Night one of the NHL season in Colorado makes you wonder what is in store for Avalanche fans for the rest of the season.  Many people pegged the Avalanche as the laughing stock of the NHL, and they may still be in more ways than one.  The Avalanche came out of the gate hot and heavy by destroying the Ducks in game one of the season.  A convincing 6-1 win was just what they needed.  On top of that, the early performance by first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon was more than what the Avalanche team, and fans could have wished for.  The Avalanche looked good in all aspects, but it was evident that the Ducks looked unmotivated, and very lack luster.

 

So the questions are?  Are the Avalance a true quality hockey team or a one night wonder?  Is Patrick Roy and his antics good for the league or not?

 

To answer the first question.  The Avalanche looked great last night, but don’t get your hopes up to high.  It was one game against a very lackluster Ducks squad that looked very flat.  MacKinnon looked great, and showed that he is for real.  The Avalanche as a whole looked solid, and most of all played with lots of intensity.  This team will win games with this alone, but it will be a long grind for a young and inexperienced team.  The team will go through ups and downs this year, but no doubt will mature and improve.  They will also be a very exciting team to watch.

Now the latter of the two questions.  Will Patrick Roy be a side show for the entire season, or will he mature into his postion as head coach?  The day he was hired many people looked at each other and said, “Wow what kind of antics will he pull, and what will his post game interviews be like.”  Well night one proved exactly what many of us thought it would be like.  A side show!  I honestly have no opinion or idea of what kind of coach he will be like, its too early to tell.  I will say he did prove himself in juniors, but he also proved that he can be somewhat of a loose cannon.  Its one thing to yell at the opponents coach, but its another to start banging and pushing over the glass.  I love excitement and craziness at a game, but also feel that Roy went a little too far for an incident that really seemed to be no big deal.  He was the catalyst that caused things to escalade at the end of the game.  His line selection, (putting his tuff guys) with less than ten seconds probably did not help the situation.  The fact that he starting yelling at Bruce Bourdreau for cheap shots probably was warranted, but taking it to the level of banging and pushing the glass over was way over the top.  The more he acted like this the more his players got worked up.  Roy has always been known to be a fiery  individual, but now it is time to mature into being a head coach, and to lead by example.   He is in charge of a very young impressionable hockey team.  Often teams take on the attitude and demeanor of the head coach.   This should be an interesting season in Colorado.