# 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2006–07 Colorado Avalanche season was their 12th season in Denver. 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 12-year reign of Pierre Lacroix. 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.
After a decade near the top of the Western Conference standings, the Avalanche were expected to struggle to make the playoffs in 2006–07. 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.
Joe Sakic was the lone representative for the Avalanche at the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. Sakic recorded four assists at the game.
Entering the final week of the season on April 3, 2007, Colorado was seven points behind the Calgary Flames for the eighth 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 one 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 since 1994 back when they were known as the Quebec Nordiques, 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, 2017-18 Florida Panthers, and the 2018–19 Montreal Canadiens, who each 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.
Western Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z-Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 50 | 19 | 13 | 254 | 199 | 113 |
| 2 | y-Anaheim Ducks | PA | 82 | 48 | 20 | 14 | 258 | 208 | 110 |
| 3 | y-Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 49 | 26 | 7 | 222 | 201 | 105 |
| 4 | Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 272 | 212 | 110 |
| 5 | San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 258 | 199 | 107 |
| 6 | Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 50 | 25 | 7 | 226 | 197 | 107 |
| 7 | Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 235 | 191 | 104 |
| 8 | Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 43 | 29 | 10 | 258 | 226 | 96 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 44 | 31 | 7 | 272 | 251 | 95 |
| 10 | St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 214 | 254 | 81 |
| 11 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 201 | 249 | 73 |
| 12 | Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 32 | 43 | 7 | 195 | 248 | 71 |
| 13 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 201 | 258 | 71 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 27 | 41 | 14 | 227 | 283 | 68 |
| 15 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 31 | 46 | 5 | 216 | 284 | 67 |
bold - qualified for playoffs, y - division title, z - best conference record CE - Central Division, NW - Northwest Division, PA - Pacific Division

## Schedule and results

2006–07 regular season :
October: 5–4–2 (home: 3–3–1; road: 2–1–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 4Dallas3 – 2ColoradoOTTheodore18,0070–0–11Recap
2October 5Colorado2 – 3MinnesotaOTBudaj18,5680–0–22Recap
3October 8Vancouver2 – 3ColoradoTheodore18,0071–0–24Recap
4October 14Edmonton4 – 3ColoradoTheodore18,0071–1–24Recap
5October 16Chicago5 – 3ColoradoTheodore17,6811–2–24Recap
6October 18Colorado4 – 1TorontoBudaj19,4632–2–26Recap
7October 19Colorado2 – 1OttawaTheodore17,7283–2–28Recap
8October 21Colorado5 – 8MontrealTheodore21,2733–3–28Recap
9October 23Los Angeles1 – 6ColoradoBudaj17,2844–3–210Recap
10October 25Washington5 – 3ColoradoBudaj17,0474–4–210Recap
11October 29Minnesota1 – 4ColoradoTheodore17,6155–4–212Recap :
November: 7–7–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 4–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointRecap
12November 1Colorado5 – 3ColumbusTheodore16,0076–4–214Recap
13November 2Colorado1 – 4St. LouisBudaj9,4676–5–214Recap
14November 4Vancouver2 – 3ColoradoTheodore18,0077–5–216Recap
15November 7Los Angeles6 – 5ColoradoBudaj17,1967–6–216Recap
16November 11Colorado0 – 1NashvilleTheodore17,1137–7–216Recap
17November 13Edmonton2 – 1ColoradoTheodore17,7257–8–216Recap
18November 15San Jose4 – 3ColoradoTheodore18,0077–9–216Recap
19November 17Colorado3 – 0ColumbusBudaj16,3758–9–218Recap
20November 18Colorado2 – 1MinnesotaSOBudaj18,5689–9–220Recap
21November 20Colorado4 – 5DallasBudaj17,4919–10–220Recap
22November 22Anaheim2 – 3ColoradoSOTheodore17,10410–10–222Recap
23November 25Vancouver1 – 4ColoradoTheodore17,82511–10–224Recap
24November 28Colorado2 – 5CalgaryTheodore19,28911–11–224Recap
25November 30Colorado7 – 3EdmontonBudaj16,83912–11–226Recap :
December: 6–7–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 2–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
26December 2Colorado1 – 2VancouverBudaj18,63012–12–226Recap
27December 5Columbus3 – 0ColoradoBudaj17,33912–13–226Recap
28December 7Colorado5 – 2San JoseTheodore17,03913–13–228Recap
29December 9Colorado4 – 5Los AngelesTheodore17,07913–14–228Recap
30December 11Carolina2 – 5ColoradoBudaj17,11314–14–230Recap
31December 13St. Louis1 – 4ColoradoBudaj18,00715–14–232Recap
32December 15Edmonton1 – 4ColoradoBudaj17,58916–14–234Recap
33December 17Colorado1 – 2ChicagoTheodore11,11116–15–234Recap
34December 19Colorado7 – 6EdmontonBudaj16,83917–15–236Recap
December 21CalgaryPPD$^†$Colorado
35December 23Chicago2 – 3ColoradoTheodore17,34718–15–238Recap
36December 27Dallas5 – 4ColoradoTheodore18,00718–16–238Recap
37December 29St. Louis4 – 2ColoradoBudaj18,00718–17–238Recap
38December 30Colorado0 – 2St. LouisBudaj16,07818–18–238Recap
$^†$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)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
39January 1Colorado5 – 3NashvilleBudaj15,87819–18–240Recap
40January 5Tampa Bay2 – 4ColoradoBudaj18,00720–18–242Recap
41January 6Colorado2 – 1MinnesotaSOBudaj18,56821–18–244Recap
42January 9Detroit4 – 3ColoradoSOBudaj18,00721–18–345Recap
43January 11Calgary7 – 3ColoradoBudaj18,00721–19–345Recap
44January 13Colorado3 – 2AnaheimSOBudaj17,17422–19–347Recap
45January 15Colorado1 – 3San JoseBudaj17,49622–20–347Recap
46January 17Phoenix3 – 4ColoradoBudaj17,18323–20–349Recap
47January 20Detroit1 – 3ColoradoBudaj18,00724–20–351Recap
48January 26Phoenix5 – 4ColoradoSOBudaj18,00724–20–452Recap
49January 28Colorado1 – 3DetroitTheodore20,06624–21–452Recap
50January 30Nashville3 – 4ColoradoBudaj17,11925–21–454Recap :
February: 5–8–1 (home: 4–4–0; road: 1–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
51February 1Minnesota5 – 3ColoradoBudaj17,28625–22–554Recap
52February 3Edmonton3 – 2ColoradoBudaj17,64525–23–554Recap
53February 6Florida4 – 5ColoradoOTTheodore17,06526–23–556Recap
54February 8Atlanta6 – 3ColoradoBudaj17,42826–24–556Recap
55February 11Colorado5 – 7DallasTheodore17,50626–25–556Recap
56February 13Anaheim0 – 2ColoradoBudaj17,51227–25–458Recap
57February 15Colorado7 – 5CalgaryTheodore19,28928–25–460Recap
58February 17Colorado2 – 5CalgaryBudaj19,28928–26–460Recap
59February 18Colorado4 – 5VancouverTheodore18,63028–27–460Recap
60February 20Calgary3 – 4ColoradoBudaj17,62329–27–462Recap
61February 22Minnesota4 – 3ColoradoBudaj18,00729–28–462Recap
62February 24Colorado5 – 6Los AngelesSOBudaj18,11829–28–563Recap
63February 25Colorado3 – 5AnaheimTheodore17,17429–29–563Recap
64February 27Columbus2 – 3ColoradoBudaj17,12730–29–565Recap :
March: 11–1–2 (home: 3–1–0; road: 8–0–2)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
65March 1Colorado6 – 1ChicagoBudaj10,52231–29–567Recap
66March 4Colorado4 – 3DetroitOTBudaj20,06632–29–569Recap
67March 6Colorado2 – 0BostonBudaj11,70733–29–571Recap
68March 7Colorado3 – 2BuffaloBudaj18,69034–29–573Recap
69March 11Colorado2 – 3MinnesotaSOBudaj18,56834–29–674Recap
70March 14Calgary2 – 3ColoradoBudaj17,42635–29–676Recap
71March 17Colorado6 – 3PhoenixBudaj17,17936–29–678Recap
72March 18San Jose3 – 4ColoradoSOBudaj18,00737–29–680Recap
73March 21Colorado5 – 1EdmontonBudaj16,83938–29–682Recap
74March 23Colorado3 – 4EdmontonSOBudaj16,83938–29–783Recap
75March 25Colorado5 – 4VancouverSOTheodore18,63039–29–785Recap
76March 27Vancouver3 – 0ColoradoTheodore17,43739–30–785Recap
77March 29Colorado4 – 3PhoenixBudaj16,11040–30–787Recap
78March 31Minnesota1 – 2ColoradoBudaj17,19241–30–789Recap :
April: 3–1–0 (home: 1–1–0; road: 2–0–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
79April 3Colorado4 – 3CalgaryBudaj19,28942–30–791Recap
80April 5Colorado3 – 1VancouverBudaj18,63043–30–793Recap
81April 7Nashville4 – 2ColoradoBudaj17,46243–31–793Recap
82April 8$^†$Calgary3 – 6ColoradoTheodore17,55144–31–795Recap
$^†$Makeup date for the December 21 game that was postponed. :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Avalanche only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 19 | Joe Sakic | C | 82 | 36 | 64 | 100 | 2 | 46 |
| 15 | Andrew Brunette | LW | 82 | 27 | 56 | 83 | −8 | 36 |
| 26 | Paul Stastny | C | 82 | 28 | 50 | 78 | 4 | 42 |
| 23 | Milan Hejduk | RW | 80 | 35 | 35 | 70 | 10 | 44 |
| 8 | Wojtek Wolski | LW | 76 | 22 | 28 | 50 | 2 | 14 |
| 39 | Tyler Arnason | C | 82 | 16 | 33 | 49 | −8 | 26 |
| 4 | John-Michael Liles | D | 71 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 0 | 24 |
| 5 | Brett Clark | D | 82 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 5 | 50 |
| 53 | Brett McLean | C | 78 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 8 | 36 |
| 40 | Marek Svatos | RW | 66 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 1 | 46 |
| 14 | Ian Laperriere | RW | 81 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 5 | 133 |
| 12 | Brad Richardson | RW | 73 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 4 | 28 |
| 2 | Ken Klee | D | 81 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 68 |
| 20 | Mark Rycroft | RW | 66 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 31 |
| 28 | Ben Guite | RW | 39 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −4 | 16 |
| 71 | Patrice Brisebois | D | 33 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −5 | 22 |
| 3 | Karlis Skrastins | D | 68 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 30 |
| 27 | Ossi Vaananen | D | 74 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 69 |
| 87 | Pierre Turgeon | C | 17 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −1 | 10 |
| 34 | Kurt Sauer | D | 48 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −3 | 24 |
| 44 | Jordan Leopold | D | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −4 | 14 |
| 6 | Jeff Finger | D | 22 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| 24 | Antti Laaksonen | LW | 41 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 16 |
| 10 | Brad May‡ | LW | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 48 | Kyle Cumiskey | D | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 | Scott Parker† | RW | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 31 | Peter Budaj | G | 57 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 0 |
| 11 | Cody McCormick | C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | G | 33 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 6 |
| 57 | George Parros‡ | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 31 | Peter Budaj | 57 | 31 | 16 | 6 | 1499 | 143 | 2.68 | .905 | 3 | 3199 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | 33 | 13 | 15 | 1 | 870 | 95 | 3.26 | .891 | 0 | 1748 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL Foundation Player Award | Joe Sakic |
| League (annual) | NHL All-Rookie Team | Paul Stastny (Forward) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Joe Sakic |
| League (in-season) | NHL First Star of the Month | Peter Budaj (March) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Wojtek Wolski (December) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Rookie of the Month | Paul Stastny (February) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Second Star of the Week | Joe Sakic (March 18) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Second Star of the Week | Joe Sakic (April 18) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Third Star of the Week | Joe Sakic (February 18) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Third Star of the Week | Peter Budaj (March 4) |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Peter Budaj |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Wojtek Wolski |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Paul Stastny | October 4, 2006 |
| First game | Kyle Cumiskey | January 1, 2007 |
| First game | Jeff Finger | February 20, 2007 |

## Transactions

The Avalanche were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 2006, the day after the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 6, 2007, the day of the deciding game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 24, 2006 (2006-06-24) | To Colorado Avalanche Jordan Leopold2nd-round pick in 2006Conditional 2nd-round pick in 2007 or 2008 | To Calgary Flames Alex Tanguay |
| June 24, 2006 (2006-06-24) | To Colorado Avalanche Edmonton's 4th-round pick in 2006 | To New York Islanders 5th-round pick in 20066th-round pick in 2006 |
| November 13, 2006 (2006-11-13) | To Colorado Avalanche 2nd-round pick in 2007 | To Anaheim Ducks George ParrosOption to switch 3rd-round picks in 2007 |
| February 27, 2007 (2007-02-27) | To Colorado Avalanche Michael Wall | To Anaheim Ducks Brad May |
| February 27, 2007 (2007-02-27) | To Colorado Avalanche Scott Parker | To San Jose Sharks 6th-round pick in 2008 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 1, 2006 (2006-07-01) | Tyler Arnason | Ottawa Senators | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 6, 2006 (2006-07-06) | Cody McLeod | Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | Ben Guite | Boston Bruins | | Free agency |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | Matt Murley | Pittsburgh Penguins | | Free agency |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | Mark Rycroft | St. Louis Blues | | Free agency |
| July 24, 2006 (2006-07-24) | Ken Klee | New Jersey Devils | | Free agency |
| October 3, 2006 (2006-10-03) | George Parros | Los Angeles Kings | | Waivers |
| June 1, 2007 (2007-06-01) | Jaroslav Hlinka | HC Sparta Praha (ELH) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2006 (2006-07-01) | Rob Blake | Los Angeles Kings | Free agency (III) |
| July 1, 2006 (2006-07-01) | Tomas Slovak | Mora IK (SHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 3, 2006 (2006-07-03) | Dan Hinote | St. Louis Blues | Free agency (III) |
| July 6, 2006 (2006-07-06) | Vitali Kolesnik | Khimik Moscow Oblast (RSL) | Free agency (II) |
| September 5, 2006 (2006-09-05) | Paul Healey | Linkoping HC (SHL) | Free agency (III) |
| September 7, 2006 (2006-09-07) | Frantisek Skladany | HC Energie Karlovy Vary (ELH) | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 29, 2006 (2006-09-29) | Steve Konowalchuk | | Retirement |
| November 2, 2006 (2006-11-02) | Jim Dowd | New Jersey Devils | Free agency (III) |
| November 15, 2006 (2006-11-15) | Tom Lawson | Lukko (Liiga) | Free agency (UFA) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 20, 2006 (2006-06-20) | Joe Sakic | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 27, 2006 (2006-06-27) | Antti Laaksonen | 1-year | Option exercised |
| June 27, 2006 (2006-06-27) | Ossi Vaananen | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 30, 2006 (2006-06-30) | Brett Clark | multi-year | Re-signing |
| June 30, 2006 (2006-06-30) | Karlis Skrastins | multi-year | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Kurt Sauer | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | Jeff Finger | | Re-signing |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | John-Michael Liles | 2-year | Re-signing |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Peter Budaj | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Cody McCormick | | Re-signing |
| July 24, 2006 (2006-07-24) | Paul Stastny | multi-year | Entry-level |
| August 4, 2006 (2006-08-04) | Brett McLean | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 5, 2006 (2006-09-05) | Marek Svatos | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 12, 2006 (2006-09-12) | Andrew Brunette | 1-year | Extension |
| April 3, 2007 (2007-04-03) | Chris Stewart | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 9, 2007 (2007-04-09) | Joe Sakic | 1-year | Extension |
| April 11, 2007 (2007-04-11) | T. J. Hensick | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 11, 2007 (2007-04-11) | Ray Macias | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 8, 2007 (2007-05-08) | Codey Burki | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 21, 2007 (2007-05-21) | Jeff Finger | 1-year | Extension |
| May 21, 2007 (2007-05-21) | David Jones | 2-year | Entry-level |
| May 21, 2007 (2007-05-21) | Jordan Leopold | 2-year | Extension |
| May 21, 2007 (2007-05-21) | Kurt Sauer | 1-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Colorado's picks at the 2006 NHL entry draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| 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 | U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL) |
| 2 | 59 | Codey Burki (C) | Canada | Colorado Avalanche (From Calgary Flames) | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| 3 | 81 | Mike Carman (C) | United States | Colorado Avalanche | U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL) |
| 4 | 110 | Kevin Montgomery (D) | United States | Colorado Avalanche (From Edmonton Oilers) | U.S. National Team Development Program (NAHL) |
| 7 | 201 | Billy Sauer (G) | United States | Colorado Avalanche | University of Michigan (CCHA) |

## Farm teams
### Albany River Rats

The Avalanche signed a one-year deal to join the Carolina Hurricanes as the NHL affiliate for the Albany 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.

### Arizona Sundogs

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