Coaching staff changes in Colorado

Without any doubts, the past years have been very difficult for the Avalanche fans that are used to watch their team win. Unfortunately, the Colorado Avalanche missed the NHL playoffs twice in the last three years. In fact, they finished last in the Western Conference this season with a rather disappointing 32-45-5 record.

Therefore, it is no surprise that the franchise decided to head into a new direction with some personnel changes. Today, head coach duties have been handed over to Joe Sacco who will face the tough task of having to guide the Avalanche back into the playoffs next year. After Tony Granato was fired this week along with several assistant coaches, Sacco will have the opportunity to show that his previous AHL coaching success was no fluke. More specifically, it will be his first appearance in the NHL after coaching the Lake Erie Monsters in the AHL for the past two years. Sacco spent 13 years playing in the NHL for Toronto, Anaheim, Philadelphia, the NY Islanders and Washington before finishing his career with a total of 94 goals as well as 119 assists.

There are many factors that will influence the outcome of the next season for the Avalanche, but one important key event will be the NHL entry draft at the end of June. The Avalanche hold the third overall pick and can be expected to be very busy scouting and examining their options. Likewise, Colorado had to face a vast amount of injuries last season which are partially responsible for their poor performance. Most importantly, the Avalanche fan crowd is hoping for captain Joe Sakic to return next year for his 21^st NHL season.

You can watch all games of the Colorado Avalanche right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of live NHL streaming.