The Colorado Avalanche are off to their best start since 2015 and it’s caught the eye of a former legend.
The Avalanche have already locked up 17 points through 16 games, or 35 per cent of the 48 points they managed to muster through 82 games last season.
If that’s not enough of an indicator that things are at least heading in the right direction, then the thoughts of ex-Avs player, and Hall of Famer, Peter Forsberg certainly should be.
“I like what they’ve done,” Forsberg told Dan Rosen of NHL.com. “They’re young and and with [the Matt Duchene trade] they bring a lot of young talent and got a couple more draft picks.”
With things pointing forward, Forsberg thinks they are only a couple of tweaks away from where they want to be.
“With a few more pieces and then the young guys, the few of them, they’re good and they will be good,” he said. “I think the Avalanche, it took a while to build but I think they’re on the right track. I like the team now.”
The Avalanche are currently sixth in the Central Division but just a single point behind the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars. While they aren’t sitting in a playoff spot (or may not be come springtime), they are definitely in contention for the final Western wild card which the Stars currently hold — a very good place for a team coming off an abysmal last-place finish in 2016-17.
But it’s not just the numbers that Forsberg is looking at, it’s how the team is playing.
“What I see is the young guys want to win,” he said. “They have a lot of young guys but they’re trying hard.”
While it should go without saying that winning is what every team strives for, it’s also what the eight-time all-star misses most about the game.
“The feeling after the game when you won the game,” he said. “I always say when you walked out of the Pepsi Center and you sat in your car and you drove by the fans and everybody is cheering, I think that’s the best. When I think back, it was the best feeling.
“I was always nervous before the game and I don’t miss that, but the feeling after the game, you go through all of that just to get it.”
As for whether or not Forsberg plans to get into hockey operations — with the Avalanche or any other NHL team — or not, the answer wasn’t likely to be what Colorado fans want to hear.
“I was involved with [Swedish Hockey League team] MODO and in Sweden I will never get involved with another team. … My heart is with MODO so I’m not going to do anything else,” he said.
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