In late July, it’s not uncommon to think that the sports world is running a tad slow. Football hasn’t started just yet, basketball is over, and the race to the playoffs hasn’t caught fire in baseball. But most of all, we miss Avalanche hockey.
When your favorite team has missed the playoffs in three of the last four years, the off-season can feel a lot longer for the fans. And as familiar with the basement cellar of the Western Conference as the Avs have been for a while now, the season feels all but over about 3/4’s of the way through the season more often than not. So naturally, maybe it’s that we miss the Avalanche being competitive enough to enjoy watching hockey in the Mile High.
But regardless, we miss everything about hockey. Whether it’s that chill feeling at the Pepsi Center when you enter the concourse, or maybe its the adrenaline felt through your veins when the one-minute countdown begins before the Burgundy and Blue take the ice. You know that feeling. The stadium goes dark and the air-horn sounds. If you don’t miss everything about attending a hockey game, you’re bonkers.
What’s even more exciting about hockey? It should actually be relevant in Denver this upcoming season. As all die-hard Avs fans know, the legend himself Patrick Roy, is back in the building. He’s here to coach this young Colorado Avalanche squad, and many think that he’s more than capable of lighting a fire under their bellies. It goes without saying how incredibly important that is for the 2013-14 season. When you’re bad enough to obtain the first overall pick in the draft, there has to be that change in the culture. That’s what the Avalanche are hoping to gain with the change of face behind the bench and in the front office.
Joe Sakic is running things now. Mediocrity should no longer be accepted with Super Joe taking command. He made that blatantly clear with the hiring of Roy as Head Coach. Patrick Roy is no Joe Sacco. Sacco, who did get the Avalanche back to the playoffs in 2010 in his first year as head coach, was a yes-man for the organization and brought the Avalanche nowhere after that 2010 season. Sacco was not the personality of John Tortorella or Joel Quenneville, but a yes-man. You all know the phrase. Someone who’s necessarily looking for the opportunity to speak up in troubled locker room. That’s what Joe Sacco was, and the times are changing. Even though he might seem a bit more timid than his days with the Avs, Patrick Roy will demand something much more different just by entering any room. That respect he’ll immediately receive just by walking in the locker room takes effect even before he speaks a word of his coaching knowledge. THAT is the kind of guy the Avalanche need.
But as the season approaches, we’ll look more in depth to what the Avalanche need. One thing we can determine right now, is that the Avalanche need to win. If not for the quality of the organization, than for the sake of the fans. We want it, we need it, we crave that playoff hockey.
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Anthony Rodriguez
Anthony is the Founder, Administrator, Editor and Publisher of Lightning Rod Sports. Originally from California, Anthony has been raised in the Rocky Mountains and Denver area for most of his life. Anthony works with the Emmy-winning student-run T.V. newscast at MSU Denver, The Met Report, as the Assistant General Manager, formerly the Sports Producer, as well as Lead Anchor and Production Assistant. He is currently the Play-by-Play Announcer, Color Commentator, and Production Assistant for the Metro State Broadcast Network, and calls games for Metro State soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball as a “Voice of the Roadrunners.” In addition to that work with the Metro State Broadcast Network, Anthony also hosts the monthly 30-minute magazine show called "The Roadrunner Review" which airs on Altitude Sports and Entertainment. He hosts the bi-weekly "KMet Sports Show" on KMET Radio at MyMetMedia.com/KMETSportsShow. He is also the Founder, Administrator, Editor, and Columnist for his own Denver Sports website, LightningRodSports.com. Anthony is also part of the Social Media team at Examiner.com, and has worked with the Altitude Radio Network for the Avalanche and Nuggets. Anthony is a former Producer for Mile High Sports Radio, as well as a former Sports-Talk show host on the LightningRod Radio Network.
