2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season

2006–07 Colorado Avalanche
Division 4th Northwest
Conference 9th Western
2006–07 record 44–31–7
Home record 22–16–3
Road record 22–15–4
Goals for 272 (T-4th)
Goals against 251 (18th)
Team information
General Manager Francois Giguere
Coach Joel Quenneville
Captain Joe Sakic
Alternate captains Andrew Brunette
Ian Laperriere
Arena Pepsi Center
Average attendance 17,612 (13th)
Team leaders
Goals Joe Sakic (36)
Assists Joe Sakic (64)
Points Joe Sakic (100)
Penalties in minutes Ian Laperriere (133)
Wins Peter Budaj (31)
Goals against average Peter Budaj (2.68)
<2005–06 2007–08>

The 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season was their 12th National Hockey League season in Denver, Colorado. It was a season of transition for the Avs, as the team began the season with a new General Manager in Francois Giguere, ending the twelve-year reign of Pierre Lacroix.[1] The off-season also featured the departures of Alex Tanguay and Rob Blake, continuing the trend of star players leaving Denver that began the previous year.[2]

After a decade near the top of the Western Conference standings, the Avalanche were expected to struggle to make the playoffs in 2006–07.[3] The team's expected decline also saw attendance take a hit, as Colorado's NHL record sellout streak of 487 games was ended on October 16 when 17,681 tickets were sold for a game, 326 shy of a sellout.[4]

Joe Sakic was the lone representative for the Avalanche at the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. Sakic recorded four assists at the game.[5]

Entering the final week of the season on April 3, 2007, Colorado was 7 points behind the Calgary Flames for the 8th and final spot in the Western Conference standings. Needing Calgary to lose all four games that week and for them to win all four they fell short by 1 point. Calgary losing to Colorado, San Jose, Edmonton, and again to Colorado did not capture a point that week and Colorado winning three out of four was knocked out of contention when they lost to the Nashville Predators on April 7, 2007. The following night, the Avalanche beat the Flames 6–3 giving them 95 points overall on the season and one short of Calgary who had 96. With the 95 points, the Avalanche became the team with the highest point total in a season to not make the playoffs, missing the post-season for the first time in franchise history, despite going 15–2–2 to end the regular season. This record would later be matched by the 2010–11 Dallas Stars, who also failed to qualify for the playoffs with 95 points. Both the Avalanche and the Stars were passed by the 2014-15 Boston Bruins, who earned 96.

Regular season

Season standings

Northwest Division
No. CR GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
13 Vancouver Canucks 82 49 26 7 222 201 105
27 Minnesota Wild 82 48 26 8 235 191 104
38 Calgary Flames 82 43 29 10 258 226 96
49 Colorado Avalanche 82 44 31 7 272 251 95
512 Edmonton Oilers 82 32 43 7 195 248 71

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime/shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Schedule and results

2006–07 Game log

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
Joe Sakic 82366410046-----
Andrew Brunette 8227568336-----
Paul Stastny 8228507842-----
Milan Hejduk 8035357044-----
Wojtek Wolski 7622285014-----
Tyler Arnason 8216334926-----
John-Michael Liles 7114304424-----
Brett Clark 8210293950-----
Brett McLean 7815203536-----
Marek Svatos 6615153046-----
Ian Laperriere 8182129133-----
Brad Richardson 731482228-----
Ken Klee 813161968-----
Mark Rycroft 66661231-----
Patrice Brisebois 331101122-----
Ben Guite 39381116-----
Karlis Skrastins 680111130-----
Ossi Vaananen 7426869-----
Pierre Turgeon 1743710-----
Kurt Sauer 4806624-----
Jordan Leopold 1523514-----
Jeff Finger 2214511-----
Antti Laaksonen 4131416-----
Brad May 100338-----
Kyle Cumiskey 91122-----
Scott Parker 101126-----
Peter Budaj 570220-----
Cody McCormick 60116-----
Jose Theodore 330116-----
George Parros 20000-----

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Colorado. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
Traded during the season.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

    Regular season   Playoffs
Player GP Min W L OT GA SO SV% GAA GP Min W L GA SO SV% GAA
Peter Budaj 573198311661433.9052.68--------
Jose Theodore 33174813151950.8913.26--------

Transactions

The Avalanche were involved in the following transactions during the 2006–07 season.[6][7]

Trades

June 24, 2006 To Colorado Avalanche ----Jordan Leopold
2nd round pick in 2006
conditional round pick in 2007 or 2008
To Calgary Flames ---- Alex Tanguay
November 13, 2006 To Colorado Avalanche ----2nd round pick in 2007 To Anaheim Ducks ----George Parros
February 27, 2007 To Colorado Avalanche ---- Michael Wall To Anaheim Ducks ---- Brad May
February 27, 2007 To Colorado Avalanche ---- Scott Parker To San Jose Sharks ---- 6th round pick in 2008

Free agents

Player Former team
Tyler Arnason Ottawa Senators
Matt Murley Pittsburgh Penguins
Mark Rycroft St. Louis Blues
Ken Klee New Jersey Devils
Player New team
Rob Blake Los Angeles Kings
Dan Hinote St. Louis Blues
Jim Dowd New Jersey Devils

Draft picks

Colorado's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.[8]

Round # Player Nationality NHL team College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 18 Chris Stewart (RW)  Canada Colorado Avalanche Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
2 51 Nigel Williams (D)  United States Colorado Avalanche US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
2 59 Codey Burki (C)  Canada Colorado Avalanche (From Calgary Flames) Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3 81 Michael Carman (C)  United States Colorado Avalanche US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
4 110 Kevin Montgomery (D)  United States Colorado Avalanche (From Edmonton Oilers) US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
7 201 Billy Sauer (G)  United States Colorado Avalanche University of Michigan (NCAA)

Farm teams

Albany River Rats

The Avalanche signed a one-year deal to join the Carolina Hurricanes as the NHL affiliate for the River Rats for the 2006–07 AHL season.

During the season, the Avs announced that they had signed a long term deal to be the NHL affiliate of the new Cleveland expansion team beginning in 2007–08. Coincidentally, the new franchise is a reincarnation of the Utah Grizzlies franchise, which played in Denver as the Denver Grizzlies until 1995, when the Avs came to Denver.[9]

Arizona Sundogs

The Sundogs began their inaugural season in the Central Hockey League.

See also

References

  1. Giguere hired as new Avalanche GM, tsn.ca, May 24, 2006, accessed February 2, 2007.
  2. 2006 off-season transactions, proicehockey.about.com, accessed February 2, 2007.
  3. Dater, Adrian, More stars desert Denver, The Hockey News 2006–07 season preview, pp. 90–93.
  4. Frei, Terry, Avs see sellout streak get away, Denver Post, October 17, 2006.
  5. 2007 All Star Game box score, espn.com, accessed February 11, 2007.
  6. NHL Insider - Offseason Trades, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006.
  7. NHL Insider - Free Agent Signings, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006.
  8. 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com - accessed December 22, 2006.
  9. Coming to Ohio, CNNSI.com, December 17, 2006, accessed December 22, 2006.
2006–07 Colorado Avalanche roster

Goaltenders:

31  Budaj 60  Theodore 

Defensemen

2  Klee 3  Skrastins 4  Liles 5  Clark 6  Finger 27  Vaananen 34  Sauer 44  Leopold 48  Cumiskey 71  Brisebois 

Forwards

8  Wolski 12  Richardson 14  Laperriere 15  Brunette 19  Sakic 20  Rycroft 23  Hejduk 26  Stastny 28  Guite 29  Parker 39  Arnason 40  Svatos 53  McLean 87  Turgeon 

General Manager: Francois Giguere   Coach: Joel Quenneville

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