The Colorado Avalanche have been one of the biggest surprises from the first quarter of the NHL season.  Despite the retirement of Joe Sakic, a smattering of injuries, lack of a proven starting goaltender, the Avalanche still sit atop the Northwest Division with 32 points.  Career backup Craig Anderson played beyond expectations through the first month of the season, and he’s arguably the number one reason for the team’s early success.  A look at the numbers indicates that he’s going to need some support if this Colorado team is going to be a contender.

Anderson, the American Olympic hopeful, pulled out a victory in ten of his first 13 appearances this season while posting an even 2.00 goals against average.  With 22 games played already, Anderson is on pace to shatter his single season high of 31 appearances, set last year in Florida.  The heavy workload might be taking it’s toll on the 28-year old, though.

Since October 30th, Anderson has posted a loss in seven of ten games and his GAA was an ugly 3.50 over that span.  Even more alarming, Anderson’s save percentage over the that same ten game period has been a paltry .879, far below his .918 on the season.

Are the Colorado Avalanche the real deal?  Or were they playing beyond their ability and reaping the benefits of struggling Vancouver, Edmonton, and Minnesota teams in the normally competitive Northwest Division?

Either way, Craig Anderson will need to be dominant for this team to remain a legitimate playoff contender.

Joe Sakic was more than just an NHL great.  He was a classy individual, and he knew when it was time to hang up his skates despite the chance to represent his country in the Olympics one more time.  It’s that classiness that prevented him from saying some of the things he really, really wanted to say upon his exit from the game.  Don’t worry, we’re going to say it all for him.

“I’m still waiting for a thank-you from Ray Bourque for carrying his old wrinkled Boston ass to his only Stanley Cup.”

“I won two Stanley Cups with Colorado, and might have won a couple more had Nordiques’ GM Pierre Lacroix not traded Mats Sundin for Wendel Clark.”

“Mike Ricci is still the ugliest motherfucker to ever lace up a pair of blades.”

“I had a lot of success at the professional level, and in international play.  Have you guys seen my numbers from Junior, though?  I did all that playing with nothing but a bunch of dickheads.”

“Stephane Fiset was never much of an NHL goalie, but he sure did have the coolest mask for a 2-3 year period.”

“Some guys refer to the modern game as the “Dead Puck Era”, I call it that stretch of hockey where I did a fuck-ton of scoring.”

“I played hockey with Bryan Fogarty, but that’s all I did with him.”

“Most importantly, I have to thank Eric Lindros for refusing to come and play with me in Quebec.  Sure, he probably single-handedly sunk the Nordiques franchise, but me, Peter Forsberg, Ricci, Chris Simon, and the other boys we got for him sure had a real good time winning those two Stanley Cups.  Shit, Do you guys remember that we eventually got Jocelyn Thibault from the “Big E” trade?  Then we went and flipped him to Montreal for Patrick Roy… man, those were the days.”