Avalanche have come long way in short time

TORONTO -- About an hour after the 2017 NHL Draft Lottery was completed on April 29, Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic met New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero at a Toronto restaurant and made the following tongue-in-cheek proclamation.
"You know why we're here?" Sakic said to Shero with a chuckle. "Because we [stunk] at our jobs."

Sakic was joking, of course, although some fans would see right through his self-deprecating humor. Truth be told, the Avalanche and Devils were part of the lottery because they had missed the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As he sat in the Avalanche management box at Air Canada Centre on Monday, Sakic was laughing at the memory of his quip to Shero nearly nine months earlier. He had reason to do so.
After all, the lottery probably seems a lifetime ago for Sakic, given the incredible turnaround his Avalanche have made in less than a year.
From his perch high above the ice surface, Sakic watched his Avalanche win their 10th consecutive game, 4-2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is the second-longest winning streak in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history.
Sakic was part of the longest one, as a player, when the Avalanche won 12 in a row from Jan. 10-Feb. 7, 1999.

Colorado, which has 57 points (27-16-3) and holds the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, finished with 48 points (22-56-4) last season, last in the NHL.
"How do I stay on an even keel with this winning streak going on?" Sakic said. "Simple. I remember last year. That was very humbling."
Nothing seemed to go right for Sakic in 2016-17, including at the lottery. The Avalanche entered with the best odds to win the No. 1 pick (18 percent). Instead, they dropped to No. 4, and Shero's Devils, with an 8.5 percent chance, moved up from No. 5 to No. 1.
Everything seemed to be going against Sakic at that time.
Not anymore.
"The reason for the turnaround is simple," he said. "The guys have played really hard this year. The team chemistry is amazing. I've been around a lot of teams and they've got something special going on in that dressing room.
"Now, we know it's just halfway through the year and we've got a long way to go, but the guys are playing with so much confidence right now and belief in each other. Streaks always end, but you just hope it can go as long as they can. And then when it ends, you just hope you can start another one.
"And, of course, it helps when Nathan MacKinnon is playing at another level the way that he has."

MacKinnon, 22, had at least one point in each of Colorado's nine consecutive victories entering Monday (eight goals, 11 assists, 19 points). He was held off the score sheet by the Maple Leafs but was picked up by the performances of supporting-cast members like third-line forward Blake Comeau, who scored the winning goal at 12:17 of the third period.
Of course, of all the Avalanche players grinning ear to ear after the game, no one was more satisfied than Jonathan Bernier.
After an Auston Matthews goal at 9:17 of the second period gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead, Toronto fans began mocking the Avalanche goalie with chants of "Ber-nier, Ber-nier." And when he stopped the next shot he faced, he was greeted with a Bronx cheer.
It reminded Bernier of the 2015-16 season. Back then, while playing for the Maple Leafs, he received the same treatment from the Air Canada Centre crowd.

"It's not as bad when you are the away team," Bernier said.
Monday marked Bernier's first game back in Toronto since being traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional draft pick July 8, 2016. He signed with the Avalanche as a free agent July 1.
As he stepped back onto the ice at Air Canada Centre, there was no shortage of incentive for Bernier, who has won nine straight games, an NHL career high. His final season in Toronto was marked by jeers for allowing soft goals and a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
"That's one of those games you look on the calendar and want to play and want to win," Bernier said. "(It's) mixed feelings. I had some great memories and bad memories here.
"I just wanted to make sure I brought my 'A' game and gave my team a chance to win.
The Matthews goal was the first time Colorado trailed during its winning streak. The strange feeling of being behind didn't last long. Nail Yakupov scored to tie the game 2-2 94 seconds later, setting the stage for Comeau's heroics in the third.

Ironically, sitting one row below Sakic in the press box was Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee. If not for the Cinderella story of McPhee's expansion team being second in the NHL standings with 66 points (31-11-4), one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Avalanche might be the biggest story in the League right now.
"Maybe," Sakic acknowledged with a laugh. "But it can all change quickly.
"Last year always serves as a reminder. One day you can be great at your job, the next you're no good at it."
Sakic was joking. Again.
As for his team, it is no joke.