When did you know this Avs team was good?

[TheFactor]

To be honest, I was 100% sold after yesterdays win. The Avs of last year would have faltered and got dominated in St. Louis in a big game like that without Duchene and with Mitchell in the top-6. It wasn't a lucky win by any means, and its kinda scary considering that this team can still vastly improve if they bring in a couple top-4 dmen.

 

[Nzap]

The way we came back after the Olympic break showed me that they for sure are for real. After the Kings game (where we were the better team) they went 6-1 against teams like Tampa, Phoenix and Chicago twice. Also the only loss was against STL where we were the better team.

Already had had very good feelings, but that burst of great hockey after the break was the final sign for me.

 

[Hans Landaskog]

When they made the Tanguay trade.

 

[tucker3434]

I thought we had a playoff bubble roster in the offseason. I guess I didn't know we were in the upper tier until January. I thought we might have a losing streak at some point, but it never happened.

 

[tigervixxxen]

To everyone saying before the season, I don't mean better or a playoff team. I mean good, as in how they are playing now. Not one person predicted this.

 

[freeboy]

Loved the 5 year comment....
The will fail, maybe next decade! Waaat? I love seeing the national press take us up, now we are the young avs, the fast avs, the surging avs, the watch out for the avs. I'm delighted at the REMOTE possibility of catching blues... Seriously in happy land going to playoffs.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Hiring Roy was a big boost to my morale. His introduction press conference went great. I was smiling hours after it was over. I thought that playoffs should be possible. The game against Anaheim was a huge statement and I thought this team was going to prove something this season. The streak pretty much told me playoffs were guaranteed. The 4-1 record against Chicago told me that we were going to be a threat. The wins against San Jose to clinch and against the Blues for our 50th win of the season opened my eyes to the fact that this team is a team, not just a bunch of players following Duchene or Varly.

 

[Avs For Life]

Im going to be completely honest here... I still don't believe how good we are, not in a bad way. The Avs just continue to surprise me. Every time we are in a situation where I think we cant win, we find a way. This team makes me feel like I know nothing about hockey. We sit here and talk about how bad our defense is, and yet they have contributed quite a bit this year. We lose the corsi battles and win and then we win the corsi battle and lose.

I sometimes find myself wondering in reality just how far the team could go in the playoffs...a kind of overwhelmingly hopeful wondering. The team never quits...they fear no situation. With our combination of confidence and skill, how dangerous can we be?

I literally sometimes think, why not the cup? I know that falls into the slogan but it wasn't intentional. I just cannot think of a reason that we cant compete with any team in the league.

 

[Taak19]

After watching Roy slam the glass towards Boudreau.

 

[PAZ]

St. Louis game.

I was a bit of a pessimist, and i'm fine admitting that.

Beating Anaheim 7-2 opening night? Was as entertaining as you can get, and the Avs looked like a new team that night with Roy at the helm, but it was one game on opening night. I didn't take it for more than a new era, which was obviously an improvement, but I couldn't gauge how much.

14-2 Record? At that point I was expecting us to come down to earth, and was still leaning more towards a playoff bubble team. Lots of teams have hot starts and come back down to earth.

10 wins in January? Ok, this is where I was pretty confident the Avs were for real, we weren't just a playoff bubble team, we were a playoff team able to hold our own against the best.

After the Olympic break? I expected a losing streak, we were bound to have one after Varlamov's unspectacular play in the Olympics and the schedule. Well, it was the exact opposite of what I expected, and from there we could do more than just hold our own against the top tier teams.

However, I think the St. Louis sealed the deal for me. It really does beg the question, "why not us"? I don't expect going too far this year with all the injuries and Duchene having a hard time playing after an injury.

Next year as long as we keep a healthy roster, I see us surprising a lot of people in the post season, especially if we get another top-4 defenseman.

 

[IceRat]

the day they fired last season's coach

 

[CantTouchThis]

Apparently Dater knew as early as March 9th of last year. Said:
@adater: Avs will be a top-4 team next year. #savethistweet
What a bold prediction

I said when they clinched. In reality, I still feel on cloud #9

 

[hockeyfish]

Easily opening night. From that game, i could easily see that Mack was going to be special, and Roy was going to fight for his team. You could just tell that this was a different group of guys.

 

[captaincheese]

Probably after Roy was hired. I made a few bets we would make the playoffs for sure that year. Won 150$ from 3 people (Sharks fan, Canucks fan, and Devils).

I just didn't know we'd be doing this well and in the running for the presidents trophy to end the season.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I had really hoped for Dave Tippet to end up as our coach. Patrick Roy was always my second choice but...I was absolutely thrilled the second I heard he was coming back. Seriously...got a tingle up my leg and the whole nine-yards.

That being said...when did I know this team was this good?
I still don't.

They have done tremendous things and have laid to rest most questions about them. They are in the playoffs and deserve to be. ABSOLUTELY DESERVE TO BE!

I just don't think we've seen the best of them yet though. They aren't *this* good. They are better. They will get better. Another two or three years and God help me, they might be on top. The fact remains, they could still use a serious upgrade for the #2/3 dman. Hejda isn't getting younger and will eventually need less minutes. I don't want him going anywhere though because I think he's going to end his career as a 6/7 dman here still teaching about what it takes to be professional and take things a game at a time. Hopefully he'll have a SC ring in his locker.

The thing is...the AVs haven't peaked. They're not at the top. They've simply turned the page and have started moving upward. They're no longer the cellar dwellers. This all happened in one year. No chance they've topped out already.

I've gotta go clean my keyboard.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I had really hoped for Dave Tippet to end up as our coach. Patrick Roy was always my second choice but...I was absolutely thrilled the second I heard he was coming back. Seriously...got a tingle up my leg and the whole nine-yards.

That being said...when did I know this team was this good?
I still don't.

They have done tremendous things and have laid to rest most questions about them. They are in the playoffs and deserve to be. ABSOLUTELY DESERVE TO BE!

I just don't think we've seen the best of them yet though. They aren't *this* good. They are better. They will get better. Another two or three years and God help me, they might be on top. The fact remains, they could still use a serious upgrade for the #2/3 dman. Hejda isn't getting younger and will eventually need less minutes. I don't want him going anywhere though because I think he's going to end his career as a 6/7 dman here still teaching about what it takes to be professional and take things a game at a time. Hopefully he'll have a SC ring in his locker.

The thing is...the AVs haven't peaked. They're not at the top. They've simply turned the page and have started moving upward. They're no longer the cellar dwellers. This all happened in one year. No chance they've topped out already.

I've gotta go clean my keyboard.

I know what you mean and I think every Avs fan will agree. This isn't our peak. Wait till Bigras, Siemens and who knows who else we can add to make an impact, makes an impact on our D-core. You just know Roy and Sakic are happy that they don't need to turn over 80% of the roster. We can just focus on our prospect pool and defence with our forwards and goaltending looking pretty solid.

Roy and Sakic said they wanted a year to evaluate the team, the organization and the prospects. You know Roy would love to make this team his own. He knows how to keep a team competitive thanks to 10 years in the QMJHL. I'm interested to see what changes are made in the organization. We've heard from the players themselves that they aren't satisfied. This year has been great for morale and will be great for the team to build off of for next season as well.

 

[henchman21]

I knew after the first game... now I didn't expect anywhere near this good (figured a 6-8 seeded team), but it was immediately evident that things had changed with this team and it was going to be a good season.

Though I really don't think we know how good this team is. We will know when the playoffs start.

 

[freeboy]

I know what you mean and I think every Avs fan will agree. This isn't our peak. Wait till Bigras, Siemens and who knows who else we can add to make an impact, makes an impact on our D-core. You just know Roy and Sakic are happy that they don't need to turn over 80% of the roster. We can just focus on our prospect pool and defence with our forwards and goaltending looking pretty solid.

Roy and Sakic said they wanted a year to evaluate the team, the organization and the prospects. You know Roy would love to make this team his own. He knows how to keep a team competitive thanks to 10 years in the QMJHL. I'm interested to see what changes are made in the organization. We've heard from the players themselves that they aren't satisfied. This year has been great for morale and will be great for the team to build off of for next season as well.

I'm wondering where they cut fat and spend capital.... Add a top 4 d man, tangs retires or not? I'm not saying he will, just I don't think we keep all 9 forwards from top three lines in 2014/15.
Mitchel mcGinn Talbot stay.... But who goes away? I'd still resign Staz and spend money on a solid two way player.
Great to have these choices

 

[Foppa]

I sense a big change in the last month, perhaps even since just the Blues game two games ago in the entire fan base.

A couple months ago there was a thread on the main boards about the Avs' playoff chances (when it was clear we likely would have to play the Blues or Hawks), and the vast majority of fans (both non-Avs fans and Avs fans) basically poo-pooed our chances of doing anything and said we need to just be happy with the turnaround and take our first round beating like a good playoff newbie should. A lot of people suggested the Avs would be swept in rather easy fashion.

I hope nobody is willing to settle for that this year, regardless of how unexpected this is. You know that Patrick Roy is certainly not. You know the leaders on this team are certainly not. You know our superhuman goalie is certainly not.

This team can go a long way, experience be damned. Sure, I'm not writing us down as Stanley Cup champs and our lack of defensive depth and possibly key injuries could bite us at some point. I don't think any of the other top or "seasoned" teams are looking forward to playing us though. A team with this speed, skill and fire playing with essentially house money in a season they weren't supposed to do anything? There's nothing they would like better than to continue to be underestimated...

 

[tacogeoff]

Had them slotted at 3rd or 4th in the central during the off season. I am pretty damn Impressed!! Congrats and enjoy that playoff atmosphere!

 

[ASmileyFace]

The January wins for me.

I spent three months completely out of contact with the world on a study abroad trip from September through late December. During a transition period the first week of December someone got a paper dated to October 26th when the Avs were 9-1. I couldn't believe it. Before the trip I had managed to get to the very first preseason game where they lost to the Ducks so my last impressions before I left were not very good.

I knew this team was going to be different with Patty but I could never have predicted what I saw when I got back to the real world.

Watching them win, win and win some more in January quickly solidified them in my mind. It still feels like a bit of a dream though.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Last season we just had a dumb ass coach

 

[The Kingslayer]

the Avs may be good, but they're no Vancouver Canucks

True we have never lost a Game 7 in the FInals like the nucks have...twice

 

[tigervixxxen]

The January wins for me.

I spent three months completely out of contact with the world on a study abroad trip from September through late December. During a transition period the first week of December someone got a paper dated to October 26th when the Avs were 9-1. I couldn't believe it. Before the trip I had managed to get to the very first preseason game where they lost to the Ducks so my last impressions before I left were not very good.

I knew this team was going to be different with Patty but I could never have predicted what I saw when I got back to the real world.

Watching them win, win and win some more in January quickly solidified them in my mind. It still feels like a bit of a dream though.

That's a great story. What was their record when you got back? Must have been another shocker.

I agree about the dream aspect. I'm a bit sad this magical season is going to be over soon but then I have to remind myself that there are a lot of good times to look forward to in the future.

 

[billybobjoe2112]

I still can't believe the team is as good as they are. Everytime we lose a player like Tanguay, Stastny, Duchene, PAP, trade Downie, I think to myself, OK this team is going to crash and burn now. And then they pull it together and continue to win.