That’s how Joe Sakic built the championship team

Specializing in solution paints Artturi Lehkonen The playoffs were 8 + 6 = 14 in 20 matches and in the NHL Superstars category Mikko Rantanen 5 + 20 = 25.

In addition to them, three other Finns got to celebrate the championship. Justus Annunen was the team’s third goalkeeper, and goalkeeper coach Jussi from Parkkila became the first Finnish coach to win the Stanley Cup. European Director of Talent Search Joni Lehto in turn, has been influential in the company for so long that the championship was already the second in his career.

Lehto is the right man to tell how Avalanches grew into the NHL championship team.

Original 5

The story could begin in the 2016-17 season, when Colorado was left out of the playoffs for the third time and with a lousy 48-point balance in the regular season jumbo.

Five players from that team were now able to lift the pitcher at Tampan Amalie Arena. In addition to Rantanen original Fiven formed the captain Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, JT Compher as well as a defender Erik Johnson.

However, it is worth looking a little further – the years when the organization underwent major changes.

Captain Joe Sakic and goalkeeper Patrick Roy excelled as star players as Colorado won their first two championships.

In the 2013-14 season, Roy started as Avalanche’s head coach and also had authority on the team building side. Roy favored big and strong players, which was also reflected in the player bookings.

The type of player who was at the expense of his skating skills could wrestle with a more permissive line of judges in the playoffs, but after Roy’s first season, the team was left out of the box three times.

Sakic’s style

Sakic, who has been at the forefront of Colorado for a few years now, was selected as the team’s GM the season following Roy’s arrival.

Since then, Sakic, which has earned a reputation for genius with its many successful player deals, began to push its booking policy in the direction now known as Avalanche’s playful identity.

– Joe wants fast and skilled guys, Lehto says about Sakic’s philosophy.

– If you need big guys, then it ‘s easier for him to find them through player stores or free agent market.

Lehto recalls that Sakic was an excellent skater himself.

– It is as if players of his style have been sought after, and it was now visible on this team.

According to Lehto, Colorado has had the good fortune to find the right building blocks.

– At the time, for example, in the 2015 draft, I did not think that we would get one in ten from Ranta.

Roy, who left the club a year later, was still influential in Avs at the time, but Rantanen’s reservation was suitable for him too – after all, Nousiainen’s great son was not only skilled, but also big.

Bead purchases

Lehto smokes the player contracts and acquisitions made by Sakic.

– Treidit have now all been successful, he says, citing the transfer limit last March, when Avs acquired an experienced Lehkonen and Andrew Coglianon.

As the undervalued defender, the New York Islanders in 2020 have become one of the brightest gems Devon Toewswho played Conn Smythe Tropic, the most valuable player in the playoffs of a great season Cale Makarin as a package.

Colorado released its second-round reservation rights for 2021 and 2022 from Toews.

– It took Islanders’ GM like a liter.

As a more surprising example, Lehto cites a defender who moved from Seattle last summer Create MacDermidin.

– Probably the very dude in the NHL.

In the playoffs, the 195-centimeter and 106-pound MacDermid didn’t get playing time, but he played an important role during the season.

– Against Las Vegas, for example, we weren’t physically tough enough before, but our gang grew as soon as there was a tougher dude.

Sakic gets good side support from the assistant GM in building the team Chris from MacFarland and a talent search organization.

– However, Joe is responsible in the final games, winning or losing, Lehto reminds.

He describes a Canadian with Croatian ancestry as a true gentleman.

– Joe is a legend with a shirt on the roof. He doesn’t want to be featured in newspapers or on TV every day, but players appreciate him a lot.

Winning pilot

Sakic also pulled the right string when choosing the head coach: Jared Bednarin hiring in 2016 for this first NHL wash was a bold draw.

Under Bednar’s leadership, the direction of the team has been upward, despite the curse of the second round of playoffs in the previous three seasons.

As a player, Bendar was a very physical defender for whom the NHL had a dream, but as a coach the man is from a different country.

– Behind the bench, he’s very calm. He is a winning coach who has also won the ECHL and AHL championships in the past. Part of the trading has also come from the fact that Bednar has known and trusted the player. Of course, it is important that Kuutsi also likes it, Lehto explains.

– All the players believed in our style of play, and no one soloed anything.

A bright future

The goalkeeper game was considered a question mark in Colorado, however Darcy Kuemper proved to be the last lock of the championship team to meet the dimensions.

– I think it always leaves the goalkeeper, Lehto assesses the fins of success.

– And these five players who were still involved during that miserable season are all great players who want to win. It then grabbed the other guys as well. The spine does not bend easily.

The dynamic offensive game is Colorado’s trademark strength, which was reflected in the high-profile results, especially in the regular season.

– Captain, MacKinnon and Rantanen are the big bulls who are the leaders in it, and we also played really well in the playoffs, Lehto praises and praises the team spirit.

– Nothing else would have been enough other than a championship.

During the pay cap period, building a dynasty is extremely difficult, even though Tampa reached almost three championship pipes.

In Colorado, a 12-player contract expires, which means contract negotiations or a transfer elsewhere. Lehto still sees the future of the club as positive.

– You probably have to give up somewhere, but there are good young people coming to the farm. There were still young guys on the team who saw what it took to win. It will become a culture of winning, and I think we have a really bright future.