Sea change for the Colorado Avalanche front office ushers in hope for fans

“Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change, into something rich and strange…” – The Tempest

Have people noticed the subtle shift in the front office of the Avalanche? Amongst all the noise surrounding trades and the new players, Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, and Co. are quietly rebuilding the character of the organization, bringing about substantial transformation in a once heralded, more recently lamented, hockey organization.

For those who don’t remember, or are too young to remember, Denver was once home to a much beloved yet woefully underperforming hockey club named the Colorado Rockies. From 1976-1982, the team never had a winning record, yet drew crowds with such inspirational advertising as “Come for the fights and watch a hockey game break out!” Not quite the Hansens, but close enough.

Fans watched journeymen players like Mike Christie and Barry Beck resist the NHL’s call to wear helmets, witnessed coach Don Cherry’s flamboyant attire and cheered on more successful guys like Lanny McDonald and Joel Quenneville. Yes, the Chicago Blackhawks coach Quenneville. The Rockies’ owners were ill-prepared for the ups and downs of sports ownership and sold the team; the new owner moving them to New Jersey to become the New Jersey Devils, leaving thousands of heartbroken hockey fans relying only on college games to quench their thirst.

In 1995, the Colorado Avalanche swept into town and instantly won over their new audience with their style of a play, a cross between old style hockey and fresh speed. While honoring the need for physical play with the likes of Claude Lemieux and Chris Simon on the roster, the new move in hockey featured speed and finesse, and Joe Sakic embodied all that was good about the new. Colorado fans grew to love the combination, and as the team won games, they earned a rabid fan base.

Knowing the team captain still had to take out the trash at home endeared him to the fans even more. The players brought both exuberance and an earthy appeal, recognizing the attention their success brought while maintaining an ‘everyday guy’ image. As an organization, they seemed loyal to both their players and their fans, and honored their heritage in Quebec. The Colorado Avalanche were everything people had loved about the Rockies, and more – they were successful. Winning a Stanley Cup their first year in town helped cement the goodwill and Denver’s love affair with hockey soared.

After a few years, however, some unsettling events began to wear away their hard won goodwill.

• Chris Drury, a prospect drafted the year before the Nordiques became the Avalanche, had been groomed to be the eventual replacement for team captain Joe Sakic, whenever he decided to retire. Drury was unceremoniously traded right before the start of the 2002-2003 season.
• Coach Bob Hartley, who led them to Stanley Cup victory two years earlier, was fired a couple months into the new season.
• The front office began an unsuccessful practice of overpaying NHL ‘stars’ somewhat past their prime and watching them fizzle, as happened with Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya.
• Management also started trading away homegrown frontline talent like David Aebischer.

To further complicate matters, the Steve Moore incident occurred. For whatever crazy reason, the Avalanche signed Brad May shortly thereafter, the player who had put a bounty on Steve Moore’s head. Perhaps management thought the fans forgot about the grisly incident over the lockout. However, the front office seemed genuinely surprised fans booed May when he hit the ice, and arrogantly proceeded as though the mood would change. The fans never forgot and May was eventually traded. But the damage to the image of the team had been done.

Once Colorado’s golden child, the Avalanche became a business, where only the bottom line mattered. Character and integrity were sacrificed for an elusive pursuit of wins at all cost. Their prospect pool dwindled. Gone were the days of nurturing the younger players and cultivating a way of doing things unique to the Avalanche. Quality franchise players ended up elsewhere. Loyalty was not rewarded. Everything that made them special faded.

Two years ago, Sakic and Roy returned in decision making capacities. A breath of fresh air. A hint of hope in the wind. Changing a culture in an organization takes time, consistent effort, intentionality, and a view for the bigger picture over time. Could change really happen? While still in the process, fruit appears to be growing.

Both Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy declared their interest in keeping quality players who desired to stay with the Avalanche when they re-signed Erik Johnson. They signed Johnson to a fair contract for a good term, honoring Johnson’s commitment to the team without forfeiting the future. Johnson also stated he wanted to ensure the Avalanche would be able to sign Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon, stressing his wish to keep the core together for the future. For those who don’t know, that’s called character.

It’s been a while since the Avalanche have been able to keep character guys who have other options, and it’s also been awhile since the front office has shown they value character. Back in 1991, Eric Lindros refused to sign his NHL entry-level contract with the Nordiques. Joe Sakic, not yet the team captain, said “We only want players here who have the passion to play the game… He’s not here and there are a lot of others in this locker room who really care about the game.” Sakic wanted players that wanted to be on his team.  Apparently, Sakic still maintains the same position today.

Whatever issues Ryan O’Reilly may or may not have had off the ice, they weren’t widely circulated in the public domain. A good front office should allow players to get the help they need without flaunting the guy’s shortcomings. Back in 1999, when Theo Fleury played briefly for the Avalanche, he missed a number of games with “flu-like symptoms”. The Avalanche chose not to re-sign him and he eventually ended up entering a program operated by the league for substance abuse. The front office protected the dignity of the player without jeopardizing the future of the club. Good players will want to play for organizations that treat their players well.

The Avalanche are making strategic moves to rebuild the infrastructure of the team. They changed the scouting group, they are drafting to help supply the team’s long term needs, and they set about acquiring a few vets for shorter term deals to allow the new recruits time to develop. Roy seems to be working to keep the minutes low for the young players and Sakic appears to have learned from their contract mistakes in the first year.

The Avalanche are not the same organization they were fifteen years ago when they were always competing for the Stanley Cup. They can’t draw good players to them because of their dominant record anymore. However, they can rebuild a reputation as a quality organization, one that values character and integrity, and will reward loyalty and hard work. Quality players will want to play for that kind of an organization. Watching the front office guard the development of the young players, choosing to not pursue over-valued rent-a-players, and develop a culture of good character, helps all the Colorado fans to adopt “our Avalanche”. And fans can cheer for that kind of a team. Again.