Excitement makes it triumphant return as the Avalanche open camp
“Joe Sacco was tiresome, the goal tending was predictably bad and there was always a sense that players wanted to be somewhere else.”
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It’s been awhile since I personally felt any sense of eagerness toward hockey season. The abbreviated 2011 season held no interest to me at all. The prospect of the Colorado Avalanche slogging through forty-eight games sounded just dismal and I was frankly pretty ticked off about the lockout. I didn’t think the “fourth sport” was in any position to treat fans the way it did. The playoffs turned out to be pretty swell and I will admit that, even though I essentially boycotted hockey last year, I did find myself following excited Twitter users into a few games. Overall, though, the 2012/2013 NHL season was not for me.
Part of the reason Hockey had become just sort of “flat” to me was that the Avalanche had been bad for a long time and nothing seemed to be changing. Joe Sacco was tiresome, the goal tending was predictably bad and there was always a sense that players wanted to be somewhere else. Some guys actually made comments to that effect (then downplayed them later). The Pierre Lacroix era was just grinding along. The Avalanche had begun to resemble the Rockies. Everybody knew that dramatic changes were needed but nothing seemed to be happening.
Well, now everything is new. The GM is new, the coaching staff is new and the attitude surrounding the organization is new. Excitement makes its triumphant return!
The one-two punch of Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy bring not only familiarity but confidence. Even though the two are new to their positions there’s a real feeling that they will be good. They certainly can’t run the team much worse than it was being run before Josh Kroenke got the band back together.
Some things won’t change. It’s a KSE team, after all. The Avalanche still won’t spend like other teams do and Colorado isn’t likely to be at the top of the list for free agent acquisitions. The Avalanche will be more competitive straight away but they won’t be great anytime soon. The process of climbing back from the abyss will take more than just one season. It would not be shocking, though, if they earned a berth in the post-season.
I’m looking forward to the 2013 / 2014 Avalanche season. I would even go so far as to say that I am excited about it. Lots of folks are. In that sense, the team has already won.
