Sakic salutes the Avs’ “pretty impressive” 10-game win streak
By Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
Inside the visiting team’s management suite at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Thursday night, Joe Sakic was reminded that he is the only member of the Avalanche to have played a major role in the club’s two longest winning streaks. The Avs’ legendary center and current general manager laughed before struggling to remember the longest winning streak of his playing days.
Regardless, he said nothing can compare to the most recent one. The 10-game winning streak that ended Monday at Montreal is the NHL’S longest this season, and the Avs never trailed in the first nine games and just 94 seconds overall.
It was the second-longest streak in club history, trailing only a 12-game run from Jan. 10 to Feb. 7, 1999 — a stretch Sakic spearheaded but is somewhat foggy on.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we were just hovering and started to take off after the allstar break,” Sakic said. That’s the one.
The Avs went on to come within one victory of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. They lost Game 7 of the Western Conference finals 4-1 at Dallas — the first of two consecutive Game 7 conference finals losses against the Stars in Dallas.
In 2000-01, Sakic remembers the nine-game winning streak — now the third-longest in team history — in a season the Avalanche won its second Stanley Cup.
When you’re winning all the time, winning streaks blend together. But Sakic won’t soon forget the recent one that was produced by the NHL’S worst team last season.
“When I was playing we had a lot of streaks, whether they were in a row or here and there — really good stretches,” Sakic said. “But I don’t remember a streak like that where we never trailed. We had some streaks, but not like that. So it was pretty impressive. We only trailed 1:34 in 10 games and there wasn’t any game where near the end of the game you had to come back. We were always tied or in the lead.
“So credit the guys. They got on a hot streak and they believed — and a lot of good came out of it. Now, you have highs and lows and once things dip a little bit you just try to get out of it as quick as possible. That’s the key.”
The key is to come out of this weekend’s all-star break and collect points during a threegame road trip in Canada that begins Tuesday at Vancouver. Sakic is confident the Avalanche will bounce back from its twogame losing streak.
“The coaching staff is doing a great job. The players believe in them,” Sakic said. “The cohesion we have in the dressing room — you talk to the guys, it’s a good, close group, and they play for one another. Another reason the winning streak was so impressive was we did it without some key guys (goalie Semyon Varlamov, defenseman Tyson Barrie, forward Sven Andrighetto). Those are big guys on your team. (Goalie Jonathan) Bernier stepped in and played great and the rest of the D corps was great. Entire team effort for that long and consistent stretch. They really want to win. They believe in each other. They really play for each other.”
Mike Chambers: mchambers @denverpost.com or @mikechambers