+Colorado Avalanche: Lots of Holes to Fill+
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By Bob Birge 
SportsTicker Staff Writer 

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (Ticker) -- After a disappointing end to
the 1998-99 season, things did not get any better over the
summer for the Colorado Avalanche. 

One of the league's most talented teams, the Avalanche were one
win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Finals.  But they
managed only two goals over the final two games as the Dallas
Stars rallied to take the Western Conference finals. 

Colorado barely was over the sting of that defeat when 40-goal
scorer Theo Fleury, left wing Valeri Kamensky and defenseman
Sylvain Lefebvre signed as free agents with the New York
Rangers, who forked over $48 million to land the trio. 

To make matters worse, leading scorer Peter Forsberg could be
out until December following offseason shoulder surgery and
goaltender Patrick Roy saw limited action in the preseason
following hip surgery. 

While winger Adam Deadmarsh (22-26-48) has been used up the
middle in Forsberg's absence, Roy should be ready for the
regular season. 

Second-year coach Bob Hartley can do nothing about the
free-agent losses.  His primary concern heading into the season
is improving team defense, which was shaky at times last season.
Colorado ranked 11th in the league with 205 goals allowed. 

"We want to pick our players in a way that we get toughness, try
to keep good chemistry," Hartley said.  "We need to keep
progressing defensively.  One way to improve is to cut down our
goals-against.  That's a priority for the start of the season." 

"We're not going to have the offensive production without Peter,
and the guys that we've lost we'll miss a little bit, so we have
to play tighter defense," Deadmarsh added. "But you can't really
fill the gap totally." 
 
At just over $41 million, the Avalanche already have one of the
league's highest payrolls.  Forsberg makes $10 million, Roy
makes $7.5 million and center Joe Sakic is entering the final
season of a three-year, $21 million contract. 

The Avalanche have nearly $20 million tied up in their marquee
players, which could explain why Fleury is in New York.  But
shed no tears for Colorado, because the cupboard is far from
bare. 

Despite the losses and injuries, the Avalanche should have
enough depth to make another run at the Stanley Cup.  Forsberg,
when healthy, and Sakic form one of the NHL's best center
tandems and with three trips to the conference finals in the
last five years, Colorado is accustomed to success. 

Also, general manager Pierre Lacroix has many of his top
players, including Forsberg, Roy and defenseman Adam Foote,
under long-term contracts.  With a younger nucleus, the
Avalanche appears to have a better long-term future than the
Stars and Detroit Red Wings -- the other Western Conference
powers. 

"We lost some key players who are veterans in the offseason,"
said right wing Jeff Odgers.  "There's pressure for us to come
through, and we have some great players here." 

One thing is certain.  The Avalanche insist they will not copy
the defensive style that catapulted Dallas to its first Stanley
Cup and promise an entertaining product as they move into the
18,000-seat Pepsi Center. 

Hartley has a year under his belt, which means the players have
a better idea of expectations.  With no previous NHL coaching
experience, Hartley had a rough indoctrination last year as the
successor to Marc Crawford, who won a Cup with the Avalanche in
1996. 

Colorado started 0-4-1, underachieved for most of the first half
and did not climb over .500 until early December.  But the
Avalanche kicked into gear around Christmas and cruised to the
Northwest Division title with 98 points. 

To replace Fleury's 93 points, Hartley is looking for continued
development from young forwards Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk,
who showed their mettle in the playoffs last season.  Both were
finalists for the Calder Trohpy, which was won by Drury. 

"We're well aware of the problem, but we haven't addressed it
yet as a group. I'm sure we will," Drury said.  "Those guys were
real good players.  We're going to pick up the slack and
hopefully we'll get some help from some guys who'll get into
it." 

The Avalanche also are hoping that a pair of 19-year-olds --
center Alex Tanguay, the team's first of four first-round picks
in 1998, and defenseman Martin Skoula -- can earn regular
shifts.  Tanguay spent last season in juniors after he could not
agree on a contract. 

A concern for the Avalanche is how well Forsberg -- considered
by many to be the world's best two-way player -- recovers from
his surgery.  He played through pain last season and still
collected 30 goals and 67 assists.  The layoff actually may
prove a blessing because Forsberg will be fresher for the
playoffs. 

While the Avalanche are young in some areas, they still have
firepower.  A power play that struggled at times finished the
1998-99 season at 18.9 percent, fifth-best in the league. Fiesty
Claude Lemieux is coming off a 27-goal season.  Sandis Ozolinsh,
a defensive liability, may be the best power-play quarterback in
the NHL.  Despite a lengthy holdout that cost him 43 games,
Ozolinsh had seven goals and 25 assists. 

Despite a suspect defense, the Avalanche always will have a
chance with Roy in net.  He enters the season with a two-year
contract extension and thirsting for another Cup that eluded him
last season.  Roy may have slipped a notch from his form of the
late 1980s and early 1990s, but still is among the best in the
game. 

He got off to a 1-6-1 start last season but overcame his
troublesome hip as well as knee and groin injuries to finish
32-19-8 with a career-best 2.29 goals-against average. 

Roy is fourth on the all-time list with 412 wins, 35 behind
Terry Sawchuk's record, and may feel he has something to prove
after after losing a decisive seventh game in each of the last
two seasons.  He has averaged 34 wins over the last four years. 

The missing ingredient in Colorado is another hard-hitting
defenseman to complement Foote and Aaron Miller on the blue
line.  The Avalanche have lacked toughness, creating more work
for Roy and allowing teams to take liberties with Sakic and
Forsberg.  Colorado surrendered at least 30 shots in 15 of 19
playoff games. 

"We will be fine," said Miller. 

With 10 of its first 12 games on the road, Colorado may struggle
early while waiting for Forsberg to return.  But the Northwest
is a forgiving division and another title is easily attainable. 

"We just want to get off to a good start," Sakic said.  "It's
going to be a tough month of October for us." 

Now, if only the Avalanche can win a seventh game. 

st 10-01-99 07:50 et