Colorado Avalanche: 14 Games in and Plenty of Question Marks

The 2008-2009 NHL season kicked off with many surprising teams (see the Rangers), many disappointing teams (see Tampa Bay), and a bunch of teams who are just about where many fans, analysts, and sportscasters had pitted them. 

The Colorado Avalanche, however, have been a team that appears to be going through an identity crisis since the lockout season. 

They don't know if they want to have a team led by veterans past their primes like Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg (retired again?), and Darcy Tucker (a signing that is bewildering to me) or if they want to let their rising stars take center stage.

It is blatantly evident that Paul Stastny is going to be the next captain if they are able to sign him, but I am not sure this team is ready to turn over complete control to the young stars just yet.

The problem with the Avalanche is that they are not good enough to make a full push through to the Stanley Cup, as was shown by the decimation at the hands of the Red Wings last year. 

Nevertheless, they are not bad enough to garner a high enough draft pick to get one of the budding stars in the draft either (save your Hank and Datsyuk comments).  Yes, it is possible to get an unrecognized and underrated player to be one of the best players in the game past the third round, but let’s be honest, it’s not very likely. 

So, is the Avalanche's rollercoaster a sign of things to come?  In my estimation, yes it is.  This will be a team that will be lingering at the 10th spot for most of the season, and then will turn it on down the stretch and sneak into the playoffs by the last game of the season. (Mark my words, it will happen.)

The biggest surprise to me at this point has definitely been Milan Hejduk.  Tied for the team lead in points with 13, he has shown flashes of the 2002-03 season.  Stastny and Joe Sakic have also been doing their parts, and while he has never been an 80-point man, Ryan Smyth needs to show why he was awarded such a nice contract a few years back. 

The keys to turning this season from an up-and-down rollercoaster to a steady incline lie in Hejduk and Stastny's continued production, plus a healthy Sakic and Scott Hannan.  However, for this team to be a serious competitor, Smyth needs to be more consistent and Marek Svatos needs to have more than four points. 

But, besides the offensive (lack of) production, Colorado really needs to get their goalie situation figured out sooner rather than later. If they don't, this season will be an extremely long one.

Since the retirement of Patrick Roy the Avs have had a solid backup but mediocre starter in Peter Budaj, Jose Theodore as the overrated starter (see Washington), and Andrew Raycroft, who is in the same boat as Budaj. 

None of the goalies since Patty Roy have proven they can carry the load on this team, but not all of the blame can be placed on the seedy goaltending.  The defense hasn't done their part very well either, but the goalie has luckily been there to stop pucks; both Raycroft and Budaj have done a very good job this season considering the defensive lapses.