Earlier this week, while chatting with the Maple Leafs media contingent in Philly, I mentioned the fact that in their previous game, Toronto looked fast against the Habs, a team that’s known for having water-bugs up front.
“You think we looked quick there, you should see Colorado,” replied Leafs TV/radio analyst Bob McGill. “We couldn’t keep up with them; they fly.”

With just a couple of weeks gone in the season, I haven’t had a chance to take in a ton of Western Conference hockey, so Wednesday night was dedicated Av’s night.

Right off the hop, in their seventh road game, they started on their heels against a desperate-to-score Calgary Flames club on home ice. Colorado withstood the early storm and despite being outshot 12-1 at one point, tallied the first goal of the game on the power play.

The first thing noticed: They were always moving their feet, always churning. Even when the Flames had the in-zone time and the shot advantage, you never really felt the Av’s were boxed in. It was more haphazard than anything else, the sign of a young team. And when it came time to break-out, the pace of the rushes was impressive.

At one point color man Peter McNab, succinct, well spoken as usual, suggested that winger Daniel Winnik had improved his foot speed. “He worked hard in the off season and it’s noticeable”. Sure was. Apparently Winnik, at 6-2, 212, is just trying to keep up.
Coincidentally, size and durability, especially in the forward positions is one of the things this team has lacked. Colorado’s speediest forwards have spent part of, or in certain cases much of, the last two seasons injured.
Winnik brings a bit of size to the table, as does 2011 second overall pick Gabriel Landeskog, who already has four goals in his rookie season. 6-1, 205, isn’t enormous, but the freshman adds to his stature by being tough, physical and versatile.

At one point late in the first period last night, the Avalanche forecheck was manic; it needed theme music, it needed Curly from the Three Stooges going “woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.” Calgary’s D-men had pucks taken away before they knew it. If anything, the forecheckers needed to calm down just to control pucks once they had them. They won races, they closed fast, and they won pucks.

The Av’s lost the game 4-2 to the Flames (with an empty netter) in a match that probably shouldn’t have been that close. Part of it was the goaltending of J.S. Giguere, the 34-year-old looking sprite and rejuvenated with all the energy around him. He’s the number two behind Semyon Varlamov, ex of DC.

You obviously can’t take too much from one or two games, positive and negative, the factors are too numerous, but for a team that finished next to last in the League last season, things are definitely looking up again. 2010-’11 is starting to look a little more like an aberration, based on injuries and nightmare goaltending, as opposed to what it was supposed to be, the next step in a progression. Remember, this young team was a surprise qualifier in the eighth spot the year before. Last season’s step backward is what put head coach Joe Sacco on the hot seat this fall, a name in the “which coach gets fired first” poll. If he can rein in the horses a bit, combine execution with exuberance, he’ll be right back on to something.

These kids are the poster boys for the current game the NHL is touting.

Fans in the Rockies should be heading to the Pepsi Center this weekend as the team looks to win their first home game (0-2), after winning six of their first seven on the road.

East coasters; snag the package and make a late evening date with the Avalanche. Win or lose, you’ll enjoy Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly, David Jones, and the rebuilt/rebuilding D wheeling around the ice. You’ll get a work-out watching, and the progress of this team will be worth the watch all season.


Follow Rob's tweets @simmerpuck and for hockey historians, fans of the Original Six, check out the new edition of Black and Gold, Four Decades of the Boston Bruins in Photographs.

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