When the Avalanche was eliminated from the NHL playoffs Saturday night, Joe Sacco told his team in a postgame, farewell address that he was disappointed in one thing:
“That we didn’t win,” he said.
But, Sacco said, that was the only thing he was disappointed about.
“I’m proud of the way our guys competed all year and the things we accomplished,” he said. “The players deserve a lot of credit for what they did, and right to the end I thought they battled hard.”
Sacco, the only Western Conference coach since 2000 to take his team from a last-place finish to a playoff spot the next year, was recognized for his own efforts Wednesday by being named one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the league’s coach of the year. Nashville’s Barry Trotz and Phoenix’s Dave Tippett were the others.
“It’s an honor, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the players, my assistant coaches and the rest of the organization,” Sacco said. “I owe a big debt of gratitude to the Avalanche organization. They took a chance on me and gave me my first coaching job, starting in the minors.”
The winner of the award will be announced in July at ceremonies in Las Vegas.
Sacco will do more coaching soon, as an assistant on the United States’ World Championship team next month in Germany. Avalanche center Matt Duchene has accepted an invitation to play for Canada.
Sacco said he had a good feeling about his team starting in training camp, when he saw the eagerness of players young and older to improve on a 15th-place finish. He knows the grading curve will get a little tougher next season, now that a playoff benchmark has been established.
“The trend needs to continue,” he said. “We’re always looking to improve, and we know there are areas we can and need to improve in.”
In general, Sacco said, the Avs need to be a team that has the puck more often.
“We need to be a team that has more grind time in the offensive zone. We have to put our focus on cutting back on the number of shots and chances we allow,” he said. “The more time we can spend in the other team’s zone with the puck, the more we can do that.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
