from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

There are many reasons for the troubles in Colorado, but clearly since Joe Sakic took over as hockey boss, the Denver-based club has been in sharp and steady decline. Few people in hockey like to write about Sakic’s role in all this, largely because he was one of the great players of his generation and a true gentleman, always quiet and dignified, a player who did his talking by putting pucks in the opposition net.

He’s a nice man, but facts are facts: Since Sakic arrived in 2013, the Avs have gone from 112 points to 90, to 82 and finally to last season’s disastrous 48-point total under a rookie coach, 21 points behind the NHL’s next worst team. The Avs then lost the draft lottery, as well.

If Sakic were running a Canadian-based team, he’d have been fired by now. But Denver is no longer a market that gets the attention it once did, and as a team icon, Sakic gets more runway than most would.

Like Edmonton before saviour Connor McDavid arrived, the Avs have lots of young talent, but most of it seems to be regressing.

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