# 2004–05 Colorado Avalanche season

The 2004–05 Colorado Avalanche season was cancelled due to the lock-out of the players of the National Hockey League. It would have been the 10th playing season since the franchise relocated from Quebec prior to the start of the 1995–96 NHL season. As well as the franchise's 26th season in the National Hockey League and 33rd season overall. The Avalanche would commemorate their 10th anniversary in the 2005-06 season.

## Off-season

Joel Quenneville was named the team’s new head coach on July 7, 2004. His predecessor, Tony Granato, remained with the club as an assistant coach.

## Schedule

Colorado’s preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 14, 2004.
2004–05 schedule :
Preseason
GameDateOpponent
1September 25Dallas Stars
2September 28Detroit Red Wings
3September 30@ Dallas Stars
4October 2Los Angeles Kings
5October 5@ Detroit Red Wings
6October 9@ Los Angeles Kings :
Regular season
GameDateOpponent
1October 13Los Angeles Kings
2October 16@ San Jose Sharks
3October 17Boston Bruins
4October 20@ Chicago Blackhawks
5October 21@ Columbus Blue Jackets
6October 23Tampa Bay Lightning
7October 27Phoenix Coyotes
8October 29Calgary Flames
9October 30Vancouver Canucks
10November 2@ Vancouver Canucks
11November 4@ Calgary Flames
12November 5@ Minnesota Wild
13November 8Pittsburgh Penguins
14November 10Vancouver Canucks
15November 11@ St. Louis Blues
16November 13@ Nashville Predators
17November 16Edmonton Oilers
18November 18St. Louis Blues
19November 20Anaheim Mighty Ducks
20November 22Columbus Blue Jackets
21November 26@ Calgary Flames
22November 27@ Edmonton Oilers
23December 1Atlanta Thrashers
24December 3Anaheim Mighty Ducks
25December 5Calgary Flames
26December 8Detroit Red Wings
27December 10Chicago Blackhawks
28December 11@ Nashville Predators
29December 13Florida Panthers
30December 15@ Phoenix Coyotes
31December 17@ Anaheim Mighty Ducks
32December 18@ Los Angeles Kings
33December 23Ottawa Senators
34December 26@ Chicago Blackhawks
35December 27Toronto Maple Leafs
36December 30@ St. Louis Blues
37December 31@ Dallas Stars
38January 2Phoenix Coyotes
39January 4Edmonton Oilers
40January 6Vancouver Canucks
41January 8Detroit Red Wings
42January 11@ New York Islanders
43January 12@ New Jersey Devils
44January 14@ Columbus Blue Jackets
45January 17@ Boston Bruins
46January 19Montreal Canadiens
47January 22San Jose Sharks
48January 26Dallas Stars
49January 27@ Minnesota Wild
50January 29@ Detroit Red Wings
51January 31@ Vancouver Canucks
52February 1@ Edmonton Oilers
53February 4Minnesota Wild
54February 7Carolina Hurricanes
55February 9St. Louis Blues
56February 16@ Dallas Stars
57February 18@ Anaheim Mighty Ducks
58February 19@ Los Angeles Kings
59February 22Minnesota Wild
60February 24@ Washington Capitals
61February 26@ Philadelphia Flyers
62February 27@ New York Rangers
63March 2Nashville Predators
64March 4Dallas Stars
65March 6San Jose Sharks
66March 10@ Carolina Hurricanes
67March 11@ Atlanta Thrashers
68March 13@ Detroit Red Wings
69March 15@ Buffalo Sabres
70March 17Edmonton Oilers
71March 19Calgary Flames
72March 21@ Edmonton Oilers
73March 22@ Vancouver Canucks
74March 25Columbus Blue Jackets
75March 26@ Phoenix Coyotes
76March 28@ San Jose Sharks
77March 31Chicago Blackhawks
78April 2Los Angeles Kings
79April 4@ Minnesota Wild
80April 6Minnesota Wild
81April 8Nashville Predators
82April 10@ Calgary Flames :

## Transactions

The Avalanche were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially cancelled.

### Trades

The Avalanche did not make any trades.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| June 10, 2004 (2004-06-10) | Jeff Ulmer | Lukko (Liiga) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 2, 2004 (2004-07-02) | Antti Laaksonen | Minnesota Wild | multi-year | Free agency |
| July 2, 2004 (2004-07-02) | Ian Laperriere | Los Angeles Kings | multi-year | Free agency |
| July 21, 2004 (2004-07-21) | Brett McLean | Chicago Blackhawks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 21, 2004 (2004-07-21) | Andre Savage | Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 26, 2004 (2004-07-26) | Mathieu Darche | Nashville Predators | | Free agency |
| August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18) | Vincent Damphousse | San Jose Sharks | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Jim Cummins | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Paul Kariya | | Contract expiration (V) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Steve Moore | | Contract expiration (VI) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Teemu Selanne | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 2, 2004 (2004-07-02) | Matthew Barnaby | Chicago Blackhawks | Free agency (III) |
| September 2004 (2004-09) | Mikhail Kuleshov | SKA Saint Petersburg (RSL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 15, 2004 (2004-09-15) | Riku Hahl | HPK (Liiga) | Free agency (II) |
| October 21, 2004 (2004-10-21) | Travis Brigley | Valerenga (GET) | Free agency (VI) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 10, 2004 (2004-06-10) | Chris Bala | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 10, 2004 (2004-06-10) | Brett Clark | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 10, 2004 (2004-06-10) | Darby Hendrickson | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 17, 2004 (2004-06-17) | Steve Konowalchuk | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Bob Boughner | multi-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Chris Gratton | multi-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Karlis Skrastins | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Peter Worrell | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 16, 2004 (2004-07-16) | David Aebischer | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 21, 2004 (2004-07-21) | Dan Hinote | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 23, 2004 (2004-07-23) | Alex Tanguay | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 26, 2004 (2004-07-26) | D. J. Smith | | Re-signing |
| August 5, 2004 (2004-08-05) | Milan Hejduk | 1-year | Arbitration award |

## Draft picks

Colorado's picks at the 2004 NHL entry draft, which was held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 26–27, 2004.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Team (league) |
| 1 | 21 | Wojtek Wolski | Left wing | Canada | Brampton Battalion (OHL) |
| 2 | 55 | Victor Oreskovich | Right wing | Canada | Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) |
| 3 | 72 | Denis Parshin | Left wing | Russia | CSKA Jr. (Russia) |
| 5 | 154 | Richard Demen-Willaume | Defense | Sweden | Frolunda Jrs. (Sweden) |
| 6 | 184 | Derek Peltier | Defense | United States | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) |
| 7 | 215 | Ian Keserich | Goaltender | United States | Cleveland Jr. Barons (NAHL) |
| 8 | 239 | Brandon Yip | Right wing | Canada | Coquitlam Express (BCHL) |
| 8 | 249 | J. D. Corbin | Left wing | United States | Denver Pioneers (WCHA) |
| 9 | 281 | Steve McClellan | Defense | United States | Catholic Memorial School (Mass.) |