They were able to claw their way back and take down the Tar Heels 12-11 to get to the Final Four. College lacrosse’s western power is set to face off against Syracuse on Saturday with a chance to get to their first NCAA Championship game.

As they spend the week preparing for the tournament, they’re getting support from around the community, starting with new Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker.

Broncos WR @weswelker speaks to University of Denver lacrosse team in advance of their Final Four appearance. twitter.com/psmyth12/statu…

— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) May 21, 2013

Welker is no stranger to championship pressure. He played in two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, coming up short in both attempts.

Should the Pioneers get by the Orange, they will face the winner of Cornell and Duke in the NCAA Title game May 27.

For more college sports news, CLICK HERE.

Astacio will join a cast of hall of fame players from around baseball representing their respective clubs. Among those in attendance will be Tommy Lasorda (Dodgers), George Brett (Royals), Darryl Strawberry (Mets) and Ivan Rodriguez (Rangers).

According to the Rockies official website, the club will also send player development assistant Walker Monfort to the draft as a representative for the team.

Astacio’s recognition by the club is well-deserved. Pitching in parts of five seasons with Colorado, the hurler accumulated 53 wins, still good for fifth most in team history. In 1999 alone, Astacio went 17-11 with 210 strikeouts in 232 innings, all club records at the time.

For more Rockies news, CLICK HERE.

Miller claims he’s kidding, but he says such things with a certain degree of seriousness that it wouldn’t be hard to imagine him having the urge to do it.

Such is the life of the Broncos defensive star during OTAs. After two days of workouts, Miller is seeing a lot of potential on the defensive side of the ball.

He specifically highlighted second-year defensive lineman Derek Wolfe. According to Miller, Wolfe looks great and should have a banner year for the Broncos. Miller also said that he thinks he took three or four sacks away from Wolfe in 2012.

Nickelback Chris Harris is also among those looking and feeling great during the early stages of Broncos workouts. Harris was able to pick off Peyton Manning during Monday’s practice, something he says he’ll never get tired.

Harris is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

“I’m not worried about my next (contract),” Harris said.

The Broncos will report to Dove Valley Wednesday for the last workout of the week. They won’t report back as a team until May 29.

For more Broncos news, CLICK HERE.

While the statement was confirmed to be true by Adrian Dater of The Denver Post, the news of Roy’s possible arrival brings with it an odd dichotomy of emotions. There’s excitement, reservation, happiness, nostalgia, concern, and uncertainty.

What if he fails? How will players respond to his fire and passion? How great is it to see him return? Will he sell tickets and fill seats?

The ultimate conundrum is can he coach at the NHL level?

Despite executive vice president of hockey operations, Joe Sakic saying he didn’t want to take a guy straight out of a junior hockey league, the hiring has done just that. Though Sakic did say he wanted a guy who knows the NHL.

It’s safe to say that the four-time Stanley Cup champion, three-time Vezina and three-time Conn Smythe winning netminder knows a thing or two about the NHL. But talent doesn’t always translate when a player is placed on the other side of the bench. Just ask Wayne Gretzky.

Still, Roy owns a lofty coaching record in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league, having gone 307-128-32 since taking over as head coach in 2005 and he won the Memorial Cup during just his second year on the job.

He also has more experience coaching, at any level, than both Tony Granato and Joe Sacco had before they took over.

Can he jump into the shark tank and swim with the best of them? Scotty Bowman certainly thinks so.

“I think he has enough experience now and deserves an opportunity,” Bowman, one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, told The Denver Post in 2009. “I know he has the passion to coach.”

That vote of confidence also speaks to Roy’s ability to motivate his players. Sure, he wasn’t coaching top league superstars with giant egos and perhaps a penchant towards a losing attitude, but he has had some success calling the shots.

Though with a guy known for smashing VCRs and ripping down doors leading the room, there’s no telling what will happen. That kind of fervency might not serve as a motivator for others.

Still, the return of the greatest goaltender in Colorado Avalanche history can’t hurt ticket sales. Colorado can’t get much worse than they were last season, and now with two once-marketable faces returning to adorn the Avalanche with the overdue laurels of victory, there will certainly be an increase in attendance early on.

The nostalgia factor is good for that.

For a team that severely struggled with goaltending over the course of a shortened venture, the presence of Roy could be good. There’s no denying that he is among the elitist of goaltenders in the fabled record books of the game, and his wisdom, mentality and winning ambition could do a lot for a young keeper with an identity crisis. Semyon Varlamov could learn a great deal from having a former goalie in charge.

Roy knows how important it is to have a brick wall in the blue paint.

But it could also ruin Varlamov. Having had only a goaltending consultant, Kirk McLean, to work with has hurt Varlamov’s development. He needs more and he needs to find his confidence again. Not living up to the standards of the great and powerful Roy could really weigh heavy on him mentally. There may be a lot of pressure placed on Varlamov from within the organization, and he is expected to be the starting goalie for Russia at the Olympics in Socchi next year.

So there certainly has been so stress from the outside as well.

Then there is the history to worry about. There isn’t an Avalanche fan around that doesn’t adore Roy for what he did when he played for the Avalanche. He is a legend.

He is an exaggerated legend of an already great legend.

What happens if he can’t win? What happens if he has the tenure of Barry Melrose with the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Does that taint his legacy? Do fans turn on him? Do his good deeds from a previous life go unpunished?

Maybe fans will judge him separately, as they should, for his time coaching. If they do, they will be better off for it. But most of them won’t, and that puts a lot of undue pressure on the 47-year-old Quebec City native.

There is also the concern about the future relationship between Roy and Sakic. What happens if Roy gets too vocal or doesn’t like the decisions that his former teammate is making? That could have a major impact on the entire organization.

Diehard followers of the Colorado Avalanche need Xanex just thinking about what Roy brings to the team. Even with all of the questions, the Avalanche have nowhere to go but up. They have just won the first overall pick in the coming NHL Entry Draft after finishing second to last in the 30-team league.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

The 6-foot-3 center, currently entering his senior year with the Buffs, has been an active starter on the squad since his sophomore year. He is expected to remain the everyday starter for the team going into 2013. This is his second straight season being placed on the Rimington watch list.

For more college sports news, CLICK HERE.

Should Nuggets fans be worried?

Loyalty means nothing in today’s world, the only thing that matters is money. Ujiri is one of the lowest paid general mangers in the NBA and that has to change if the Nuggets want him back.

Money will be Ujiri’s deciding factor. Not just the money that he’ll be putting in his bank account but also the money he’ll have to play with. The Nuggets will have more money than the Raptors to spend this summer. Denver will have just fewer than $7 million to spend once Iguodala opts out. The Nuggets will likely have more than that to spend once a few moves are made in free agency. Close to another $7 million could open up if the qualifying offers to Timofey Mozgov, Julyan Stone and Quincy Miller are not picked up.

The Raptors were going to be in good shape this summer financially, before they made the deal to acquire Rudy Gay. Gay will make almost $18 million next year and close to $20 million in the 2014-15 season. As the Nuggets do, the Raptors have a few players that have qualifying offers and player options that could potentially open up more money. Unless the Raptors move Rudy Gay the Nuggets will have more money to play with in the NBA off-season.

As long as the Kroenkes are willing to at least match the offer that the Raptors make, Masai Ujiri will return to the Denver Nuggets. Ujiri has a couple of aces in the hole as well. Josh Kroenke just named himself the president of the Colorado Avalanche, which means he has less time for the Nuggets. Kroenke and Ujiri are close and Kroenke trusts Ujiri to run the team the way that he would run the team.

The Kroenke family hired Masai Ujiri in 2010 and it was a move that was looked at by a lot of people as cheap and just a way to save money. The Kroenkes thought they had found their diamond in the rough and they were right; but now it’s time to reward the man.

For more Nuggets news, CLICK HERE.

If the rumors of last night become the reality of today, the Avs have just made a hire that will momentarily bump the Broncos from the top headline in Denver sports. Monday evening, while football fans were gobbling up sound bites from Broncos players returning to Dove Valley for the first OTA of the summer, Stephane Roy was busy updating his Facebook page.

“For all my friends, I’d like you to know before the official news spreads that my older brother will be the new coach of the Colorado Avalanch (sic),” Roy posted last night.

The brother to whom he refers is Saint Patrick, and the news could not be bigger – or better. After all, Patrick Roy is unquestionably one of a very – very – small group of individuals who truly belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Denver sports. It’s not every day that one of those types reports back for duty in what appears to be an “all-in” effort to turn around a once-proud franchise.

An unofficial Facebook posting is certainly not the traditional or preferred way to announce such a momentous hire (Avs longtime media relations man Jean Martineau had to be ice-melting-mad that the news was leaked in such a manner), but then again, the past week hasn’t exactly been business as usual for the Avalanche front office. It was just 11 days ago that Joe Sakic – another individual who holds “Mount Rushmore” status in these parts – was named the team’s executive vice president of hockey operations. Roy and Sakic, both returning to the Avalanche in extremely legitimate capacities? This is no longer a joke; if these two fellas don’t want to win, then nobody does.

The hiring of Roy is particularly significant because in some ways, the former goaltender is an unlikely choice. By hiring Roy, Sakic makes one big statement – winning is more important than anything.

Sakic could have easily brought in a lesser man, someone who wielded less power, command or respect. In his first week in his new capacity with the franchise, Sakic could have easily hired a puppet, someone who would have taken his every cue from above. But he didn’t. Instead, he brought in one of the most hard-headed, egotistical, nasty, tell-it-like-it-is personalities in the history of professional sports. It’s inevitable that the two men will lock horns at some point, but they’ll be doing so in pursuit of excellence.

Sakic could have also employed someone whose name wasn’t as big as his own. Clearly, the spotlight is of little significance to Sakic; winning is everything.

Bringing Roy back to Denver isn’t just a fancy PR move intended to sell a few season tickets, either. Roy is the real deal, even when it comes to coaching. Unlike past examples – great players like Ted Williams, Magic Johnson or Wayne Gretzky, who could play but couldn’t coach – Roy wants to be more than figurehead. Like Sakic, vanity is not the M.O.

Like few big-name athletes who want to begin a coaching career, Roy has been logging long hours as a major junior league coach. He didn’t rely solely on his name or his hardware as a player to justify the title of “coach.” Instead of jumping at the first big league job opening available, Roy has coached the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since 2005, compiling a 307-128-32 record, including a Memorial Cup championship.

Back in the February of 2005, when Roy became the first member of the Colorado Avalanche to be inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, he kindly said “thanks but no thanks” to the induction ceremony, becoming the first inductee not to accept the award in person. Roy cited his role with the Remparts as the reason for skipping out. Make no mistake, Roy is a no-nonsense guy; he’ll be much more than a plaque outside his office door.

By the end of his tenure as head coach, Joe Sacco commanded little to no respect from his youthful core of Avalanche players. That same group, however, will be in for a major shift in culture – without question, there’s a new sheriff in town. Under Roy, players will simply be scared not to win. That coaching style may not last forever, but right now, it’s exactly what the organization desperately needs.

The headline most definitely reads big and bold, but hiring Patrick Roy has nothing to do with making a public splash. Like the man himself, the move only considers one thing.

Winning.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE

But Moore had a message for those fans: “The thing is, it’s like life in general: you have to move on. You’re going to have some good days, some bad days. But you can’t just thrive on the good days all the time. The fans, that’s what they’re supposed to do, that’s why they’re there for us, they pay all their money, their hard-working money and they want to see greatness. So, I don’t fault them at all. But this year, we’re going to do all we can to put some smiles on their faces,” he told reporters following the team’s first day of OTAs.

It marked one of the few times Moore has spoken with the press since the end of last season. Recently, Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio came out in praise of Moore. “Yeah, sometimes hard work is the best tonic when you feel the sting of something,” Del Rio told ESPN.

When asked by the media what specific aspect of his game he looks to improve upon this off-season Moore replied, “Everything. Everything, point blank, period. Everything. There’s nothing in particular that you look at and say, ‘This needs to get better.’ Everything needs to get better. I’m not perfect.”

But for Moore to get better, he may need some pushing from a veteran like Charles Woodson, who recently visited the team as a free agent. “I hope that we get [Woodson] because I’m all about competition,” Moore said.

So while Rahim Moore has moved on from his January playoff blunder, only time will dictate whether the fans will.

For more Broncos news, CLICK HERE.

McGahee hasn’t played since November of last year when he suffered an MCL tear in a game against the San Diego Chargers.

Of the four-year $9.5 million contract McGahee signed entering the 2011 season, he is slated to make $2.5 million in 2013 along with a $500,000 signing bonus.

In McGahee’s place, both Ronnie Hillman and second-round draft pick Montee Ball received reps with the first team offense. Peyton Manning told reporters that Hillman is expected to have an increased role in the Broncos’ offense this season.

Knowshon Moreno was present at Monday’s practices, but has not been cleared to participate. Moreno is recovering from an arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent following a knee injury he suffered during the Bronco’s January playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

While McGahee’s absence may be a cause of concern for some, it is common league-wide for NFL veterans to skip voluntary activities. Other Broncos missing from OTAs were a number of offensive lineman including left tackle Ryan Clady (shoulder injury, contract dispute), center J.D. Walton (ankle injury) and right guard Chris Kuper (ankle injury).

Wait and see on Woodson: Broncos head coach John Fox stayed mum on the possibility of the team signing free agent safety Charles Woodson saying, “Out of respect to the process, we’ll wait and see.” Woodson is scheduled to visit with the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday.

For more Broncos news, CLICK HERE.

It will be part of a number of games the Under-20 National Team will play in preparation for the upcoming U-20 World Cup, which will be played later this summer in Turkey.

Serna will join the U-20 team this weekend, with O’Neill to join him on June 2 after the Rapid’s June 1 home game against Dallas. He has started in seven games for the Rapids this season.

Serna (Brighton, Colo.) and O’Neill (Boulder, Colo.) are both originally from Colorado.

It’s not the first time O’Neill has joined the National Team, he previously spent time training with the U-20 team in Puebla, Mexico back in January.

Following the Toulon tournament, the group stage of the U-20 World Cup will take place in late June with the U.S. facing Spain on June 21 in Istanbul, Turkey.

For more Colorado sports news, CLICK HERE.

According to Rivals.com, CU signed its seventh quarterback to the roster with the inking of 6-foot-2, 190-pound quarterback Jordan Gehrke from Scottsdale Community College (Ariz.).

In ten games played with SCC last season, Gehrke tallied 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, passing for 2,388 yards while completing 51.8 percent of his passes.

Other quarterbacks currently on the Buffs’ roster include senior Brent Burnette, freshman Shane Dillon, sophomores Stevie Joe Dormon and John Schrock and junior Connor Wood.

Junior Nick Hirschman transferred to Akron after spring ball.

Senior Jordan Webb’s future with the team is in doubt given an ACL tear he suffered in spring ball in addition to a recent arrest on second degree assault charges.

The signing of Gehrke adds depth to the roster, given his 10 games of post-high school experience.

But Connor Wood is now suddenly the favorite to start this coming fall, having seen action in six games for CU last season.

For more college sports news, CLICK HERE.

Among those are the owners of the Toronto Raptors, who think that Ujiri just might provide the spark to turn the franchise around, and are willing to give him “full control”.

According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Ujiri is the top candidate on a list presented to the Raptors ownership group Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

The MLSE remains in full pursuit of Denver GM Masai Ujiri to assume full control of Raptors, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 20, 2013

With a roster largely built by Ujiri, the Nuggets posted a franchise best 57-25 regular season record. Conversely, Toronto finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, at 34-48.

As of Monday, Bryan Colangelo was relieved of his duties as president and general manager of the Raptors, leading many to believe the team will make a strong push for Ujiri. He spent three years under Colangelo in the Raptors organization before being hired as Denver’s GM in 2010.

One of the league’s lesser paid GMs, Ujiri’s contract with the Nuggets expires this summer and he is currently in negotiations with the team.

For more Nuggets news, CLICK HERE.

Roy has put together a modest resume for himself since retiring from the sport as a member of the Avalanche in 2003. In his first season as owner, general manager and coach of the Quebec Remparts, he led them to a Memorial Cup victory over the Moncton Wildcats in 2006. He has since gone 307-138-32.

As a player, he is arguably the best goaltender to ever play the game, but can NHL success as a player transcend over to the bench? The 18-year veteran has taken home a total of four Stanley Cups and three Conn Smythe trophies throughout his career.

The hall of famer was up for the head coaching job back in 2009, but the Avalanche went with Joe Sacco. Sacco went 130-134-30 with one playoff appearance. The Avs brought Sacco up after just four years of less than stellar numbers coaching in their minor league system.

The head coaching job was held previously by Joel Quenneville who went 131-92-23 with the team. While Quenneville had previous NHL coaching experience with the St. Louis Blues, he was unable to lead the Avs to a winning playoff series and left for the Windy City after the 2008-09 season, where he has found success coaching the Blackhawks.

Despite a number of talented first round draft picks, the Avalanche has been in a downward spiral the last few seasons without a playoff appearance since the 2009-10 season. Recent changes in the front office have hinted at a total reconstruction of the coaching staff.

Could “Saint Patrick” be the savior that Colorado hockey fans are looking for? He has already led two Avalanche teams to Stanley Cups as a player, but has yet to prove himself at the NHL coaching level and the Avalanche cannot afford to have another disappointing season.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE.

After trailing for nearly the entirety of the game, DU senior attacker Eric Law scored the final goal with 13 seconds remaining to seal a 12-11 victory for the Pioneers. Law led the Pioneers with six points in the game with a hat trick and three assists. DU sophomore midfielder Wesley Berg also scored a game-high four goals along with an assist.

North Carolina led by as much as 6-0 in the first quarter, and took a 9-4 lead into the half. After a tumultuous first quarter, DU junior goalie Jamie Faus allowed just five goals in the final 50:23 of the contest, making 11 saves.

However, the Pioneers outscored the Tar Heels 3-1 in the third quarter and 5-1 in the fourth quarter to snatch the victory. The comeback was aided by DU senior Chase Carraro’s performance in the faceoff circle. Carraro won six of the final seven face-offs in the contest for the Pioneers.

“North Carolina: what a train that was, trying to stop that coming downhill at us early,” DU head coach Bill Tierney said. “Mostly, I’m proud of these young men and teammates for persevering. You don’t get too many opportunities in life to fight through such adversity and come back ahead. I’m just proud for everybody at the University of Denver and everybody in our organization.”

Denver will face top seed and 11-time National Champion Syracuse (3 p.m.) in this Saturday’s Final Four game in Philadelphia. Should the Pioneers win, they will face the winner of Duke-Cornell on May 27.

For more college sports news, CLICK HERE.

While the story in the NL West the past several seasons has been San Francisco’s seemingly unbeatable pitching rotation and bullpen, it’s the D-Backs that are turning heads in that category this time around. It’s the pitching that has carried them to the top of the West, with guys like Trevor Cahill and Patrick Corbin along with a solid bullpen leading them to a sparkling 3.38 team ERA. (Incidentally, former Rockie Matt Reynolds has a mind-boggling 0.92 ERA in 21 appearances for them. Arizona might have won that trade so far.)

If the Rockies pitching can do its job, the hitting for the D-Backs may just end up being a non-factor. Their offense certainly hasn’t been awful, but it hasn’t exactly lit up the scoreboards either. Young shortstop Didi Gregorious has been off to a blazing start for them and they continue to get big numbers from Paul Goldschmidt, Eric Chavez and Gerardo Parra, but past those few names, the team has been incredibly streaky behind the plate. All told, they bring a middling .254 team average to Coors Field. Only one player on their team (Goldschmidt) has hit more than five home runs, and they’re not particularly adept on the basepaths either, ranking 12th in the NL in stolen bases. (Only five players on the entire team have any stolen bases at all, and A.J. Pollack’s five lead the team.)

With Colorado’s bats now suddenly hot, having put up 31 runs in that Giants series, there’s no reason to think they shouldn’t be able to out-hit Arizona at Coors. With half of their games being low-scoring one or two-run type affairs this season, and the Rockies getting moderately favorable pitching match-ups for the final two games of the series, that’s probably all that Colorado will need to do. Three games in San Francisco await them after the home-stand, and they’ll need as big a win cushion as they can get if their form in the past few years at AT&T Park is any indication.
Of course, after that they get the Astros for five games.

Patrick Corbin (6-0, 1.52 ERA) vs. Jon Garland (3-4, 4.89 ERA)
Colorado did a bit of streak-slaying when they knocked around Madison Bumgarner to the tune of nine runs during the Giants series, a guy who was looking like a Cy Young candidate up until that point. They’ll need to repeat that feat against top prospect turned top player Patrick Corbin, who has looked not just like a Cy Young candidate, but Cy Young himself with the amazing numbers he’s put up so far in his sophomore season. He hasn’t had an outing under six innings yet this season, and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his starts either. Only that streaky D-Backs offense has kept him from an 8-0 record. (The two no-decisions came when he allowed one and two runs to the Yankees and Giants, respectively.) Garland being on the mound opposite him isn’t the ideal match-up for the home team, but if he can be effective on the ground as usual and let the Rockies’ bats do their work, there’s always a chance.

Ian Kennedy (2-3, 4.88 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-3, 4.07 ERA)
Chacin had his first legitimately bad game of the season during the Giants series, allowing the Giants to put up eight straight runs after the Rox had taken a 6-0 lead. That was caused by only two bad innings sandwiched by three very good ones, though, so it’s hard to believe that he won’t revert back to at least decent form. Fortunately, he gets Arizona’s least in-form pitcher as his opposition to try and bounce back. Kennedy hasn’t been bad by any stretch of the imagination, but he has been shaky at times and has been prone to giving up decent amounts of hits and walks even if the runners aren’t always crossing home plate in the end.

Trevor Cahill (3-4, 2.38 ERA) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (5-3, 3.58 ERA)
No pitcher has been hurt more by Arizona’s off-and-on offense than Cahill, who hasn’t given up more than four earned runs all season but still has four losses and two no-decisions to his name. With hot, hot Jorge De La Rosa going up against him, this promises to be the best pitching match-up of the series. With the Rockies offense being more than happy to supply plenty of run support to DLR in his last several starts, it might just be a Rockies victory as well.

***

Game To Watch: Cahill vs. De La Rosa

Game To Skip: Don’t skip any this time, all three promise to be very entertaining affairs. With Arizona’s propensity for close games this season, you’re just about always guaranteed a fun one when they’re in town.

For more Rockies news, CLICK HERE.

They are both the most-recognizable and popular players in the history of the franchises for which they played. For 16 years, one donned the jersey of only a single team; the other stretched that run to 21 seasons. They each all but define the phrase “face of the franchise.”

After their respective retirements, the once-proud teams fell on hard times. And when the franchises hit low points in recent years, when the most dangerous of conditions – fan apathy – began to set in, they were each brought in to rejuvenate a dormant squad.

In January 2011, John Elway was hired by the Denver Broncos to be their executive vice president of football operations. His job was to reclaim the team’s glory years, a time that saw him lead the franchise to a pair of Super Bowl titles.

And just this month, Joe Sakic was hired by the Colorado Avalanche to be their executive vice president of hockey operations. His job was to reclaim the team’s glory years, a time that saw him lead the franchise to a pair of Stanley Cup titles.

John and Joe, two Colorado sports icons, were tasked with what is essentially the same mission. Elway and Sakic were asked to right teams that were careering dangerously off course. When losing became the norm, the men who had come to symbolize winning were asked to revive that quickly fading culture.

In a little more than two years, Elway is in the HOV lane on the NFL highway, as the Broncos are once again among the league’s marquee teams. Hockey fans in Colorado hope that Sakic can do the same.

The NHL Hall of Fame inductee certainly has some of the same built-in advantages that his Pro Football Hall of Fame counterpart had when he took the job.

Both inherited high draft choices, compliments of the dreadful teams they took over. And the two men who were known for their ability to light up the scoreboard during their playing days, used (or figure to use) the picks to shore up their team’s respective defenses. Elway turned the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft into Von Miller, one of the best pass rushers in the game. And Sakic is expected to take Seth Jones, the best young defenseman in hockey, with the No. 1 selection in June’s NHL Draft.

Both men also walked into rosters that possessed high-quality young players. Elway arrived at Dove Valley and found a cornerstone left tackle in Ryan Clady, as well as the Broncos wide receiver tandem of the future in Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas. Similarly, Sakic’s job is made easier by the fact that the Avalanche’s cupboard isn’t completely bare. Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog are two building blocks that any franchise in the league would love to have on their roster.

Those two positives were nice for Elway, and they’ll be certainly be helpful for Sakic. But by themselves, they won’t be enough.

Changing the culture, drafting a future star and having a couple of key pieces already on board will only be a start to the rebuilding process. Proving that the “Stanley Cup or bust” mentality has returned to Pepsi Center again is the key to Super Joe ultimately finding success as a front office executive.

It was certainly the most important factor in Elway pulling off a quick turnaround.

The Broncos proved they were back in the business of chasing Super Bowls when they wooed Peyton Manning. Two months after advancing to the AFC Divisional Playoffs and despite having the immensely popular Tim Tebow on the roster, Elway went all in when he the greatest free agent in NFL history was on the market. The pursuit of a future Hall of Fame quarterback showed that things were different at Dove Valley; winning was once again the No. 1 mission. Giving Manning $96 million only added to the notion, showing that financial considerations weren’t driving every decision the Broncos made.

What are the Avs going to do to make the same statement? What move are they going to make to prove that the Sakic hiring really was indeed a culture shift for the organization and not just a PR stunt?

It’ll be tougher for the Avalanche to do than it was the Broncos. After all, Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin aren’t available to the highest bidder. So the quick fix and simple solution isn’t out there. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

Colorado can send a message with who they hire as their new head coach. Promoting Joe Sacco to that spot in June of 2009, as well has keeping him there through four underwhelming seasons, certainly spoke volumes to the fans. This time around, the team needs to communicate the exact opposite to their loyal base. The hiring of the right coach can certainly show that the organization is committed to winning more than the bottom line.

Pulling off a blockbuster deal would also do the trick. After all, it was ultimately a trade for Patrick Roy that turned an up-and-coming team into a Stanley Cup contender in 1996 by showing that the team intended on winning then, not down the road. Doing something similarly as bold now would carry the same weight.

Elway has done a lot of great things since returning to Dove Valley. From 4-12 to Super Bowl favorites in 28 months is proof of that fact. But he didn’t accomplish this transformation through smoke and mirrors; he had tools at his disposal.

Sakic will have some of those same assets to work with as he tries to pull off a similar reclamation project at Pepsi Center. If Jones turns into a star like Miller, that’ll be a huge first step. And if Duchene and Landeskog continue to develop on a trajectory like Clady, Decker and Thomas, that would also help the cause immensely.

But ultimately, the biggest arrow Elway has in his quiver is the support of Pat Bowlen. Within months of taking the job, it became obvious that No. 7 wasn’t hired to pacify a restless fan base; he was brought in because the owner was sick of losing and he wanted the man who most represented success in a Broncos uniform to restore a winning culture in Denver.

For Sakic’s sake, as well as Avalanche fans, here’s hoping Josh Kroenke is going to provide Super Joe with the same support. If so, perhaps a hockey resurgence in Colorado is on the horizon. If not, it’ll continue to be an uphill battle for the Avs.

For more Avalanche news, CLICK HERE