Sakic, Avs brimming with confidence

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 8, 2008 at 9:34 p.m.

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It should come as no surprise that optimism abounds throughout the Avalanche organization heading into the 2008-09 regular season, which kicks off tonight against the Boston Bruins at the Pepsi Center.

Isn't that usually the way teams feel on the eve of a season opener?

"We expect a lot of good things here," captain Joe Sakic, who is embarking on his 20th NHL season, said Wednesday. "We like what we have here. We feel we have a lot of depth. I'm just excited to get going."

Sakic believes the defensive corps is the strongest an Avalanche team has had in recent seasons and said he's a "big believer" in new No. 1 goalie Peter Budaj.

"We've had a good preseason, we like the new up-tempo style we're playing and we're very confident that we're going to have a great year," he said. "We got better as the preseason went on and the guys are excited to play this style. There's more movement, and anytime you can do that, it's definitely a lot more fun to play."

General manager Francois Giguere said the team's abundance of quality forwards was the reason for sending prized prospect T.J. Hensick and free-agent signees Per Ledin and Brian Willsie to the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League.

Hensick, 22, enjoyed a productive preseason with two goals and three assists in four games, and he had the decisive goal in a shootout win against Los Angeles.

"When it comes to T.J., you just want to put him in a position where he's going to play enough minutes to warrant him continuing to develop," Giguere said. "If you look at the last three guys that we cut, all three are fine NHL players. It just goes to show the depth of our organization."

Giguere said Ledin, who has played most of his career in Sweden, needs further adjustment to the North American brand of hockey and smaller ice surfaces than are used in Europe.

The Avalanche elected to start the season with 22 players - one under the NHL maximum - after placing right wing Scott Parker on injured reserve because of a concussion. Parker will be sidelined indefinitely.

"You need to be cautious with head injuries," Giguere said.

But Giguere hardly was guarded in his assessment of Budaj, 26, who was named the Avalanche's top goalie July 1 after Jose Theodore left as a free agent to sign with Washington.

"I think it's clear that Peter's ready for the start of the year," Giguere said.

Budaj went 2-0 in four preseason games, posted a 1.87 goals-against average and stopped 88 of 94 shots for a .936 saves percentage.

"It was pretty good," Budaj said. "It shows not only the way I played, it shows how the team played in front of me. We have a strong defensive team this year and, hopefully, we're going to keep improving.

"I want to be steady and consistent, not be up and down with my performance. I want the team to trust me and to earn their trust.

"Obviously, I want to help bring this team to the playoffs and then fight for the biggest thing, the Stanley Cup.

"We want to win the division, and I think we are capable of doing it."