2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season was their 12th National Hockey League season in Denver, Colorado. It was a season of transition for the Avs, as the team began the season with a new General Manager in Francois Giguere, ending the twelve-year reign of Pierre Lacroix.^[1] The off-season also featured the departures of Alex Tanguay and Rob Blake, continuing the trend of star players leaving Denver that began the previous year.^[2]

After a decade near the top of the Western Conference standings, the Avalanche were expected to struggle to make the playoffs in 2006–07.^[3] The team's expected decline also saw attendance take a hit, as Colorado's NHL record sellout streak of 487 games was ended on October 16 when 17,681 tickets were sold for a game, 326 shy of a sellout.^[4]

Joe Sakic was the lone representative for the Avalanche at the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. Sakic recorded four assists at the game.^[5]

Entering the final week of the season on April 3, 2007, Colorado was 7 points behind the Calgary Flames for the 8th and final spot in the Western Conference standings. Needing Calgary to lose all four games that week and for them to win all four they fell short by 1 point. Calgary losing to Colorado, San Jose, Edmonton, and again to Colorado did not capture a point that week and Colorado winning three out of four was knocked out of contention when they lost to the Nashville Predators on April 7, 2007. The following night, the Avalanche beat the Flames 6–3 giving them 95 points overall on the season and one short of Calgary who had 96. With the 95 points, the Avalanche became the team with the highest point total in a season to not make the playoffs, missing the post-season for the first time in franchise history, despite going 15–2–2 to end the regular season. This record would later be matched by the 2010–11 Dallas Stars, who also failed to qualify for the playoffs with 95 points. Both the Avalanche and the Stars were passed by the 2014-15 Boston Bruins, who earned 96.

Regular season

Season standings

Northwest Division
No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Vancouver Canucks	82	49	26	7	222	201	105
2	7	Minnesota Wild	82	48	26	8	235	191	104
3	8	Calgary Flames	82	43	29	10	258	226	96
4	9	Colorado Avalanche	82	44	31	7	272	251	95
5	12	Edmonton Oilers	82	32	43	7	195	248	71

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime/shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; PIM = Penalties in minutes; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Schedule and results

2006–07 Game log

October: 5–4–2 (home: 3–3–1; road: 2–1–1)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 4	Dallas	3 – 2	Colorado	OT	Theodore	18,007	0–0–1	1
2	October 5	Colorado	2 – 3	Minnesota	OT	Budaj	18,568	0–0–2	2
3	October 8	Vancouver	2 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	18,007	1–0–2	4
4	October 14	Edmonton	4 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	18,007	1–1–2	4
5	October 16	Chicago	5 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	17,681	1–2–2	4
6	October 18	Colorado	4 – 1	Toronto		Budaj	19,463	2–2–2	6
7	October 19	Colorado	2 – 1	Ottawa		Theodore	17,728	3–2–2	8
8	October 21	Colorado	5 – 8	Montreal		Theodore	21,273	3–3–2	8
9	October 23	Los Angeles	1 – 6	Colorado		Budaj	17,284	4–3–2	10
10	October 25	Washington	5 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	17,047	4–4–2	10
11	October 29	Minnesota	1 – 4	Colorado		Theodore	17,615	5–4–2	12

November: 7–7–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 4–4–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 1	Colorado	5 – 3	Columbus		Theodore	16,007	6–4–2	14
13	November 2	Colorado	1 – 4	St. Louis		Budaj	9,467	6–5–2	14
14	November 4	Vancouver	2 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	18,007	7–5–2	16
15	November 7	Los Angeles	6 – 5	Colorado		Budaj	17,196	7–6–2	16
16	November 11	Colorado	0 – 1	Nashville		Theodore	17,113	7–7–2	16
17	November 13	Edmonton	2 – 1	Colorado		Theodore	17,725	7–8–2	16
18	November 15	San Jose	4 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	18,007	7–9–2	16
19	November 17	Colorado	3 – 0	Columbus		Budaj	16,375	8–9–2	18
20	November 18	Colorado	2 – 1	Minnesota	SO	Budaj	18,568	9–9–2	20
21	November 20	Colorado	4 – 5	Dallas		Budaj	17,491	9–10–2	20
22	November 22	Anaheim	2 – 3	Colorado	SO	Theodore	17,104	10–10–2	22
23	November 25	Vancouver	1 – 4	Colorado		Theodore	17,825	11–10–2	24
24	November 28	Colorado	2 – 5	Calgary		Theodore	19,289	11–11–2	24
25	November 30	Colorado	7 – 3	Edmonton		Budaj	16,839	12–11–2	26

December: 6–7–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 2–4–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
26	December 2	Colorado	1 – 2	Vancouver		Budaj	18,630	12–12–2	26
27	December 5	Columbus	3 – 0	Colorado		Budaj	17,339	12–13–2	26
28	December 7	Colorado	5 – 2	San Jose		Theodore	17,039	13–13–2	28
29	December 9	Colorado	4 – 5	Los Angeles		Theodore	17,079	13–14–2	28
30	December 11	Carolina	2 – 5	Colorado		Budaj	17,113	14–14–2	30
31	December 13	St. Louis	1 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	15–14–2	32
32	December 15	Edmonton	1 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	17,589	16–14–2	34
33	December 17	Colorado	1 – 2	Chicago		Theodore	11,111	16–15–2	34
34	December 19	Colorado	7 – 6	Edmonton		Budaj	16,839	17–15–2	36
	December 21	Calgary	PPD^†	Colorado
35	December 23	Chicago	2 – 3	Colorado		Theodore	17,347	18–15–2	38
36	December 27	Dallas	5 – 4	Colorado		Theodore	18,007	18–16–2	38
37	December 29	St. Louis	4 – 2	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	18–17–2	38
38	December 30	Colorado	0 – 2	St. Louis		Budaj	16,078	18–18–2	38

^†December 21 game against Calgary was postponed due to a snowstorm. The game was made up on April 8.

January: 7–3–2 (home: 4–1–2; road: 3–2–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
39	January 1	Colorado	5 – 3	Nashville		Budaj	15,878	19–18–2	40
40	January 5	Tampa Bay	2 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	20–18–2	42
41	January 6	Colorado	2 – 1	Minnesota	SO	Budaj	18,568	21–18–2	44
42	January 9	Detroit	4 – 3	Colorado	SO	Budaj	18,007	21–18–3	45
43	January 11	Calgary	7 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	21–19–3	45
44	January 13	Colorado	3 – 2	Anaheim	SO	Budaj	17,174	22–19–3	47
45	January 15	Colorado	1 – 3	San Jose		Budaj	17,496	22–20–3	47
46	January 17	Phoenix	3 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	17,183	23–20–3	49
47	January 20	Detroit	1 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	24–20–3	51
48	January 26	Phoenix	5 – 4	Colorado	SO	Budaj	18,007	24–20–4	52
49	January 28	Colorado	1 – 3	Detroit		Theodore	20,066	24–21–4	52
50	January 30	Nashville	3 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	17,119	25–21–4	54

February: 5–8–1 (home: 4–4–0; road: 1–4–1)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
51	February 1	Minnesota	5 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	17,286	25–22–5	54
52	February 3	Edmonton	3 – 2	Colorado		Budaj	17,645	25–23–5	54
53	February 6	Florida	4 – 5	Colorado	OT	Theodore	17,065	26–23–5	56
54	February 8	Atlanta	6 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	17,428	26–24–5	56
55	February 11	Colorado	5 – 7	Dallas		Theodore	17,506	26–25–5	56
56	February 13	Anaheim	0 – 2	Colorado		Budaj	17,512	27–25–4	58
57	February 15	Colorado	7 – 5	Calgary		Theodore	19,289	28–25–4	60
58	February 17	Colorado	2 – 5	Calgary		Budaj	19,289	28–26–4	60
59	February 18	Colorado	4 – 5	Vancouver		Theodore	18,630	28–27–4	60
60	February 20	Calgary	3 – 4	Colorado		Budaj	17,623	29–27–4	62
61	February 22	Minnesota	4 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	18,007	29–28–4	62
62	February 24	Colorado	5 – 6	Los Angeles	SO	Budaj	18,118	29–28–5	63
63	February 25	Colorado	3 – 5	Anaheim		Theodore	17,174	29–29–5	63
64	February 27	Columbus	2 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	17,127	30–29–5	65

March: 11–1–2 (home: 3–1–0; road: 8–0–2)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
65	March 1	Colorado	6 – 1	Chicago		Budaj	10,522	31–29–5	67
66	March 4	Colorado	4 – 3	Detroit	OT	Budaj	20,066	32–29–5	69
67	March 6	Colorado	2 – 0	Boston		Budaj	11,707	33–29–5	71
68	March 7	Colorado	3 – 2	Buffalo		Budaj	18,690	34–29–5	73
69	March 11	Colorado	2 – 3	Minnesota	SO	Budaj	18,568	34–29–6	74
70	March 14	Calgary	2 – 3	Colorado		Budaj	17,426	35–29–6	76
71	March 17	Colorado	6 – 3	Phoenix		Budaj	17,179	36–29–6	78
72	March 18	San Jose	3 – 4	Colorado	SO	Budaj	18,007	37–29–6	80
73	March 21	Colorado	5 – 1	Edmonton		Budaj	16,839	38–29–6	82
74	March 23	Colorado	3 – 4	Edmonton	SO	Budaj	16,839	38–29–7	83
75	March 25	Colorado	5 – 4	Vancouver	SO	Theodore	18,630	39–29–7	85
76	March 27	Vancouver	3 – 0	Colorado		Theodore	17,437	39–30–7	85
77	March 29	Colorado	4 – 3	Phoenix		Budaj	16,110	40–30–7	87
78	March 31	Minnesota	1 – 2	Colorado		Budaj	17,192	41–30–7	89

April: 3–1–0 (home: 1–1–0; road: 2–0–0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
79	April 3	Colorado	4 – 3	Calgary		Budaj	19,289	42–30–7	91
80	April 5	Colorado	3 – 1	Vancouver		Budaj	18,630	43–30–7	93
81	April 7	Nashville	4 – 2	Colorado		Budaj	17,462	43–31–7	93
82	April 8^†	Calgary	3 – 6	Colorado		Theodore	17,551	44–31–7	95

^†Makeup date for the December 21 game that was postponed.

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes

	Regular season					Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Joe Sakic	82	36	64	100	46	-	-	-	-	-
Andrew Brunette	82	27	56	83	36	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Stastny	82	28	50	78	42	-	-	-	-	-
Milan Hejduk	80	35	35	70	44	-	-	-	-	-
Wojtek Wolski	76	22	28	50	14	-	-	-	-	-
Tyler Arnason	82	16	33	49	26	-	-	-	-	-
John-Michael Liles	71	14	30	44	24	-	-	-	-	-
Brett Clark	82	10	29	39	50	-	-	-	-	-
Brett McLean	78	15	20	35	36	-	-	-	-	-
Marek Svatos	66	15	15	30	46	-	-	-	-	-
Ian Laperriere	81	8	21	29	133	-	-	-	-	-
Brad Richardson	73	14	8	22	28	-	-	-	-	-
Ken Klee	81	3	16	19	68	-	-	-	-	-
Mark Rycroft	66	6	6	12	31	-	-	-	-	-
Patrice Brisebois	33	1	10	11	22	-	-	-	-	-
Ben Guite	39	3	8	11	16	-	-	-	-	-
Karlis Skrastins	68	0	11	11	30	-	-	-	-	-
Ossi Vaananen	74	2	6	8	69	-	-	-	-	-
Pierre Turgeon	17	4	3	7	10	-	-	-	-	-
Kurt Sauer	48	0	6	6	24	-	-	-	-	-
Jordan Leopold	15	2	3	5	14	-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Finger	22	1	4	5	11	-	-	-	-	-
Antti Laaksonen	41	3	1	4	16	-	-	-	-	-
Brad May^‡	10	0	3	3	8	-	-	-	-	-
Kyle Cumiskey	9	1	1	2	2	-	-	-	-	-
Scott Parker^↑	10	1	1	2	6	-	-	-	-	-
Peter Budaj	57	0	2	2	0	-	-	-	-	-
Cody McCormick	6	0	1	1	6	-	-	-	-	-
Jose Theodore	33	0	1	1	6	-	-	-	-	-
George Parros^‡	2	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Colorado. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
^‡Traded during the season.

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime/shootout losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

	Regular season									Playoffs
Player	GP	Min	W	L	OT	GA	SO	SV%	GAA	GP	Min	W	L	GA	SO	SV%	GAA
Peter Budaj	57	3198	31	16	6	143	3	.905	2.68	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jose Theodore	33	1748	13	15	1	95	0	.891	3.26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Transactions

The Avalanche were involved in the following transactions during the 2006–07 season.^[6]^[7]

Trades

June 24, 2006	To Colorado Avalanche ----Jordan Leopold 2nd round pick in 2006 conditional round pick in 2007 or 2008	To Calgary Flames ---- Alex Tanguay
November 13, 2006	To Colorado Avalanche ----2nd round pick in 2007	To Anaheim Ducks ----George Parros
February 27, 2007	To Colorado Avalanche ---- Michael Wall	To Anaheim Ducks ---- Brad May
February 27, 2007	To Colorado Avalanche ---- Scott Parker	To San Jose Sharks ---- 6th round pick in 2008

Free agents

Player	Former team
Tyler Arnason	Ottawa Senators
Matt Murley	Pittsburgh Penguins
Mark Rycroft	St. Louis Blues
Ken Klee	New Jersey Devils

Player	New team
Rob Blake	Los Angeles Kings
Dan Hinote	St. Louis Blues
Jim Dowd	New Jersey Devils

Draft picks

Colorado's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[8]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	18	Chris Stewart (RW)	Canada	Colorado Avalanche	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
2	51	Nigel Williams (D)	United States	Colorado Avalanche	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
2	59	Codey Burki (C)	Canada	Colorado Avalanche (From Calgary Flames)	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	81	Michael Carman (C)	United States	Colorado Avalanche	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
4	110	Kevin Montgomery (D)	United States	Colorado Avalanche (From Edmonton Oilers)	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
7	201	Billy Sauer (G)	United States	Colorado Avalanche	University of Michigan (NCAA)

Farm teams

Albany River Rats

The Avalanche signed a one-year deal to join the Carolina Hurricanes as the NHL affiliate for the River Rats for the 2006–07 AHL season.

During the season, the Avs announced that they had signed a long term deal to be the NHL affiliate of the new Cleveland expansion team beginning in 2007–08. Coincidentally, the new franchise is a reincarnation of the Utah Grizzlies franchise, which played in Denver as the Denver Grizzlies until 1995, when the Avs came to Denver.^[9]

Arizona Sundogs

The Sundogs began their inaugural season in the Central Hockey League.

References

Player stats: Colorado Avalanche player stats on espn.com.
Game log: Colorado Avalanche game log on espn.com.
Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com.

↑ Giguere hired as new Avalanche GM, tsn.ca, May 24, 2006, accessed February 2, 2007.
↑ 2006 off-season transactions, proicehockey.about.com, accessed February 2, 2007.
↑ Dater, Adrian, More stars desert Denver, The Hockey News 2006–07 season preview, pp. 90–93.
↑ Frei, Terry, Avs see sellout streak get away, Denver Post, October 17, 2006.
↑ 2007 All Star Game box score, espn.com, accessed February 11, 2007.
↑ NHL Insider - Offseason Trades, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006.
↑ NHL Insider - Free Agent Signings, nhl.com, accessed December 2, 2006.
↑ 2006 NHL Entry Draft Results nhl.com - accessed December 22, 2006.
↑ Coming to Ohio, CNNSI.com, December 17, 2006, accessed December 22, 2006.

2006–07 Colorado Avalanche roster

Goaltenders:

31 – Budaj • 60 – Theodore

Defensemen

2 – Klee • 3 – Skrastins • 4 – Liles • 5 – Clark • 6 – Finger • 27 – Vaananen • 34 – Sauer • 44 – Leopold • 48 – Cumiskey • 71 – Brisebois

Forwards

8 – Wolski • 12 – Richardson • 14 – Laperriere • 15 – Brunette • 19 – Sakic • 20 – Rycroft • 23 – Hejduk • 26 – Stastny • 28 – Guite • 29 – Parker • 39 – Arnason • 40 – Svatos • 53 – McLean • 87 – Turgeon

General Manager: Francois Giguere • Coach: Joel Quenneville

Colorado Avalanche

Formerly the Quebec Nordiques Founded in 1995 Based in Denver, Colorado

Franchise	Team General Managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season

History	NHL expansion draft Records Award winners

Personnel	Owner: Kroenke Sports Enterprises Stan Kroenke, chairman General manager: Joe Sakic Head coach: Jared Bednar Team captain: Gabriel Landeskog Current roster

Arenas	McNichols Sports Arena Pepsi Center

Affiliates	AHL San Antonio Rampage ECHL Colorado Eagles

General managers	Lacroix Giguere Sherman Sakic

Head coaches	Crawford Hartley Granato Quenneville Sacco Roy Bednar

Media	Altitude KKFN

Stanley Cup Finals	1996 2001

Culture and lore	Colorado Rockies Quebec Nordiques Bernie Howler Frozen Fury Todd Bertuzzi–Steve Moore incident Avalanche–Red Wings brawl "Stanley's Cup" (South Park)

Colorado Avalanche seasons

Pre-1995	Quebec Nordiques

1990s	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

2006–07 NHL season

Atlantic	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh

Northeast	Boston Buffalo Montreal Ottawa Toronto

Southeast	Atlanta Carolina Florida Tampa Bay Washington

Central	Chicago Columbus Detroit Nashville St. Louis

Northwest	Calgary Colorado Edmonton Minnesota Vancouver

Pacific	Anaheim Dallas Los Angeles Phoenix San Jose

See also	Draft All-Star Game Stanley Cup Playoffs Stanley Cup Finals Transactions

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