Avalanche Finally Finds Itself

This is the way the Colorado Avalanche was supposed to play from the start.

Displaying poise and patience, skill and grit, the Avalanche has erased two-goal deficits in the third period of each of its last four games, tying one, winning one in regulation and two in overtime, and reasserting itself as a force in the West.

Its recent success is no shock. One glance at a roster graced by Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Rob Blake, Alex Tanguay and Adam Foote and augmented last summer by free agents Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya suggests a Stanley Cup contender. The surprise is that the Avalanche was a disjointed 5-5 before this streak, searching its soul and its locker room for answers.

“We’ve learned a lot about our team,” Coach Tony Granato said, “and there have been some expensive lessons.”

Granato, who replaced Bob Hartley last December, now knows that the price of coaching an array of all-world players is wearing a bull’s-eye on your back. Beating the Avalanche is Nashville’s Stanley Cup, Edmonton’s vindication for maintaining a small payroll, Buffalo’s affirmation that small-market teams can compete. It’s similar to the schooling the Mighty Ducks are getting. Climb to the top of the heap, and opponents gleefully line up to topple you.

“No team is going to lay down for us,” Granato said. “They’re going to measure themselves against the Colorado Avalanche and we should take some pride in that. It’s a process for us.

“We’ve been in situations where we’ve learned that if we give up a goal and we’re down, we don’t have to get it back the next shift. There was a feeling, ‘I’ve got to score right now,’ instead of being patient. We’re learning that now, and as long as we keep learning, that’s fine.

“It’s healthy, in a way, that people picked us to win because it’s our expectations too. That’s part of being part of this organization. For our newer guys -- and we had something like 14 or 15 who weren’t in the lineup last season -- or guys from different organizations, it’s an adjustment to read every day this may be the best talented team put together in a long time. There’s nothing easy in this league. There’s a challenge every night.”

Goaltending, a weak spot after Patrick Roy’s retirement, has been neither stellar nor awful.

“It’s not an issue for us,” Granato said of David Aebischer and Phil Sauve. “They’ve done what we expected them to do.”

And when injuries idled Kariya -- he’s still hampered by a sore wrist -- Forsberg and Selanne, General Manager Pierre Lacroix stepped in and acquired winger Steve Konowalchuk, who scored the tying and winning goals Sunday at Chicago.

“He’s been a real nice boost for us,” Granato said. “He can go up and down, in a straight line, all the little things you preach all the time.”

For the Avalanche, little things are the difference between flailing and positioning itself to take off.

“I think we’ll be there in the end,” Granato said. “It took us a long time to get going last year and the start of the season cost us. We were chasing people all year. It looks like it will be tough until the last day this season. There are a bunch of teams jockeying, but we’ll be right in there.”

Welcome Back

How long has it been since the Toronto Maple Leafs played in California?

The last time they visited, in March 1998, the NHL was in its Original 26 Era and the Kings were still playing at the Forum.

Wayne Gretzky was still an active player, one referee officiated each game and four players -- count ‘em, four -- were on the way to 50-goal seasons. The Ducks were coached by Pierre Page, the Kings by Larry Robinson, and the Sharks by Darryl Sutter. The Maple Leafs’ coach was Mike Murphy.

The Maple Leafs’ shift from the Western Conference to the East for the 1998-99 season partly explains their absence, which will end when they play at Anaheim on Wednesday, Los Angeles on Thursday and San Jose on Saturday.

Their request to switch conferences dismayed the Flames, Oilers and Canucks, who feared losing home sellouts against a traditional rival. They were appeased when the NHL agreed to take “wild-card” Maple Leaf games -- against nonconference foes -- and give them to the Western Canadian teams as often as possible. Toronto has played at Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver twice each season, leaving no wild-card openings to play in California. That agreement expired after last season.

Mikey on the Move

It’s no longer news when Mike Keenan is fired but all signs indicated he’d defeat General Manager Rick Dudley in their steel-cage duel for the right to run the Panthers.

They’d been at odds since last season, when Dudley fired Keenan’s assistants, picked the replacements and delegated them to run practices instead of Keenan. Dudley wanted more teaching and less browbeating and couldn’t fathom Keenan’s refusal to practice the power play, but owner Alan Cohen questioned Dudley’s judgment of talent and seemed to favor Keenan. In the end, Cohen probably found it easier to let Keenan go than to retool the roster.

Dudley will coach until he finds a replacement, possibly assistant coach John Torchetti or New Jersey special assignment coach Robinson.

Keenan might find job hunting tough. Clubs are economizing in preparation for a lockout next season and won’t want to fire someone they’ll have to pay not to coach a year from now. Weep not, though: the Panthers owe Keenan about $2.5 million for the rest of this season and two more.

The Rangers made overtures to Keenan last summer but were foiled by the Panthers, so General Manager Glen Sather went behind the Ranger bench and likes it too much to leave now.

The Red Wings have struggled, more due to age and shaky defense than anything Dave Lewis is doing wrong, but they’d go to consultant Scotty Bowman if they made a move. And owner Mike Ilitch’s loyalty to Lewis suggests the situation would have to be drastic for that to happen.

Slap Shots

After years of bumbling, the Chicago Blackhawks have gotten their act together on the ice. Behind the scenes is something else.

When owner Bill Wirtz fired general manager Mike Smith, Wirtz gave the job to longtime executive Bob Pulford and promoted Dale Tallon from the broadcast booth to assistant general manager.

Tallon told reporters he’d be an apprentice to Pulford and hoped to succeed him.

However, Pulford, had touted his son-in-law, former San Jose general manager Dean Lombardi, as “the most qualified guy out there,” and said Tallon had no guarantee of getting the job.

Wirtz then issued a statement chiding Pulford and supporting Tallon.

“I feel that Dale has the tools and the attributes to be a very good general manager in the very near future,” said Wirtz, who has told Pulford not to talk to reporters.

The Buffalo Sabres are marketing themselves as a regional team, and it seems to be working. They’ve designated games in which they take Canadian money at par with the U.S. dollar, and they’re playing a home game Wednesday in Rochester, N.Y., site of their top farm team and home of their new owner, Thomas Golisano. They’ve matched last season’s three sellouts and are averaging 15,074 fans a game, up from 13,776.

Their gain is among the few. The Bruins are averaging 14,414, down from 15,029 last season; the Blackhawks are at 13,309, down from 14,415. Nashville has twice drawn fewer than 10,000 fans and is averaging 12,295; Carolina has dipped below 10,000 thee times and is averaging 11,886. Pittsburgh, with Mario Lemieux and rookie Marc-Andre Fleury, is averaging 12,120. Washington is at 14,259.

The defending champion New Jersey Devils are playing to merely 76.5% of capacity at Continental Airlines Arena, drawing 14,563 fans a game.

Attendance goes in cycles, but it’s tough to avoid the conclusion that a decline in scoring, a wobbly economy and steep ticket prices make for empty seats.

Duck General Manager Bryan Murray talked to Edmonton General Manager Kevin Lowe about Mike Comrie, but he should resist if the price is rookie right wing Joffrey Lupul and a draft pick. The Ducks really need a big, net-crashing forward, not a 5-foot-9, 178-pound center who had 33 goals in his first full season and 20 goals last season.

The Thrashers, thin after losing Dany Heatley and Marc Savard to injuries, are also interested in Comrie, proving that anyone who scores 50 points these days is a hot commodity.

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The Great Eight

Colorado is loaded with offensive firepower, already having scored 47 goals this season to rank second in the NHL. A look at some of its top players:

*--* PLAYER G A Pts. +/- NHL Rank Tanguay 6 15 21 3 1st in points* Forsberg 5 14 19 1 4th in points Hejduk 10 6 16 -3 2nd in goals* Sakic 3 8 11 -3 36th in points* Blake 3 6 9 E 4th in shots (55) Selanne 2 6 8 7 9th in +/-* Foote 2 5 7 -1 Injured Kariya 3 2 5 E Injured *tied

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