Season Projections

Last season the Colorado Avalanche shocked the hockey league by doing much better than they were expected. After finishing in last place in their conference two years ago, Colorado bounced back the following season and just made the playoff cut. Nobody expected a bounce back like that but it was all thanks to a goalie who made big saves when he had to and also overachieving rookies trying to establish a role on the team. Last season during this run, the average age of the team was about 20 years old which was the youngest in the league. To start this upcoming 2010-11 season the Avalanche basically have the exact team as last year with a difference of more experience in the league. Matt Duchene and Chris Stewart were among the top scorers on the team last season so a lot of pressure will be on their shoulders to perform at those standards once again. Duchene is projected to get about 80 points where Stewart is expected to score 75 points. Each of those goals still impressive for guys there age. Leadership will also need to be shown by the older players like Paul Statsny and Adam Foote, the teams veteran player who won both of the past Avalanche championships. With these four players it should combine for a dynamic power play lineup which is crucial in the NHL. Craig Anderson (discussed in a past post), most also play as well as he did in his debut Avalanche season, he is expected to get at least 44 wins this season which is definitely capable with defensemen like Adam Foote and John Micheal Liles on the blue line. 

Just last night the Avalanche posted an overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime by a score of 4-3. This is very promising because the Chicago Blackhawks are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. There is no telling how well the Avalanche will do but if its anything like last season, us fans are in for a treat.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/blackhawks/post/_/id/4664404/blackhawks-have-plenty-of-room-to-improve