Avalanche Could Make It Denver’s Year

Remember the Colorado Avalanche?

Winner of the Stanley Cup in the franchise’s first season in Denver, 1995-96, after moving from Quebec City? Ring a bell?

Peter Forsberg?

Joe Sakic?

Patrick Roy?

Well, the Avalanche hasn’t slipped entirely off the NHL radar screen, as a league-high-tying eight-game winning streak indicates. In fact, an early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring and a lackluster start to 1998-99 have largely been forgotten in Denver.

Colorado edged ahead of Detroit for second place in the Western Conference with a 6-2 thumping of the Mighty Ducks last week. And, by the looks of it, the Avalanche may be ahead of the Red Wings to stay.

Last week was a busy one for the Avalanche, and not all the impressive action was on the ice.

General Manager Pierre Lacroix gave Roy a two-year, $15-million contract extension and also signed versatile left wing Shjon Podein to a new four-year, $4.9-million deal.

“We wanted to do this to keep the nucleus intact,” Lacroix said. “We wanted to do this for the fans.”

Now there’s a novel concept.

But the idea of a local team as a public trust shared by ownership, the city and the fans has had strong roots over the years in Denver.

Witness Broncomania, particularly after a second straight Super Bowl victory, and you get the idea.

Podein, acquired in a deal that sent Keith Jones to Philadelphia on Nov. 12, had a clause in his old contract that could have made him an unrestricted free agent.

But he said last week, “Ever since I came to Denver, I immediately felt like part of this organization. It’s an enjoyable environment to play in, and we have a talented team. There were no what-ifs about [free agency] for me.”

Defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh’s return after a lengthy contract dispute hasn’t hurt the Avalanche either. Colorado has won all eight games since his return.

Ozolinsh has five assists and a plus-minus rating of plus-five.

And at least one dramatic on-ice move has paid off in victories for the Avalanche.

Bob Hartley, in his first season replacing Marc Crawford as Avalanche coach, put centers Forsberg and Sakic on the same line and added winger Milan Hejduk to form an effective combination against Detroit on Dec. 2.

The Avalanche has gone a blistering 14-2-1 since. Colorado was a pedestrian 8-11-2 before Hartley made the bold move.

“Those guys are flying,” right wing Adam Deadmarsh said of the Forsberg-Sakic-Hejduk line. “It’s so much more fun when you’re winning. Everyone’s playing hard and we’ve got the confidence to win right now. We’re going to ride this wave as long as we can.”

CHELI, ANYONE?

The rumor mill has been cranked up to full throttle in Chicago, where the word is that the struggling Blackhawks might soon trade future Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Chelios.

But the story is bogus, according to Craig Hartsburg, who coached Chelios and the Blackhawks for three seasons before he was fired last April and hired by the Ducks.

“I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere,” Hartsburg said. “I think they think they can still challenge for a playoff spot. I can’t see why they would trade Chelios”

Of course, Hartsburg certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Chelios with the Duck crest on his jersey if the Blackhawks decided to make a deal before the league’s March 23 deadline.

“He’s still got quite a few good years left,” Hartsburg said.

Chicago plays against the Ducks on Wednesday at the Arrowhead Pond and faces the Kings on Thursday at the Great Western Forum.

TRADE RUMORS II

Feisty Calgary winger Theoren Fleury seems a mortal lock to be traded before the deadline. The question is, where?

Fleury is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and the Flames would be foolish to let him leave without getting something back.

The New York Rangers, seeking a spark, could use a player with Fleury’s skill and emotion. General Manager Neil Smith can’t be as worried about what it might take to re-sign Fleury as his Calgary counterpart, Al Coates, might be next summer.

Money has never been an issue for the Rangers, whose $39-million payroll is the league’s third highest. Coates has been busily trimming the Flames’ $20-million payroll, which ranked ahead of only expansion Nashville at the start of the season.

When asked recently why the Flames had not tried to sign Doug Gilmour, who went to Chicago as a free agent last summer, Fleury grumbled, “What were they going to pay him with? Buttons?”

TRADE RUMORS III

Let’s see if we can follow the logic in Vancouver, where the Canucks fired Coach Mike Keenan and hired Crawford last week, hoping to start a late-season burst.

Keenan and new General Manager Brian Burke didn’t figure to play nice, particularly if the Canucks weren’t winning. But there’s a new question hovering around General Motors Place these days: How much longer will Mark Messier stick around?

The Canucks appear to be on track to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season, and what do they need with an aging forward whose best days of scoring, as well as leadership, are behind him?

Besides, Messier is one of the few humans alive who actually gets along with Keenan.

What better way to cut the cord to the Keenan era than by pawning Messier off on another club? Besides, he might fetch a couple of good prospects who could help build the foundation for a turnaround in Vancouver.

LAWN GUYLAND NIGHTMARE

New York Islander General Manager Mike Milbury has trouble on his hands. So what else is new?

It has been another bad season on Long Island--say it Lawn Guyland and you’ll sound as if you’re from Uniondale--and much of it is Milbury’s doing. Of course, he also fired himself as coach and promoted well-regarded assistant Bill Stewart, so he must be doing something right.

The latest mess was caused by Milbury’s bonehead move of sending promising defenseman Bryan Berard to Toronto to get washed up goalie Felix Potvin. The deal angered former No. 1 goalie Tommy Salo.

“I think we have one too many No. 1 goalies,” Salo said.

Expect Salo to be gone soon.

JUSTICE SERVED

Detroit’s Kris Draper got precisely what he deserved for his reckless slash that bloodied the face of Nashville’s Kimmo Timonen last week--a two-game suspension.

Kudos to NHL punishment czar Colin Campbell for letting the suspension fit the crime. You would think Draper would know better.

Remember, it was Draper who was slammed face-first into the boards by Colorado’s Claude Lemieux three years ago, leading to the bad blood between the Avalanche and Red Wings.

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED

Strange story from Ottawa, where Senator standout Alexei Yashin called a news conference to explain that his family never hoped to profit from a $1-million (Canadian) donation he made to the National Arts Centre.

Yashin withdrew his pledge when the NAC said it uncovered a secret deal that promised his parents as much as $85,000 (Canadian) a year for “consulting services.” The Russian-born Yashin explained that his parents merely wanted to act as good-will ambassadors who hoped to help the NAC bring performers from their homeland. Any money given his parents would be used only to cover expenses, he said.

“We didn’t want to only give them money,” Yashin said of the NAC. “We wanted to be involved.”

Now the deal’s off while Yashin searches for some other charity.