The Avalanche are done with training camp, and the preseason starts tonight with the Avs taking on the Dallas Stars at the Pepsi Center. The game won’t be televised, but will be broadcast on radio.

The preseason also means that coverage of the Avs has been picking up quite a bit. NHL.com has it’s season preview of the Avalanche, which has this little bit at the beginning:

The exodus is under way in the Rockies, where the Colorado Avalanche is moving into a transition phase, as a number of very familiar faces have moved on from the perennial Western Conference powerhouse.

Frankly, I like the sound that a lot more than rebuilding. The Avs haven’t yet to reach the rebuilding stage yet, although it is close. Shedding the sloppy one year contracts, getting back the “bonus money” cap space, giving the younger players the chance to play for a year, and work within that transition is going to pay dividends in the future. The predictions of doom before the season even starts, before a single game is played, are not yet founded in reality. High expectations have been shelved around here, but the team has yet to prove anyone right or wrong. As fun as it is to write about, the success or failure of the team is still in the future.

The focus on the team is all about who has left, and not on who is here. I doubt the Avs themselves will focus too much on it, as there is nothing to be done about the loss of FORMER key players. Now, someone else has to become those key players. Liles for Blake? Svatos for Tanguay? Wolski for Forsberg? Those are the exciting questions right now.

Oh, and the Avs still have Joe Sakic. Here is what he had to say in the Denver Post:

“It was like that last year a little bit, people doubting us,” Sakic said. “But it’s how you come together as a team, and we’re going to have a lot of guys that surprise people. We’re going to have a good, exciting team again. We’ve got to try to jell quickly, because we’ve got a lot of new faces. We’re going to work on that in training camp.”

O Captain, My Captain. I can get behind that. I realize no captain is going to be down on his team from the start, but how can you not believe Joe Sakic? Some people are questioning if he is too old for the new NHL, but not I. Super Joe still has one of the hardest wrist shots around. He lost a half step last season, due to not playing in Europe (which we saw with other players), but that won’t be the case this year. He’s still got the passion and the skill, which is what a team like this needs. If you go to the full article, scroll down to see Super Joe in his old Nordiques uniform. Worth it.

John-Michael Liles is one of the players whom the Avs will be looking toward this season to make big things happen. From another Denver Post story:

Liles symbolizes the new-look Avalanche defense. He’s young, fast and offensive-minded. But he’s not very big and not very physical. Fortunately, this is the new-look NHL, which favors players like Liles.

Liles is one of those players who was overshadowed by his teammates. He has solid numbers, if coming around with his game, and is one of the perfect players to take hold of this new NHL. He could become a franchise D-man, if he is allowed to. Don’t forget, he was chosen for the 2006 Olympic team, which may not have gone anywhere, but he was good enough to be chosen. That says a lot.

This season, I’m going to be looking for that Mike Commodore type of D-man somewhere on the roster (who would have thought anyone would say that). Commodore, during the run to the Stanley Cup, was one of the most positionally perfect d-men out there. He was interesting to watch, which is strange for a televised game and a defensive d-man. If the Avs have that sort of player on the second or third D-line (or both), it would go a long way in playing with a defensive responsibility they showed when they were winning in the playoffs (when they were losing, they didn’t look like they knew what they were doing going the other way). In front of an uncertainty like Jose Theodore, they will need to show a bit more defensive savvy, rather than just being the high-flying Avs of old.

Still no news about Steve Konowalchuk. That isn’t surprising, since he is still in the middle of tests. I wonder, if EKG testing was around in the sixties, how many players would have sat out due to health issues? Hell, they would have to sit out due to liver issues, if all the stories told are to be believed.

There will be some more coming up, as the media cranks up it’s coverage of hockey, and I figure out were JAHL will be headed through the season. Dig out the frosty adult beverages, the ride is about to start.

BTW: This makes post number 100 on JAHL.

Technorati : Avalanche, Avs, Konowalchuck, Liles, NHL, Sakic