Joe Sakic retires. And so, the player most identified with the club is gone, soon to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. 19th Street, near the Pepsi Center in Denver, will be renamed “Sakic Way.” For the rest of the Avalanche, the street the club will tread should be called “No Way.”

New GM Greg Sherman was promoted from his post as Assistant GM, which he held for seven years. New coach Joe Sacco played for five NHL clubs over 13 seasons. He coached the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) for two seasons.

Some have questioned whether the Avs have made a weak choice, opting for new blood in Sherman and Sacco, but each have a strong pedigree there’s no reason they can’t succeed.

Just not this year.

The team scored just 2.32 goals per game, its offense finishing last in the league. Its defense is old, and finished 26th in the league.

The good news, what little there is around these here parts, is that Milan Hejduk, 33, signed a one-year extension, through 2010-11.

Matt Duchene will be pressed into action by a team who had only two players score over 2o goals (Milan Hejduk, 27, and now-departed Ryan Smyth, 26). Some thought Duchene might climb as high as number one or two in the draft. After being selected third, Duchene can expect that the struggling Avs will not feel that they have the luxury of sending him back to the Brampton Battalion (OHL).

LW Wojtek Wolski, at $3.1M, needs to come up with more than the four goals he put up last season.

C Paul Stastny was limited to 45 games (11 goals) after a broken left arm and a foot injury, punctuating the luck that Avs had in 08-09. It has to get better for Stastny (emphasis ours), to whom the Avs look for production and leadership more than any other, to the tune of $6.6M per annum.

Odd trend for RW Marek Svatos. Since 2005-06, he has scored 32, then 15, 26 and last season, 14. Which means that this season, he’s due to bounce back, right? He’s a UFA at the end of the season, and needs a strong showing.

Darcy Tucker scored only eight goals in 63 games and is fighting for his professional life.

Defensively, John Michael Liles, pride of Indianapolis, IN, proved to have the hottest hand from the blueline, scoring 12 goals and 39 points. The remainder of the defense was unable to generate much, and as a result, the power play struggled mightily, finishing 25th.

Scott Hannan, Brett Clark, Ruslan Salei and Adam Foote are the veterans of an unspectacular and aging defensive crew. Kyle Quincey comes over from LA in the Ryan Smyth swap.

Craig Anderson (31GP, 15 wins; 2.71GAA; .924SV%) was a nice surprise for the Florida Panthers. He now brings his act to Colorado to battle with Peter Budaj (56GP, 20 wins; 2.86GAA; .899SV%) for the starting goalie position.