Some odds and ends while waiting for the start of Avalanche training camp. Veterans will take their physicals Sept. 17 at the Pepsi Center, and camp will take place Sept. 18-19 at the Family Sports Center in suburban Centennial, CO. Rookie camp is Sept. 14-16 at Family Sports.
Avalanche executive vice president and general manager
Joe Sakic, who has always been heavily involved in community service, recently held his 18th annual golf tournament to benefit the Food Bank of the Rockies. The organization provides food for more than 400,000 people every year through service programs and 800 hunger relief agencies.
The tournament was held at the Sanctuary Golf Course in Sedalia, Colorado.
Sakic and his wife,
Debbie, then played host to Hope to the Table Celebration in Denver, a function held in conjunction with the golf tournament that included a dinner, live and silent auctions, and entertainment by comedian
Juston McKinney.
"We're trying to cure hunger, that's what it's about," Sakic said. "You want to do the best you can to make sure kids have everything they need. This golf tournament is proud to be associated with curing a serious problem. The Food Bank has great people that care about the kids. We take pride in trying to help out."
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In case you missed it, NHL.com has been running previews on all 30 teams, packages with five stories each. Here's my
Avalanche package.
An offseason moves story is included, along with one on the team's top five prospects (no doubt there will be some debate about this), four reasons for optimism in 2015-16 and some questions that need to be answered for a successful season.
There's also a fantasy league outlook story that was written by NHL.com's fantasy league writers.
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This is old news, but congratulations to former Avalanche forward
Chris Drury, who was named to the 2015 United States Hockey Hall of Fame class. The formal induction ceremony will be held Dec. 17 in Boston.
Drury ranks 27th on the all-time Quebec/Colorado scoring list with 222 points (85 goals, 137 assists) in 314 games covering four seasons. He's 11th in playoff scoring with 50 points (26 goals, 24 assists) in 80 games. Eleven of those goals were game winners.
In one of then-general manager
Pierre Lacroix's worst moves, he traded Drury and
Stephane Yelle to Calgary on Oct.2, 2002 for defenseman
Derek Morris and forwards
Dean McAmmond and
Jeff Shantz.
Drury also played for Buffalo and the New York Rangers in a 12-season NHL career in which he had 255 goals and 360 assists in 892 games. He had 47 goals and 42 assists in 135 playoff games.
Drury was a third-round pick (No. 72) of the Avalanche in the 1994 NHL draft. He won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player in 1997-98 while at Boston University and the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year in 1998-99.
He won an NCAA championship with the Terriers in 1995 and the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001. Drury represented the U.S. in three Winter Olympics and won silver medals in 2002 and 2010.
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He was a bit player with the Avalanche, but that doesn't diminish
Daniel Briere's fine NHL career, one in which he had 307 goals and 389 assists in 17 seasons.
It hardly came as a surprise when Briere, 37, announced his retirement. He spent last season as a role player, played in just 57 games and ended with eight goals and four assists.
"It became tough when you're sitting on the bench and you're watching other guys," he said. "I guess it's the competitive side. I just wanted to be the guy making the play."
One of the classiest people in sports, Briere will stay in the Philadelphia area with his fiancee and three teenage sons. He plans to get married next summer.
A first-round pick of Phoenix (now Arizona) in 1996, Briere played for the Coyotes, Buffalo, Philadelphia and Montreal before joining the Avalanche on June 30, 2014 in a trade with the Canadiens for PA Parenteau and a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft.
Listed at 5-feet-9 and 174 pounds, Briere came up big at playoff time. He had 12 goals and 18 assists in 23 postseason games with the Flyers in 2010 and registered 53 goals and 63 assists in 124 career playoff games.
“It’s time to go,” he said. "I’ve had an amazing journey and I’m very comfortable with where I am at this point.”
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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