There might be a few more gray hairs around his temples, but Joe Sakic’s hazel eyes were twinkling Thursday in anticipation of the Avalanche’s coming season.
“We love our lineup,” said Sakic, during physicals and fitness testing at the Pepsi Center. “There’s definitely a different mind-set this year than last year. We’re very confident. We think we have a chance to compete for the Cup.”
The 38-year-old Avalanche captain, coming off a 100-point season, said he feels great entering his 19th NHL season, all with the same franchise. It was a busy summer for Sakic, one that didn’t include any hockey but a lot of family trips and some recruitment phone calls that helped lure free agents Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan.
“Didn’t do a lot of skating,” said Sakic. “And it was a longer summer than I wanted. But we want to change that this year, and hopefully have a good, long playoff run.”
The Avalanche will get its first test of how the team is coming together today when it opens training camp at the Family Sports Center in Centennial. After Sunday’s intrasquad scrimmage, the Avs play their first preseason game Monday at Phoenix.
Sakic’s linemate from last season, Andrew Brunette, said Smyth was a “tremendous” addition and believes the defense will be much stronger with Hannan’s presence.
“You add him and Jordan Leopold, a guy who didn’t play much last year, and it’s like we got two great defensemen added to our lineup,” Brunette said. “I think there’s a little bit more excitement this year than the past, from the years I’ve been here.”
Said Sakic: “One thing we were probably lacking last year was that one defenseman you could throw out there against the other team’s first line and shut them down. I think Scotty gives us that kind of guy now.”
Smyth, who signed a five-year, $31.25 million contract, can’t wait to get on the ice today.
“It’s great to be here,” he said. “It’s early, but we’re setting the bar high around here. We’re going to have a real good team.”
Footnotes
Coach Joel Quenneville said one of the things he stressed to his players, at a team meeting Wednesday night, was getting off to a better start than in the past two seasons. “One of the things I said was that games 1-10 will be just as important as games 72-82,” Quenneville said. The Avs had a 5-4-1 record after their first 10 games in 2005-06 and 4-4-2 last season. … Quenneville said he has an idea of what his top two lines will look like, but will do some experimenting in the preseason. The early betting is that Smyth and Sakic will play together on the top line, with Brunette playing at right wing.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
Key dates
Today: Opening of training camp
Sunday: Burgundy and White game at Air Force, 11 a.m.
Monday: First exhibition game at Phoenix
Wednesday: Home exhibition game vs. Los Angeles
Sept. 29: Final exhibition game vs. Phoenix
Oct. 3: Season opener at home against Dallas
