 78 points. The past two have not been as successful due to injuries. In the 2007-2008, he played in 66 games, missing time to a broken arm, and in 2008-09, only 45 due to various ailments.

If Stastny remains healthy this season and produces like he did in his rookie campaign, he will assist the team in keeping their position in the Western Conference.

Wolski (19GP: 9-7-16) has played brilliantly this season earning Play of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 23-29 with his game-winning goal against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 28th.

The past three seasons his point totals have declined, but this season Wolski began the season strong and will hopefully continue producing. He was disappointed with his production the past few seasons and worked very hard in the summer to improve his game.

“A lot of hard work this summer,” Wolski told Metro Canada, when asked what he did to improve. “With the season we had last year, I was so disappointed. Hitting rock bottom there, you tend to step back a little bit and assess how the season went and what you have to do to get ready for the next season.”

A key element that has surprised the hockey world has been the emergence of draft picks such as Ryan O’Reilly and Matt Duchene.

O’Reilly was drafted in the 2009 draft in the second round 33rd overall. Duchene was also drafted third overall in the same draft (some critics wondered whether he’d be selected first). Duchene has 7 points while O’Reilly has 14 points, good for second amongst rookies. O’Reilly’s plus-14 rating earns him a tie for first in the league with Matt Carle.

“I just feel over the course of a long year, over the course of 82 games right now, we're looking for them (O’Reilly and Duchene) to provide us with the same type of energy and the same time of enthusiasm and the same type of speed that they have over the course of the first games here,” Sacco told nhl.com.

Duchene and O’Reilly will add both scoring and energy to Colorado’s offense and will continue to develop over the course of their careers.

Sacco and Sherman are both in their rookie seasons in NHL as coach and GM respectively. They have established a successful partnership as the heads of the team.

Sacco has instilled a forechecking, offensively-minded and hard-working team, while Sherman drafted O’Reilly and Duchene, signed goaltender Anderson, and and acquired Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing in the Ryan Smyth deal.

Sacco agrees that he has established an atmosphere of perseverance, enforcing the team to constantly pressure the other team, and find ways to win.

“There’s a good feeling going on, the guys are pulling for each other, they're working hard. The guys really believe they can win right now, doesn’t matter if the situation is we're down 1-0 or 2-0, we have that feeling that we can come back at any time,” Sacco told Metro Canada.

Sherman has quite an amazing story. He never played hockey before in his life and went to the University of San Diego and majored in accounting.

He was in the right place at the right time meeting the right people. He met Pierre Lacroix--GM of the Quebec Nordiques at the time--and soon after began working for the Avalanche in 1999 a finance controller. He worked his way up the ladder and this past July was named the GM of the Avs and has created a successful Avalanche team.

“We felt early into camp that we had the makings of some pretty unique things,” Sherman told nhl.com. “Our expectations were we were going to be a hard-working team, building around our youth with a good balance of veterans. The coaching staff has instilled a hardworking work ethic in the team.”

Colorado’s goaltending, young stars, and draft picks must continue playing this way in order to keeping winning. Colorado must also efficiently and effectively withstand adversity, and be successful on the road and at home in order to make the playoffs this season.