Joe Sakic News

Weekly Notebook Head starts and head shots Colorado Avalanche captain Adam Foote gets tangled up with Jason Blake of the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Oct.

Robyn Regehr in recent games has played more like one of the NHL's top shutdown defencemen.

Last week, when I covered Avalanche games in Edmonton and Calgary, and I noticed the swarms of media members posing questions to Colorado coach Joe Sacco and the players, it hit me: The Avs' shockingly fast start was a bigger story in Canada than it was in Denver.

Is it supposed to happen this way? Am I dreaming? Did I travel to another dimension? Or am I hallucinating after eating that week old burrito with the added green fuzz? All these questions have run through my mind as I try to make sense of why so many rookies and unknowns are making a significant impact in today's NHL.

When the dust settled at the end of the 2008-09 NHL season, the Avalanche found themselves 15th in the Western Conference.

Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2009-10 NHL season.

It was out with Joe Sakic and in with Joe Sacco for the Colorado Avalanche this season.

When Matt Hendricks injured himself in the first period against Detroit, he joined a long list of injured Avalanche players.

A quick glance at the NHL standings reveals a surprising fact...the Colorado Avalanche are the best team in the Western Conference.

Commemorative jerseys from Joe Sakic's retirement night will enter the collector's market.

This is such an important subject that there was no question it needed to be tackled - or so suggested a female friend when potential topics for a hockey column were mentioned.

The only thing most people figured the Colorado Avalanche would win this season is the draft lottery.

Happy birthday, Mudflap, here's your pink slip. KYGO-98.5 FM morning radio personality Steve "Mudflap" McGrew celebrated his birthday Monday, and was let go by KYGO owner Lincoln Financial Media on Tuesday.

What Are You, Three? You are off to the worst start in franchise history. Your goaltending is in a shambles, your defense has looked like Swisscheese and your forwards couldna t penetrate a prostitute on a Saturday night.

Darcy Tucker had a goal and an assist against his former team to help the Colorado Avalanche beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2009-10 NHL season.

With just more than one week of play in the books, here's a compendium of six things that have been encouraging and six things that have been discouraging so far this season: 1. Encouraging: Without accounting for shootout goals, the NHL is averaging 6.3 goals per game this season going into Friday night's games.

Sheldon Kennedy remembers the storm that engulfed him when he spoke out about Graham James.

Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2009-10 NHL season.

Colorado's Wojtek Wolski has a team-leading three goals and six with five assists in 13 games against Nashville.