This page is dedicated to the greatest team in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche. Why is the Avalanche the best team in the NHL. To answer this I will look at a few very obvious points;

One: Players. With forwards like Claude Lemiuex, Peter forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Mike Ricci, defensemen like Sandis Ozolinsh, Uwe Krupp, the rookiee Eric Messier, and Patrick Roy in goal they would have to be good. They have an explosive playing style, always play 100%, and you can never count them out of the game until the very end.

Two: Fans. The fan support is excellent in Colorado. They sell out just about every game and even got something like 60 consecutive sell outs last season. Obviously a team with great fan support is going to do good to please them and keep them coming back. Just look at the Carolina Hurricanes. They suck and one of their problems is that average attendance is around 500. It's hard to get fired up when there's no one watching you.

Three: Staff. Lacroix is very good at signing players for positions that fill in for the weaknesses of the team. He knows what's missing and he finds players to fix it. This combined with the fact that Crawford is coaching combines to be a winning combination. I think for being so young Crawford has an excellent mind for the strategy in hockey. He knows what he wants and he knows who to put on the ice to get it.

All of these components, combined, make for a team that is sure to win the Stanley cup again. They should have beaten the Red Wings. Unfortunately they only started playing Avalanche hockey when they were faced with defeat and by then it was too late. They were also out powered. The Red Wings learned from losing to the Avs the year before that speed and finesse can only take you so far and you need an element of physical power to get the rest of the way. This season though, with guys like Nic Beaudoin(6'3"), Wade Belak(6'4"), and Yves Sarault(6'1") they have the speed, finesse, and power.

This year is the year of the Avalanche!!