On Thursday night, Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog and the Swedish national team beat the Avs’ Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly. After a scoreless first period, Canada took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Steven Stamkos in the second. Canada held the lead until back-to-back goals put Sweden at 2-1. Those two goals were quickly answered by Claude Giroux for Canada. During the 10-minute 4-on-4 overtime the two teams remained tied.

A shootout commenced and Sweden outscored Canada 2-1 in the fourth round. Duchene announced via Twitter on Thursday his disappointment in the loss.

“Last nights loss still stings but I feel blessed to have had another chance to wear the Red & White. Thank you @HockeyCanada #1stclass,” said Duchene.

Landeskog and the Swedish national team look to face-off against Finland on Saturday in the semifinals.

Team USA, which boasts four Colorado Avalanche, silenced Russia in an 8-3 win on Thursday. Avs’ center and U.S. captain Paul Stastny had four points total for the home team. Stastny finished the game with a plus-4 rating and won 76.47 percent (13-of-17) of his face-offs in 19:31 of ice time.

Avs goaltender  Semyon Varlamov replaced goalie Ilya Bryzgalov last in the second period for Russia. In the final 21:48 Varlamov made seven saves on 11 shots on goal for Russia. Unfortunately for Varlamov, his efforts weren’t enough to pull off a win against team USA.

Colorado’s Stastny, Erik Johnson, Aaron Palushaj along with the rest of team USA will face-off against Switzerland on Saturday in the semifinals.

For more Avs news, CLICK HERE.

In particular, four candidates seem to be coming up more than others when the Avs coaching search is being brought up:

Dave Tippett: Tippett isn’t actually out of a job at the moment, but his contract with the Phoenix Coyotes will be up soon and there will probably be quite a few teams looking at him, the Avalanche included. Fans would probably not be enamored with the hockey that the Avs would play under Tippett, with his preferred style being a very defensive ‘trap’, but he has taken the Coyotes to contention over the past few years and even won the Jack Adams award over Sacco in 2009.

Patrick Roy: Colorado’s legendary former goalie reportedly turned down an offer to become head coach of the Avs in 2009 before they hired Sacco, but things have changed and his name has been whispered for the vacant job again. His coaching record is good with the Quebec Remparts, with a winning record and a playoff appearance all seven seasons there. The one thing going against Roy is that his experience only comes from the major junior level and Sakic hinted that he preferred a coach with NHL experience.

Lindy Ruff: When Buffalo fired Ruff about halfway through the 2013 NHL season, they cut one of the longest coach-to-team relationships in the sport. Ruff was going into his 16th season as Sabres head coach, a rein that featured plenty of ups and downs. Ruff’s career has been filled with disappointment though, losing the only Stanley Cup finals he made with the Sabres and failing to win a playoff series since 2007 after winning the President’s Trophy and the Jack Adams award the year before. The Avs might not be a good fit for him either, with a history of mediocre defensive coaching and bad puck possession being red flags. Those were already problems for the team under Sacco. Still, he is one of the hottest names on the coaching market simply because of his experience and a record of taking good teams to good places.

Guy Boucher: After leading the Lightning to a Conference Finals appearance his first season, Boucher had two mediocre years before being fired in 2013. Boucher would be an attractive candidate if the Avs are looking for someone who is young like Sacco, but still has enough experience as a head coach to not need a few years getting his feet wet. A few pundits had accused Tampa’s veterans of playing their own game instead of Boucher’s game last season, and a young team could be just the thing for him to mold into his own image.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Although he was not a full-time employee of the team, McLean spent the last two seasons working with both Jean-Sebastian Giguere and Semyon Varlamov.

A former goalie, McLean spent 15 years in the NHL playing for New Jersey, Vancouver, Carolina, Florida and the New York Rangers.

The move comes following the firing of head coach Joe Sacco and the ascension of Joe Sakic as the executive vice-president of hockey operations. Josh Kroenke has also taken over as team president.

The Avalanche finished with the second-worst record in the NHL, but won the draft lottery which will give them the No. 1 overall pick in June’s entry draft. They are expected to take defenseman Seth Jones.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Matt Duchene, who was in the running to be on the cover of NHL ’14, failed to receive enough votes to advance to the semifinal round of fan voting, the team announced.

The #NHL14CoverVote results are in & unfortunately Matt Duchene isn’t moving on to the next round as the comeback effort fell a little short

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 13, 2013

Duchene beat out teammate Gabriel Landeskog to make the round of 16 in this year’s cover vote, but lost out to Edmonton’s Taylor Hall in the quarterfinals.

Despite a lockout-shortened season, Duchene nearly doubled his point production from a season ago, with 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) over last year’s 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 2012-13.

The last time an Avalanche player was on the cover of the game was nearly 10 years ago; Joe Sakic was featured on one version of NHL 2004. Prior to that, Peter Forsberg was featured on the cover of NHL ’98.

Sakic was named executive vice president of hockey operations for the Avalanche last Friday.

Hopefully under Sakic’s leadership, the Avalanche will improve both in the win column and the cover vote next season.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE

The once proud organization finished second to last in a shortened season – one of the worst since moving to Denver. The day after that, they fired Head Coach Joe Sacco.

The shakeup continued Friday when former team captain Joe Sakic took over the role of executive vice president of hockey operations and Josh Kroenke, president of the Denver Nuggets, assumed the role of president of the Colorado Avalanche.

Stepping into a position previously occupied by Eric Lacroix, who left the club at the end of the season, Sakic is now tasked with turning the Avalanche into a contender once more. While he will work hand in hand with current General Manager Greg Sherman, it is obvious that Sakic will have near autonomous control over everything that happens with the club.

“We’re here for one reason and that’s the only reason I’m here and I really believe, after our conversations, that’s for us to come back and compete for a Stanley Cup year in and year out. We’re looking forward to making those things possible,” Sakic said.

“I have a great working relationship with Greg. We think alike on this and we want to move in the right direction. Obviously we have some great hockey people in our organization that care about this team and want the same thing. It’s one of those things, together, as a group, we’re all going to have a say and ideas and we’re going to do what we feel is right for the organization. When it comes down on a hockey decision, the final decision, hopefully we’ll all agree but yeah, I will be making the final decision on that.”

Handing over the keys to the classic Mustang, which is in dire need of repairs, to a guy who lived and breathed the game is hardly a window dressing. Fans looking for a bigger signal that the Kroenkes are dedicated to winning have just had an avalanche siren go off in their face.

Joe Sakic, the hero on the ice now has a chance to become Joe Sakic, hero off the ice.

And, for Sakic, the top priority for his club is finding a new coach. One that has what it takes to shape the next generation into a Stanley Cup winning machine.

“I’m looking forward to getting started, especially finding our next coach,” Sakic said. “We want a very passionate coach. I think the one thing [is] obviously a change of culture. We need that winning attitude down in the dressing room. I believe we have some real, quality, young players on our team. Great players that are still young, that are learning, and we want to have a coach here who’s going to lead them along.

“We’d like to have someone hired by the draft, obviously. Starting today we’re going to really look at candidates and we’ll choose the right guy for this team.”

Kroenke’s transition to president truly signifies the changing of the old guard, as it means that mastermind Pierre Lacroix is no longer pulling the strings.

Thanks for the great moves and good times Pierre. For the Stanley Cups and for Patrick Roy.

Ciao for the bad. For not re-signing Peter Forsberg and trading Chris Drury. For promoting Francois Giguere.

C’est la vie. Or business anyway.

Good choices are forgotten for bad ones.

Kroenke taking over means more direct involvement with the hockey operation.

“This is a proud franchise, and one we fully expect to be back in the playoffs competing for a Stanley Cup in the coming years. I was here for game seven of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals,” Kroenke said. “It was the most memorable sporting experience of my life, and one that I want to experience again and again. We will get back there and it starts now.”

“The fact that both Josh and Joe have taken on larger roles speaks to their belief of what the future capabilities of this franchise are,” said Sherman.

With the coaching search in good hands, the next task for the Avalanche is to get a top prospect – likely Seth Jones – with the first overall pick at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft in June.

From there, only time will tell how different this regime will be. Though it will certainly won’t be the same.

For now, it seems to be the dawn of a new era for the Colorado Avalanche. One where the sun rises anew.

“I’m looking forward to helping lead this team to a championship one day,” Sakic said.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Former Avs president Pierre Lacroix will remain with the team as an advisor. According to Kroenke, Lacroix had expressed his wishes to step down as president for the team a few years ago. Since then, Kroenke has done his best to learn from the former president while working under him.

“Beginning today, I will be assuming the responsibilities as Avalanche team President,” said Kroenke to the team’s official website. “Having had the privilege of learning under a mentor like Pierre Lacroix, and then spending the past few seasons as governor, I feel ready to become much more involved on a daily basis.”

Greg Sherman will continue to be in charge of contract negotiations as well as be the Avalanche’s contact with the league office and its member teams.

“Greg Sherman will work with Joe in managing the day-to-day business operations of the team as General Manager,” added Kroenke. “I know he is just as optimistic as Joe and I are about the future of our team.”

Sakic, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2012, just concluded his second season as the organization’s Executive Advisor/Alternate Governor.

“I am thrilled to announce that Joe Sakic has agreed to become Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Avalanche,” continued Kroenke. “In that role, Joe will be in charge of all hockey-related decisions moving forward. With his credentials, presence and knowledge of the game, Joe will be a key ingredient in making sure that together we reach our future goals.”

The former Avs player knows what it will take for Colorado to be a championship caliber team again. The team hopes his leadership will give the Avs an edge moving forward.

“Last week, Josh reached out to me about the possibility of a bigger role,” said Sakic. “After those discussions, I really believe that Stan and Josh are committed to this franchise and want us to get back to where we used to be and compete for the Stanley Cup. Because of their commitment, it’s definitely the right time for me to take a more active role.”

As the Avalanche continue to change and move forward, fans hope next season won’t land them in the same spot as this year; last place in the NHL Western Conference.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Darren Millard of Sportsnet tweeted out that the Hall of Famer and Colorado legend will replace current VP of hockey operations Eric Lacroix, and take on a similar role to the one John Elway has with the Denver Broncos.

Told Joe Sakic will be taking over the hockey side of the Avalanche.per @realkyper earlier report, filling Elway type roll. announce soon.

— Daren Millard (@darenmillard) May 8, 2013

Since 2011, Sakic, the two-time Stanley Cup champion has held the role of Executive Advisor and Alternate Governor for the Avs.

Sakic spent all 20 of his pro hockey seasons with the franchise, seven in Quebec and 13 in Colorado since the team moved following the 1994-95 season. He scored 625 goals and tallied over 1000 assists over his 20-year career.

Sakic has a lot on his plate for an ex-player without much front office experience.

The Avalanche are without a coach after firing Joe Sacco on April 28th after a third straight season of missing the playoffs and a last place finish in the Western Conference, and hold the first overall pick in June 30th’s NHL Draft.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Many, including the NHL’s own Central Scouting Bureau, believe that pick will be used to select top junior prospect Seth Jones; a 6-foot-4 defenseman and son of former Denver Nuggets player Popeye Jones.

But that may not be the case, according to an interview with Avalanche amateur scouting director Rick Pracey.

“This is not a slam-dunk decision by any means,” Pracey told The Canadian Press. “Our philosophy has always been best player available.”

According to the report, Pracey thinks Halifax Mooseheads forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin are among the players worthy of being selected with the first pick.

Pracey emphasized that considering options outside of Jones was serious business, “It may sound like a cliché or we’re dancing but that isn’t the case. We firmly believe in building our list the right way and we’ll make our decisions based on our core scouting beliefs that we think have served us well in the past.”

But having given up 152 goals in a lockout shortened season, the Avalanche is certainly a team that has holes to fill on the defensive end.

Pracey did say that the Avs are looking at Jones’ defensive upside, “He’s certainly a well-rounded, two-way defenseman that is getting plenty of attention and hype at the top of the board and rightly so.”

No one will truly be certain of what the Avalanche do with the first overall pick until the draft takes place on June 30. But while the son of a former NBA player may not be considered “slam dunk”, Seth Jones could be a “one timer.”

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

United States: Matt Hunwick, Erik Johnson, Paul Stastny, Aaron Palushaj

Canada: Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly

Czech Republic: Jan Hejda

Sweden: Gabriel Landeskog

Russia: Semyon Varlamov

Varly was one of the best players in the 2012 edition of the World Championship, backstopping Russia to a gold medal with eight wins and a .939 save percentage.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

While many outside of the organization saw fault with the one-time Jack Adams Award finalist, few saw his release coming as quickly as it did. The change in leadership meant that the Avalanche were listening. It meant that they weren’t content to watch their tarnished name being drug through the mud any longer.

It was a signal to fans that there are better days ahead.

On the surface anyway.

Behind the scenes, the sacking of Sacco was for show. Sacco was the sacrificial lamb, the whipping boy, the poster child for all that went wrong with the organization. Sacco took the blame for the ineptitude of the management at the Pepsi Center.

Thinking that the troubles of the Colorado Avalanche end with the coach leaving and selecting first overall at the coming draft is to miss the point completely. Things won’t get better.

Everything is the same across the street from Elitch’s. The President and Executive Vice President/General Manager remain in place. These men have been through it just as much as Sacco, and are arguably as involved, albeit off of the ice.

Sacco can take the fall for failure to execute, poor personnel decisions, an inability to inspire and even for having lost the ability to lead the young team. He cannot be blamed for adding and reassigning players like Tyson Barrie, the decision to sign players like Shane O’Brien and Greg Zanon, or even for failing to field a competitive team since the establishment of the salary cap.

Sacco was a low man on the totem pole. He did what he could with what he had to work with. Was it time for him to move on?

Yes.

Will things be better without him?

Not if the Avalanche continue their refusal to evolve in an ever changing hockey landscape.

The coaching search is on and there is little talk of how the Vice President of Hockey Operations, Eric Lacroix, left team hours after Sacco was canned.

With NHL eyes on the Stanley Cup playoffs and Avalanche-land watching the buzz before the draft, the fact that a rinse and repeat is about to happen in Denver will be conveniently lost on those who care.

Until the system as a whole undergoes a serious makeover, no amount of first overall draft picks can fix what’s wrong in Denver.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Now, the vote will be narrowed down to the top 16 players, as determined by a fan vote from the remaining field. If Duchene ends up top 16 in the open vote, he will be put into a bracket style head-to-head against the remaining 15 players.

Voting will take place at the cover vote page at NHL.com.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

With their shiny new No. 1 selection — the highest draft pick in Avalanche history — they’re widely expected to pick up Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones.

The other two top prospects in the draft are left winger Jonathan Drouin and center Nathan MacKinnon, who both play for Halifax of the QMJHL. (Some analysts consider them, along with Jones, to be the clear ‘Top Three’ in a very top heavy draft class.)

Dourin is of particular interest because of his uncanny ability to put the puck in the net. Aside from a defenseman, the Avalanche are in desperate need of a left-winger which is where Dourin plays. In the 2012-13 season for Halifax, he scored 41 goals in 49 games. His scoring ability would make a great asset to any team in the NHL.

Jones, however, is the favorite for a reason, though: Colorado is already loaded with young talent at the forward position thanks to two top-three overall picks in the past several years, which produced Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog.

Jones has Denver ties, just like lifelong Avs fan Matt Duchene had when the Avs picked him at No. 3 overall in 2009. His father, former NBA forward Popeye Jones, played for the Nuggets for a while, and Seth started learning the game of hockey at a young age while he was in Colorado. He stayed in Denver until the age of 12, when his family moved back to his birth state of Texas.

Since then, he’s become one of the best young players in the United States. He’s won a silver and three golds with the U.S. National U-18 and U-20 squads, including a gold at the most recent World Junior Championships. On that U-20 team, he was an assistant captain and showed a bit of swagger by boasting that the Americans were the best team in the tournament before it began, even though they were nowhere near the favorites.

Jones isn’t a one-trick pony, and the versatility that he brings to the defenseman position is one of the reasons why scouts love him so much. He’s a big guy, at 6’4” and 205 pounds, who can shut down just about anyone with his physical presence on the ice. He’s no stay-at-home lumberer in the vein of Adam Foote, though, as he is also a very good skater — his father once asked Joe Sakic what his son should work on, and Sakic’s answer was skating, because he knew that Seth would probably grow up to be big like his father. Watching his play with the Winterhawks, pushing his skating ability from a young age appears to have worked out for the 18-year-old. His defensive game is also more refined than to use sheer physicality, with good ability at clogging passing lanes and following plays as they develop.

On the attack, he plays at a high level as well. He scored 14 goals and dished out 42 assists in 62 games with the Winterhawks last season. With the United States at the WJC, he put up seven points in seven games. He has a booming shot from the point and is quite good at knowing when to pinch in to help with the offense. A very fluid passing game and great Hockey IQ don’t hurt his offensive potential either.

Combine the size and the hockey sense and you can see why he’s considered the top prospect in the draft. If the Avalanche agree, fans in Colorado will have a very exciting new name to add to the rather shallow defensive depth in the organization on June 30.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

Many thought it was Milan Hejduk’s last game in an Avalanche uniform, but that might not be the case according to one of his teammates.

In an interview with Eurolanche.com, Hejduk’s Avs and former Czech Republic teammate Jan Hejda said, “Last year [Hejduk] said it was supposed to be his last season.[sic] I still persuade him. We will see how the management would persuade him. It is up to him. I think he has a big potential to score goals and he has the best shot of the team. It is hard to decide during the season. Maybe it is important how he will feel in the summer.”

Hejda continued to convey his belief in his most recent interview with Eurolanche saying, “[Hejduk] told me he doesn’t want to make this decision shortly after the end of this season, but he will take some time to think about it.”

Hejduk’s production dipped again in a lockout and injury shortened season. Missing multiple games with neck and shoulder injuries, he tallied 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 29 games played this season. But he stayed healthy enough to become the second Avalanche player to play in 1,000 career games.

Hejduk signed a one-year contract for $2 million entering this season, a $600,000 pay cut from the previous season. Given his age and contract history, the Avalanche could be expecting him at a discount, should he return.

But perhaps the recent regime changes and the lure of a return to the playoffs could be enough to convince Hejduk to play for a 15th season with the Avalanche.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

The Avalanche has announced that head coach Joe Sacco has been relieved of his duties.

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 28, 2013

Sacco was the coach of the Avalanche for four seasons. He made the playoffs once (2009-10), but also presided over two season which saw the Avs clinch a lottery pick as one of the worst teams in the entire NHL.

The Avalanche will now look for the sixth coach in the history of the franchise.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

The Avs will have their chance to win their two last games in back-to-back contests Friday and Saturday; Friday in Phoenix against the Coyotes and Saturday at home versus the Minnesota Wild.

In this 48-game season, the Avs have played nine back-to-back matchups. It was a shortened season, but none the less tiresome for the NHL.

“It’s the nature of a season like this when it’s compact, you don’t get much rest,” center Matt Duchene said to the team’s official website. “It’s been grueling, but I think most guys have felt good throughout the year.”

Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start on Friday according to head coach Joe Sacco. Giguere is 3-0-2 in his last five appearances. Veteran Milan Hejduk will not play on Friday but is expected to appear in Colorado’s final game on Saturday.

And despite the fact that Colorado will not be advancing past regular season, the team is still regarding these final games as important.

“We want to finish strong. We want to win these next two games,” left wing Jamie McGinn said. “We can play a spoiler role, we don’t want to make it easy on any other team.”

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

The @avalanche recalled Tomas Vincour yesterday from @monstershockey.

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 23, 2013

Vincour tore up Lake Erie after being traded to the Avalanche organization from the Dallas Stars at the deadline, putting up five goals and six assists in six appearances for the Monsters.

The 22-year-old has historically not been great when called up to the NHL, with his most productive call-up being a 47-game stint with the Stars during the 2011/2012 season. He scored four goals and six assists in that stretch before being sent back down to Texas.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

The flavor of the month this time? Former starting goaltender turned benchwarmer Semyon Varlamov.

While nobody on the Avalanche will openly admit it, the fact that Varlamov is as reliable as a Ford Pinto isn’t lost on the team.

In the midst of a season-crushing skid, where a culture of losing was the only thing the young Avs had going for them, it took a veteran puck stopper calling the team out in public to turn the ship around. Even from there, Jean-Sebastien Giguere put his money where his mouth was, posting a 3-0-2 record and standing tall between the pipes after the comments about Las Vegas settled in.

His teammates responded to the harsh words in five of their last six contests, playing strong, upsetting hockey. They stole points from teams in the hunt and settled into their spoiler role.

Yet, it is the one game that they didn’t show up in that has spoken volumes about their dynamic this season.

A 4-1 loss to the equally lowly Edmonton Oilers, Varlamov’s first game since returning from nursing some injuries, was a glimpse back to the pathetic ways of the second-to-last-place team with no energy, passion or desire to succeed.

It it Varlamov? Has the team lost confidence in him?

While nobody will admit that as the truth, it is certainly in the context of conversations amongst the players and coaches on the club.

“Varly’s been working. He’s worked hard the last couple of days in practice. He’s looked better. It’s just a matter of him regaining some of that confidence that maybe he lost somewhere along the line,” said Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco following a 5-3 win – with Giguere in net – against the St. Louis Blues. “Varly will get back in there again before the end of the season. I’ll make those decisions accordingly.”

What about the older, been-there-done-that netminder?

“Jiggy’s played well. What can you say? And we’ve been winning with him in the net. We know the situation,” said Sacco. “He’s come in. He’s given us probably more games than we had thought originally, but plans change throughout the course of the season. We’re still here. We still want to win games here, right down to the very last game.”

Having seen as many starts in the first half of the season as he’s seen in the last three weeks, Giguere takes the sudden change in workflow in stride, like a pro.

“As a backup, you have to be ready for all kinds of different scenarios right? It can be injuries. It can be moments like that where you grab the lead for a bit,” said Giguere. “So you can’t slack off. You have to be ready. You have to practice hard because you never know what’s going to happen.”

The way Giguere’s been playing, you almost have to wonder if the season would have turned out differently had he seen more time in net early on. Still, Giguere doesn’t dwell on the past like that and is quick to defend the young duckling that he’s taken under his own wing.

“That’s something that you have to ask the coaches right? Varly has been great for us this year. He’s giving us a chance every time he play,” said Giguere. “We just haven’t been good enough as a team. It’s everyone’s fault, myself included.”

Of the duo, Giguere is the only one to have won on the road – just three times. That makes no difference to guys like Shane O’Brien, who also believe that his team’s failures belong to the group and no particular individual.

“We have two good goalies. Varly’s been good all year. We’ve given up some pretty quality chances where he’s made some saves that there’s some guys in the league that couldn’t make that save,” said O’Brien after the loss to Edmonton. “And Jiggy’s come in, when he’s played, and played well. Jiggy’s a competitor. Anytime he gets in there, he’s going to compete as hard as he can.

“Goaltending’s definitely not been our problem this year. They’ve both been great. When you continue to give up quality chances in the middle of the ice, it doesn’t matter who’s in net, they’re going to score goals. So we haven’t been nearly good enough defensively. Those two guys have battled as hard as they could for us all year. It’s definitely not goaltending.”

With three games remaining and Varlamov slated to start against the Blues, there isn’t much time left to worry about who gets the start in the last, meaningless contests. Though if Varlamov can’t win, be ready for the starting role to be up for grabs come training camp in September.

That is unless there has been a shakeup in that position by then.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE