As the Colorado Avalanche enters the offseason after falling 4-2 in its first-round postseason series with the Nashville Predators, Avs executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic reflected on the improvement he saw from his club in the last 12 months.

The Avalanche refocused last summer and battled to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this campaign for the first time since 2014, just a year after finishing the season with 48 points.

"Obviously, we knew last year that we had to get through the year to start fresh, and we did that. Not going to lie to you, we feel a lot better this year than we did last year at that point but, it was Year One of this," Sakic said. "We got a great group of guys. I know things were really, really tough last year, but the guys that came back, we have some really good players that came back.

"They were prepared all last summer… The effort and the commitment that the players, the returning players, had in the summer and training camp and throughout, there was a different mindset. I am really proud of those guys and obviously the new guys that came in, the character guys, and the belief in each other and the will to find ways to win games. It's impressive."

Colorado Avalanche executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic had a news conference on Monday to discuss the team's performance during the 2017-18 season.

Among the topics that were discussed were the Avs' Stanley Cup Playoff run, this summer's draft and free agency and the expectations for next season.

Here is the transcript of Sakic's conversation with the Denver media.

On if injuries hurt Colorado in the playoffs:

"It hurts when you don't have your No. 1 'D' and your No. 1 goalie, but I give our guys a lot of credit. They battled adversity all year, it didn't matter who was hurt. They stuck together, they found a way to win games, get in the playoffs, and except for last night's game where I think we run out of gas, it was a heck of a series by our guys. All teams have injuries this time of year and you have to deal with them, and our guys played hard. They believed in each other, and we went to Game 6. Overall, over the course of the year, really proud of this group. They did an amazing job."

The 2018 Jr. Colorado Avalanche Pee-Wee Team has begun its 10-day journey to Europe where it will compete in the 2018 Nordic Hockey Trophy Tournament in Espoo, Finland.

The team representing the Avalanche, the Arvada Hockey Association AA Pee Wees, earned its bid by winning the 2017 Avalanche International Qualifier back in November. Eleven teams throughout the state of Colorado competed in the pool-play tournament, with Arvada going undefeated throughout the competition.

The Colorado Avalanche aimed to make noise in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the team certainly did. That didn't make the final result any less disappointing.

Colorado's season came to an end Sunday night as the Nashville Predators won the first-round series 4-2, downing the young, upstart Avs 5-0 in Game 6 at Pepsi Center.

"It is tough to sum up the series right here, right now, but I felt like we made them fight for it," said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, minutes after leaving the home ice for the last time until the fall. "I don't know if they thought that they were going to roll over us (in the first round), but I'm proud of the group we have in this dressing room."

The Colorado Avalanche lost its first-round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators 4-2 after falling 5-0 in Game 6. 

Here is what Avs head coach Jared Bednar had to say afterward about the series as Colorado's 95 point season.

On the 2017-18 Colorado Avalanche team: "I'm proud of this team. What they accomplished, how hard they worked all year, how coachable they were. It's a great group, it's a fun group to coach. That's what I'll take out of it. I thought they were respectful, responsive, hard-working group, real close-knit group from day one, really. Great leadership. It was a good season, it was a fun season, it was a lot of fun, especially for a lot of our guys that went through probably their worst season, myself included, last year. To respond and have a season like this. It was fun and it was a good time."

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Nashville won the best-of-seven series 4-2 to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.

The Predators posted a shutout victory in a series-deciding game for the first time in franchise history, joining the Vegas Golden Knight and the Winnipeg Jets as the third team to accomplish the feat this postseason. (via NHL PR)

The Avalanche is now 25-21 in all-time playoff series, 19-12 since moving to Denver.

DENVER -- The Nashville Predators advanced to the Western Conference Second Round with a 5-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the first round at Pepsi Center on Sunday.

Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for the Predators, who will play the Winnipeg Jets in the second round.

Viktor Arvidsson, Nick Bonino, Filip Forsberg, Austin Watson and Mattias Ekholm scored for Nashville, which won the Presidents' Trophy this season with 117 points (53-18-11).

The Colorado Avalanche looks to once again evade elimination tonight, as it hosts the Nashville Predators in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 series at Pepsi Center.

Nashville leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can advance to the second round against the Winnipeg Jets with a victory. A Colorado win would force a Game 7 on Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.

The Avs won't make any lineup changes to the one they iced in Friday's 2-1 victory at Nashville in Game 5, head coach Jared Bednar said during his pregame media availability.

Many times throughout this season, the Colorado Avalanche has showed how strong a group it is and refused to surrender.

Down 3-1 in its first-round series with the Nashville Predators, the Avs once again demonstrated the character they have in a young dressing room and earned a chance to play another game.

The Avalanche had its season on the line on Friday when it went into Bridgestone Arena and defeated the Nashville Predators 2-1 to cut the Preds' lead to 3-2 after five games of the teams' first-round, best-of-seven series.

The game was scoreless until midway through the third period when the Preds got the puck past Avs goaltender Andrew Hammond on a deflection off a skate. But, like it has all season, Colorado continued to push and scored twice in the final five minutes to win and force a Game 6.

A 44-save performance by goaltender Andrew Hammond helped lead the Colorado Avalanche to a come-from-behind victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday at Bridgestone Arena and force a Game 6 back home on Sunday night.

It will be the third and final outing of the series that will be played at Pepsi Center, where the Avalanche and Predators have each won one game.

The Predators lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series in the first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs.