DENVER—Times were tough for the Colorado Avalanche in 2006.
Of course, tough is a relative term.
The team finished with 95 points, but a slow start kept them from making the playoffs as they finished just one point behind the Calgary Flames for the final postseason bid in the Western Conference.
With a bevy of young talent, including 20-year-old Paul Stastny, and the ageless Joe Sakic, general manager Francois Giguere made a pair of moves to shore up the primary thing the Avalanche lacked last year: toughness.
So don’t count another postseason absence this season, coach Joel Quenneville said.
“The depth we have in a number of areas, the skill level, it has improved throughout the organization,” Quenneville said. “That depth is going to be good for us throughout the year.”
The club signed left wing Ryan Smyth from the New York Islanders and hard-nosed defenseman Scott Hannan from the San Jose Sharks.
Smyth lost plenty of teeth fighting for his hockey life during his days with the Edmonton Oilers. “Captain Canada”, as he’s affectionately called up north, plays with passion, pride, and a nonstop motor, Quenneville said.
“He’s one of the hardest working players in the National Hockey League,” Quenneville said. “He brings us some size and he has a huge heart.”
Smyth scored 36 goals and 68 points splitting time between the Edmonton and the New York Islanders last year.
But had it not been for Sakic, Smyth and Hannan could be elsewhere this season.
Sakic called both Smyth and Hannan on the first day of NHL free agency over the summer, encouraging them that Colorado would be a good fit.
It worked.
The two signed within hours of each other on July 2.
Hannan was signed from the San Jose Sharks to replace, among others, the departed Patrice Brisebois and bring a tenacity the Avs’ defense has lacked since Adam Foote patrolled the blueline. Like Foote, Hannan isn’t afraid to throw his body around and kill penalties. He spent much of the preseason paired with the man who saw the most ice-time last year, Brett Clark.
But every teammate, new and old, knows the key to success will hinge on Sakic.
The captain proved that even at 37, he’s still one of the NHL’s elite. He scored 36 goals and 100 points for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
Giguere called him Colorado’s finest ambassador. Former rivals agreed.
“He’s my chaperone really,” Smyth said. “He’s shown me everywhere. Obviously he’s a world-class player, a future Hall of Famer. His game speaks for itself. He’s done that from day one.”
Just don’t call him old. Hannan slipped up in the preseason by saying he watched Sakic as a boy in Vancouver. Luckily No. 19 didn’t hear him.
“I haven’t told him yet,” Hannan said. “I’m sure I’ll let him know during the season.”
Smyth was called an “Avalanche killer” during his time in Edmonton. And the smile on his face showed he’s eager to play his former team.
“Hopefully I can be an Oilers killer,” Smyth said. “My offensive skills, hopefully they can provide for the team, and we can finish where they (Avalanche) left off last year at the end of the year. The way they handled themselves down the stretch was unbelievable.”
The team finished 15-2-2 over their final 19 games, but started just 18-18-2 during the first three months. That start destroyed the team’s playoff hopes before they really got started, Sakic said.
“We had a lot of time to think about it,” Sakic said of his unusually long summer. “More than other years anyway. We’ve got to get out of the gates this year.”
Though no one is quite sure where they’ll fit in.
Sakic, Smyth, and Andrew Brunette were penciled in as the top scoring line early in the preseason. But neither Sakic nor Smyth had found the back of the net through the first five games. So in the preseason finale against Phoenix, Quenneville tweaked it just a bit.
Sakic paired with Smyth and Milan Hejduk and potted his first goal against the Coyotes. Brunette added one of his own later.
But Sakic doesn’t seem to care who he has on his wings. If there was one good thing about last year, it’s that the team now knows what it’s like to spend the spring watching from home.
“I think we got a lot of positions solidified and really learned a lot about ourselves last year,” Sakic said. “This summer, the acquisitions, the start is not going to be a transition. We’re ready to get going. The way we finished up, that’s the way we’re going to start off.”
