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Colorado won the Northwest Division with a 42-29-11 record, but the Avs had only the fourth-best regular-season record in the Western Conference.
And when the Stanley Cup was determined, the Avalanche were nowhere to be found, having dropped a Game 7 to Dallas in the Western Conference finals.
That prompts the question: What must happen for Colorado to go a step farther next season? The Avalanche have an offseason to ponder the possibilities.
Season Review: Almost is not enough for Cup
| |  | | | Bourque |
The Avs fell one goal short of making it to the Cup finals in a season seemingly of destiny. The acquisition of Ray Bourque transformed the Avs from a talented but wildly inconsistent team into an inspired group of players doing just about everything well. The Stars won out because Ed Belfour was better than Patrick Roy, and Joe Sakic didn't produce offensively.
During the season, Sakic and Peter Forsberg missed a combined 55 games because of injury. That affected the team negatively in the win column, yet it enabled players like Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay to assume major roles in the Avs' offense. But nothing truly came together until Bourque arrived from Boston, and everyone from Roy to the equipment manager wanted to get him the Stanley Cup.
The Open Market: Hello holdouts?
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FREE AGENCY
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Key unsigned free agents:
Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk, Jon Klemm, Joe Sakic
Signings/offseason acquisitions:
Ray Bourque, Eric Messier, Stephane Yelle |
General manager Pierre Lacroix has some major work in front of him. Deadmarsh, Hejduk and Drury all deserve healthy raises and long-term contracts, but assuredly, they will all ask for too much. Then, there's Joe Sakic, who just missed qualifying for unrestricted free agency. He didn't play poorly in the postseason, yet he scored just twice in 17 games. He missed 22 games and started sluggishly; however, he finished strong, notching 32 points in the final 17 regular-season games to lead the team in scoring with 81 points. With the departure of Sandis Ozolinsh, another solid -- although Ozo wasn't exactly "solid" defensively -- blueliner would help, but the pickings are slim. Rangers castoffs Mathieu Schneider or Kevin Hatcher would be OK at a reduced price.
How to improve: Don't miss the opportunity
Do not allow too many holdouts. It's been well documented how much protracted holdouts impact a player and team's season. Hopefully, all sides realize how close this team is to winning it all -- and how short the window of opportunity is. Sakic filed for arbitration, so he'll be in camp for sure. If Drury or Hejduk hold out for a long time, the Avs will be in trouble. But if everyone is in camp, and there is someone beyond Adam Foote and Bourque who can be considered an A-level NHL defenseman, there's little doubt Colorado can challenge once again.
Brian A. Shactman is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.
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