2006 Colorado Avalanche Preview

2006 Colorado Avalanche Preview from Maddux Sports. With the NHL Hockey Season now is the time to get aquatinted with the 2006 teams and players. Remember if you are NHL hockey betting look no further, as we offer hockey picks and can help you turn a profit betting on the NHL this season.

2006 Colorado Avalanche Hockey Season Preview

The team made it into the second round of the playoffs and then lost to Anaheim. This year, after losing the essential D-man Rob Blake and offensive force Alex Tanguay to other teams, Colorado will have a tough time qualifying for the post-season.

Tanguay (78 Pts) is gone. He’ll probably be replaced by capable Colorado second liner Andrew Brunette (24 G, 39 A, 63 Pts), who will join right winger Milan Hejduk (24 G, 34 A, 58 Pts) and center Joe Sakic (32 G, 55 A, 87 Pts). Ian Laperriere (21 G, 24 A, 45 Pts) provides consistent play and center Tyler Anderson (13 G, 32 A, 45 Pts), free agent from Ottawa, should help. But is this enough? They were rated fourth overall last season.

The defense, which tied for 14th last season, has taken the biggest hit with Blake’s departure. Blake’s a great two-way player who led the team in ice time (24:22 per game). John-Michael Liles (14 G, 35 A, 49 Pts) is the best of the bunch. Jordan Leopold (2 G, 18 A, 20 Pts), taken in the Tanguay trade, is a young talent whose goal scoring potential did not come to fruition in Calgary. Will he step up in Colorado?

Jose Theodore (43 GP, 18 W, 18 L, 6 OT, 3.41 GAA, .882 SP) is the man in net and that does not bode well for this club. Age has not been kind to him. Backup Peter Budaj (34 GP, 14 W, 10 L, 6 OT, 2.86 GAA, .900 SP) had a decent rookie season, but it’s tough to tell if he has what it takes to make it as a first stringer. This is one of the scariest net minding situations in the league.

It’s difficult to imagine this team winning enough to squeak into the post-season. On a slow and steady decline since its 2001 Stanley Cup win, they may have sunk too low to continue to tread water.

For more information on the 2006 Colorado Hockey Club check out the Avalanche team website.