Thread: THE official Colorado Avalanche/NHL thread!!!

Originally Posted by underrated29

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Hehe. Sorry guys. Went to take the trash cans out, come back and see my chubby 4 year old playing on my computers.

I am actually kinda impressed that he was able to reply to a thread, and get an elephant or two in there and manage to post it no less. He just turned 4 last month and obviously does not know how to read...

But sorry for the weird post.

He's obviously pissed about the Mueller injury too. Just let him vent his frustrations.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_16207281

Joe Sakic reiterated today that he isn't yet ready to transition into a job in NHL management with the Avalanche, preferring to spend another year coaching his sons' youth hockey team in Littleton.

"I'm very comfortable with where I'm at right now. It's only been one year," said Sakic, the Avs' all-time leading scorer who retired after the 2008-09 season. "I had such a fun year at home last year that I wanted to do it again. My kids are at a perfect age right now to be home, so I didn't want to be traveling too much right now."

Sakic, though, said he has something of an informal role with the team, saying, "I watch all the games and if (team president) Pierre (Lacroix) needs me for anything, I'm always around.

Sakic said he does want to get into management at some point in the future, and that he talked some with Lacroix over the summer about a possible role in management when he's ready.

"There's no question. Once you're in the game and it's been part of your life, you never want to leave it. At some point, I'm going to want to get back into it. But you have to be committed with the travel and what you need to do." Sakic said. "Right now, I'm just not ready yet."

Sakic spoke on a conference call with reporters, along with former Avs teammate Claude Lemieux, about plans for next week's reunion of the 1995-96 team that won the Stanley Cup.

Lemieux, who retired after a brief comeback with the San Jose Sharks last season, kidded that Sakic will need to "get a pass" from parental and husbandly duties next week, because he and other teammates plan to take him out on the town.

"So many of the guys I have not seen in so many years and have no idea what they're doing, so we're all excited. It's going to be a great time," said Lemieux, who lives in Toronto now and also is heavily involved in the hockey career of his son, Brendan.

So long Darcy Tucker.

Never one to back down, Darcy Tucker has decided it's time to face life's next challenge and in doing so, he's announcing through TSN, his decision to retire from the National Hockey League.

"After spending the whole summer anticipating I would play, it got to a point where I knew it was time."

"I just knew, during workouts I didn't have that same feeling," Tucker told TSN, "and I needed to be fair with my family."

The 35 year old, who played his final season with the Colorado Avalanche, ends his NHL career with 215 goals and 476 points over 14 NHL seasons.

His final season, in Colorado, was marred by a bad concussion which Tucker says, thankfully, he has no lingering affects from, but he still describes the experience as devestating and says while he came back from the hit that earned Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu a three game suspension, he was never the same and didn't play well after it.

Known as an agitator, the feisty forward enjoyed time in Montreal, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Colorado. However, his identity as both a pest and offensive threat was developed over the span of the eight seasons he played for the Maple Leafs.

Three of his six, twenty-plus goal seasons came during his time with the Leafs, and it was his fiercely competitive style his fans and critics will remember most.

Tucker says he will always cherish his playing days in Toronto.

"I regret not winning a Stanley Cup in Toronto, that would be the ultimate for any player."

"It was difficult to play in Toronto, it wasn't easy, but I took it as a compliment, and I thrived on it. I loved the pressure there," Tucker added.

At 5'10, 180 lbs, Darcy Tucker never looked out of place playing a big man's game and was equally skilled when it came to the physical battles or verbal warfare he seemingly thrived on.

In the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, Tucker's hip check on New York Islanders captain Mike Peca in game 5 of the opening round, left Peca with a severely damaged knee which ended his season and sparked an immediate debate over the intentions of the hit.

"It was one of those series and there may never be another like it," Tucker recalls.

"I've talked to Mike about it and I've always had a lot of respect for him."

"It was just one of those things and I was saddened he got hurt, but I was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he was the enemy at the time."

Vintage Darcy Tucker.

Tucker was a "love him, or hate him" type player, but as he looks back, he has few regrets, even though at times he knows he straddled the line.

"Obviously things happen that you regret, but I left it all out there."

"There I things I did that I wasn't proud of, but those were the things that kept me in the game," Tucker said.

"I am very proud of how hard I played, especially in Toronto."

Tucker began his pro career in Montreal's organization in the mid-90's which included one season in the American Hockey league with the Canadiens affiliate in Frederiction where he earned rookie of the year honours after recording 93 points and 174 penalty minutes in 74 AHL games. The following season, 1996-97, Tucker earned his spot in Montreal where he played a season and a half before getting traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

While he leaves the game without a Stanley Cup ring, Tucker, a native of Endiang, Alberta, a small farming community where his parents Dale and Florence still reside, Tucker has enjoyed his share of success, which includes 3 Memorial Cup Championships with the WHL's Kamloops Blazers and a World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal.

Major accomplishments that he swiftly identifies as his biggest achievements.

Tucker's emotion quickly surfaces as he talks about his junior days and the support he's always had from family.

"I deeply appreciate where I came from and how I got to where I am. I wouldn't be where I am today with the help and support of my parents and my wife, Shannon."

"I'm proud to have played in the NHL for as long as I did and I'm thrilled about the next chapter in my life, and I want to say thank you to all my fans and the people who have always been behind me."

As for what's next, the "next chapter," Tucker intends on entering the next phase of his professional life with as much intensity as he played and has partnered with his longtime representative, Carlos Sosa in forming Turning Point Sports Management, where he will spend this year consulting and recruiting young players, while working towards becoming a certified agent.

" I have always been a guy who needed something to move on to and I'm both thrilled and excited about this opportunity," Tucker concluded.

"He's the guy you want next to you in the Foxhole," said Sosa.

"We've been together a long time and neither of us wanted that to end."

"Darcy will be our primary indentifier of talent all over."

His tireless work ethic will serve him well.

It certainly did as an NHL player.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=335903

Meh. I never cared for Tucker. I put him in the same category with Matthew Barnaby. I've never been a fan before or during his time with the Avs.

Lookin forward to Oiler-Avalanche games this year. Should be fast paced, exciting tilts.

http://cbs4denver.com/sports/Avs.Ava...2.1950083.html

DENVER (AP) ― As a stay-at-home dad now, Joe Sakic's life centers around chauffeuring his daughter to gymnastics and coaching his two boys in hockey.

The Colorado Avalanche standout is in no hurry to change that schedule. After years of being gone, he's relishing his new, more relaxed role.

Maybe down the road, Sakic might entertain thoughts of getting involved with the Avalanche organization in some way.

"I'm having the time of my life right now, so I don't want to kind of ruin that," Sakic said. "But I watch all the games. ... Whenever they need me to come to a game, I'm here."

His presence has been requested for the season opener Thursday night against the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks.

For a night of fun and flashbacks, not in any sort of official capacity.

Sakic will join his buddies on the ice to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their 1996 Stanley Cup championship. There will be 26 players and coaches in attendance for the reunion, including Patrick Roy, Peter Forsberg, Mike Ricci, Mike Keane and Claude Lemieux.

"That was one of the best groups I've ever been around," Sakic said. "We were so close on and off the ice."

The Avalanche swept the Florida Panthers in the finals that year, giving the state of Colorado its first major pro sports crown in the team's first season in town after relocating from Quebec.

Not that it really helped with recognition around the city, especially in the early going.

Keane discovered that when he was stopped by a police officer as he traveled down the interstate on his way to practice. Since the team changed at old McNichols Arena and then carpooled to another facility, Keane was in full uniform, including his helmet.

"The policeman pulled him over and asked him for his ID," Lemieux recounted. "Keaner looked at him and he said, 'Are you kidding me?"'

The locker rooms were cramped back then, the facilities pretty sparse. But it really didn't matter to them, not with all the ability they had assembled.

"We knew we had a great shot at winning and we overlooked all the small problems that we might have faced," Lemieux said. "History will tell, but for me it was the most talented hockey team I ever played with."

Over the weeks leading up to the reunion, the players have spoken, chatting about get-togethers. Lemieux is just happy they're not playing in the season opener, especially with a team dinner Wednesday night.

"No curfew, so we're pretty excited," he said.

At 39 years old, Avalanche captain Adam Foote has been feeling rather spry these days, especially surrounded by a cast of younger players.

This reunion, though, almost makes him feel his age. He was on that '95-96 squad and is one of the few still playing.

Foote is simply not ready to hang up the skates yet.

"I'll know mentally when that day is," Foote said.

So on Thursday night, when his former teammates slip off the ice and begin to stroll down memory lane, Foote will be skating on it.

"But I'll see them all after," Foote said, smiling. "I'm going to have a lot of guys critiquing my game that day."

And maybe a little envious he's still able to play.

Forsberg, who was the NHL's MVP in 2003, has only played sporadically in recent years because of a bothersome right foot.

Yet he hasn't completely closed the door on a return.

"It doesn't look too good, but I haven't made a 100 percent decision yet," he said in September.

Forsberg remains an iconic figure in the Mile High City, his jersey rivaling those of Sakic and Roy in popularity.

"I don't know if I am popular or not," he coyly said.

Forsberg can't wait to hang out with the crew again, including some of his teammates he hasn't seen in quite a while.

"When you win something, you have a special bond, good memories," he said.

Sakic couldn't agree more. He was the longtime face of the franchise, the stoic leader who led the team to another Stanley Cup title in 2001 and still has a permanent stall at the Pepsi Center.

He's not ruling out a return to the Avalanche in some kind of role down the road.

"Once you're in the game and it's part of your life, you never want to leave it," Sakic said. "But you have to be committed to be able to travel and do the things you need to do to be successful in whatever role you're doing.

"Right now, I'm enjoying this too much to go to a full-time commitment."

AND

Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Parade in 2001

http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=...nc.dayport.com

AND

Guess Who's In Town

http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=...nc.dayport.com

I'm looking forward to roughly an hour and 25 minutes from now.

Originally Posted by SeeingRed

I'm looking forward to roughly an hour and 25 minutes from now.

They will be honoring the guys tonight before the game at 7:30, and I am sure we will not see it as versus has the game, and it is the 3rd game of the night for them, so I am sure there is no way they will break off the 2nd game, so we can see the pregame ceremony

Jack Skille is playing for the Hawks tonight, I worked with his sister for a few months earlier this year. I'd like to see him score a junk goal in the 3rd period to bring the Hawks within 4.

I'm watching on Versus too...elected not to get Center Ice this year.

Wide open game... Good penalty killing, sloppy powerplay. Gonna need a lot of offense from Duchene and Stewart this year. So far so good.

NHL really needs to get on a real network down in the States. Versus is brutal.

Oh well, still won't stop me from watching as many Av's games on CI as I can when the Oilers aren't playing.

Originally Posted by Edmonton Bronco Fan

NHL really needs to get on a real network down in the States. Versus is brutal.

Oh well, still won't stop me from watching as many Av's games on CI as I can when the Oilers aren't playing.

This is the last season of the Versus/NHL contract as far as I know... I'd like to see ESPN get it back.

Solid 2 points to start the season.