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Avs Start Season With High Expectations

Joe Sakic, the Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Colorado Avalanche, talks with reporters at Pepsi Center on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. (Photo: Mike Rice/KOA NewsRadio)

The journey begins on Thursday, October 3, 2019 for the Colorado Avalanche.

As the 2019-2020 regular season opens against the Calgary Flames, the Avalanche is expressing optimism that this could be the year when they are again a serious contender to win the Stanley Cup.

"We expect to make the playoffs and make a run to try to win a Stanley Cup," Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic said Wednesday. "That's our expectation, to have a really good year, to have a good start, play consistent. We like our group. We want to win and that's our goal."

After a deep midseason slump last year, the Avs rebounded to sneak into the playoffs with 90 points, good enough to secure the second Wild Card in the Western Conference.

Colorado eliminated the top-seeded Calgary Flames in five games before falling to the San Jose Sharks, four games to three, in the Western Conference Semifinals.

This year, the Avs hope to take all the experience from last season, build on it, and make a deeper postseason run.

"The sky is the limit," captain Gabe Landeskog told KOA Newsradio on Wednesday. "We worry about the expectations we put on ourselves in this locker room and we know that we can really do some good things in this league. We have a lot of work ahead of us and it should be a fun journey. But we haven't done anything yet."

The Avs host the Calgary Flames on Thursday at 7 p.m. MDT to get the season started.

Check out our interview with Landeskog and Sakic's full comments below, along with a preview of the season with KOA Avs Insider Ryan Clark of The Athletic.


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