FanHouse Paul Stastny

Last season was an unmitigated disaster in Colorado. The Avalanche scored the fewest goals in the league and they gave up the most in the Western Conference.

So there was sweeping change in Denver. Out went general manager Francois Giguere and most of the front office, along with head coach Tony Granato and his assistants. In comes GM Greg Sherman and head coach Joe Sacco.

"It's been good," Avalanche center Paul Stastny told FanHouse by phone. "There's a little more structure. We don't ever want to repeat something like last year again. It's not just stricter, but everything is done to a 'T' -- either you're doing it right, or you're doing it wrong. Everyone is accountable. Everyone is still having fun, but we're making sure we do the job."

The USA Olympic orientation camp made for some strange bedfellows. Vancouver forward Ryan Kesler found himself rooming with T.J. Oshie of the Blues, who'd sent some cheap shots Kesler's way in the past, according to Kesler.

"I wasn't a fan," Kesler told FanHouse by phone this week. "And Paul Stastny once got me with a stick on a faceoff and chipped a couple of my teeth. But we sat down and talked and they're good guys. Stastny apologized for high-sticking me in the face."

Could it be that some of the other USA hopefuls felt equally ambivalent about Kesler going into the camp?

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 48 is Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny

Not only does Paul Stastny have to deal with comparisons to his father, Peter Stastny, who happened to play for the same franchise when it was based in Quebec, the 23-year-old center is now going to be counted on to be the successor to future Hall of Fame center Joe Sakic in the Colorado lineup.

No pressure, of course.

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It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northwest Division.

It appears we are setting up for an offseason of significant change in the Northwest Division. Only the Vancouver Canucks will have the same coach as last year, and there could be some real upheaval in terms of personnel. Not only that, but two teams (Minnesota and Colorado) have changed general managers.

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Over the next week, FanHouse will preview the top players and teams in next Friday's NHL Draft. This is the third post in a six part series.

It is widely regarded that in this year's draft, there are three prospects that are head and shoulders above all the others. With the third pick in next Friday's draft, it is likely that the Colorado Avalanche will have a chance to select from the trio of John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene. This will be the first major decision for new GM Greg Sherman, who was promoted on June 3 after seven years as assistant GM.

After jumping out to a 1-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final, Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock held a press conference on Monday and fielded a variety of questions from the media. For the most part, it was your typical, run-of-the-mill press conference.

About half way through, a reporter started asking Babcock about how he once joked that he was ready for the salary cap to break up the young talent the Chicago Blackhawks have assembled over the years. In Babcock's mind, he wasn't joking.

One of the biggest events in college hockey takes place this weekend in St. Paul, Minn. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association crowns its tournament champion at the annual Final Five, which begins Thursday at XCel Energy Center.

Current NHLers such as Blake Wheeler, Phil Kessel, Thomas Vanek, Jonathan Toews, T.J. Oshie, and Paul Stastny have played in the Final Five before, and now it's time for a crop of potential future NHL stars to take their turn under the bright lights.

I'm pretty sure I have said this before, but I'll risk being repetitive, because I think it's important. Coaches tend to get way too much credit when things go well, and even more of the blame when things go poorly. This has been especially true, for some odd reason, in the NBA and NHL over the years. Turnover is ridiculous.

Tony Granato is in his second stint as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. His first shot at the job lasted not even two full seasons, before Joel Quenneville was brought in. When Quenneville left, Granato got a second opportunity. Unfortunately for him, the help from management and the players has been horribly inadequate.

The Phoenix Coyotes will be hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night, and it's likely they'll be taking the ice without defenseman Derek Morris. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Morris has reportedly given general manager Don Maloney a list of teams he would be willing to accept a trade to.

Dreger also reports that until a trade can be made, Morris will not play for the Coyotes in order to avoid an injury.

We're less than one year away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Once again, the NHL will take a mid-season break and allow its players to participate in the Games.

After a wonderful run to silver in Salt Lake City back in 2002, Team USA was nothing short of disappointing in Torino three years ago. The Americans went just 1-3-1 in pool play, including an inexplicable tie against Latvia, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Finland in the quarterfinals. Heading into 2010, general manager Brian Burke has plenty of decisions to make, mainly surrounding the question of age.