Paul Stastny is a link to the Avalanche’s past and its future.
Tonight, when he takes the Pepsi Center ice in Colorado’s season opener against the Dallas Stars, he will see his Hall of Fame father, Peter, who starred for years with the Quebec Nordiques.
When that nostalgic moment passes, Stastny will be one of several young Avalanche players trying to help maintain a tradition of excellence since the team moved from Quebec to Denver in 1995.
Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos, Peter Budaj, John-Michael Liles and Brad Richardson are players who symbolize the transition the Avs have made in recent years, from an older, star-studded team to a younger one that, while it is less proven, has brought a fresher feel to the organization.
“It’s good to have young guys around the locker room. The youthfulness and excitement that they bring on a daily basis is contagious,” said Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville, who takes a 350-221-77 career record into the 8 p.m. opener.
The smile on Paul Stastny’s face Tuesday morning illustrated Quenneville’s comment. The night before, the rookie was informed he would make the opening-night roster. That prompted an excited phone call to his father and mother, who in turn, hastily booked a flight from St. Louis to Denver and will be in the stands tonight.
“He hides his emotions, but I’m sure he had a big smile after he got off the phone,” said Stastny, who still resides in the apartment he lived in while playing for the University of Denver. “He played it cool. That’s kind of what he tells me – not to get too high or low, to stay at an even keel.”
Stastny is likely to center the Avalanche’s “Kid Line” with Wolski and Svatos. Whether Stastny would have made the opening-night roster had some players not been injured – including Pierre Turgeon, Brad May and Jordan Leopold – or if Steve Konowalchuk hadn’t retired, is unknown. But Quenneville said Stastny deserves to be wearing the Colorado uniform right now, instead of that of the American Hockey League’s Albany (N.Y.) River Rats.
“We always make decisions based on our need, and he had a real strong camp,” Quenneville said. “I liked the way he competed, and his thought process. I think it’s a real nice addition to our team, with the skill level that he has and also his play around and away from the puck is all high end.”
The Avalanche has some experience – particularly on its top line as Joe Sakic and Andrew Brunette are 37 and 33, respectively. But as the lines get deeper, the ages get younger. By comparison, the Avalanche team of 2003-04 and some previous ones had plenty of age on the third and fourth lines, with players such as Jim Cummins, Peter Worrell, Andrei Nikolishin, Darby Hendrickson, Matthew Barnaby, Jeff Shantz and Chris Gratton – players who had seen better days.
“It’s the new NHL,” Stastny said. “There’s so many new, young talents coming up in the league, and they’re just kind of making room for – I don’t want to say wave of the future – but just those young talents. In with the new, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
