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The Avalanche struggled at times last season, as several stars, most notably captain Joe Sakic, missed significant time with injury. The Avalanche surprised many when they beat division champs Minnesota Wild in the playoffs. However, the Avalanche were then swept out of the playoffs in the 2nd round by eventual Cup champ Detroit Red Wings. Colorado was pretty quiet on the free agent front as they waited for Sakic to decide if he wanted to retire or not. As a result, the Avs ended up signing Maple Leaf castoffs Darcy Tucker and goalie Andrew Raycroft.

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Much to Avalanche fan's chagrin, Jose Theodore left Denver as a free agent after resurrecting his career with the aid of goalie coach Jeff Hackett. In his absence, Peter Budaj becomes the de facto number one goalie in Denver. Budaj put together a decent season as Theodore's backup (16-10-4, 2.57 GAA, .903 SP). However, those stats hide the fact that his shorthanded GAA was a frightening 8.59 and he had an overtime SP of .667. Both of those stats must improve if Budaj is going to play a significant number of games. In his favor, however, was a pair of excellent appearances in the playoffs against the Red Wings when Theodore missed time with an illness.

Former Bruins and Maple Leaf goalie Andrew Raycroft was singed after he was bought out of his contract by the Leafs. Raycroft was an abysmal 2-9-5, 3.92 GAA, .876 SP in Toronto last year as the goalie battle with Vesa Toskala fizzled and Toskala took over in net. Colorado is hoping the former Calder Trophy winner can recover his game like Theodore did the season before. The Avalanche are hoping that former Bruins teammate Hackett can get Raycroft back to the basics and turn him into a solid backup.

Things look pretty bleak for the Avs this season. This is probably not how Joe Sakic saw his final season (most likely) take place. Colorado is thin on defense, relying on the aging Adam Foote, thin on offense behind Sakic (Forsberg? Injured a lot. Smyth? Overrated? Stastny? Young) and especially thin in the net. Colorado is trusting two goalies, neither of which of proven able to be a starting goalie in the NHL. If Budaj doesn't take off and the Avs have to rely on Raycroft, it will be a long season in Denver. I believe that these two will put up similar stats as last season. Colorado will probably be looking for a goalie at the trading deadline if they are within shouting distance of the playoffs. Can Khabibulin be headed for Denver? It is too early to tell, but it may be the best fit for both sides.

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