The Avalanche left snowy and bitter cold Denver on Wednesday for bitter cold Edmonton, where the team will open a three-game road trip Thursday night. The Avalanche will play in Calgary on Friday and in Vancouver on Sunday.
With a 19-6-0 record and sitting third in the Central Division, Avalanche coaches and players have plenty to be happy about. The team has won five of the past six games following a three-game losing streak and will take a 9-2-0 road record into Rexall Place to face the Oilers.
Yet no one is satisfied, because the players have bought into coach Patrick Roy's constant refrain about staying humble.
"I said to the guys one thing I appreciate is they're not satisfied," Roy said. "It would be easy, we're 19-6, to come to the rink and just have an easy practice. But we still work on things that we think need to be better. They know that and they understand that and they accept that. How easy is it for coaches? You're just coming in with ideas."
The Avalanche did plenty of work this week on defensive coverage after giving up so many quality shots Saturday against Minnesota. The Wild outshot the Avalanche 11-3 in the third period and scored twice in the final 3:27 of regulation to force overtime. Minnesota matched its season high with 37 shots and the Avalanche was fortunate to escape with a 3-2 shootout win.
"I just felt that against Minny we gave up too many shots from the slot area," Roy said. "I thought our goaltender (Semyon Varlamov) was a little too much exposed for my taste and we certainly want to change that. (Avalanche players) deserve a lot of credit. They're the ones who come every day and every night working hard, playing hard, paying attention to details. Most importantly, they're coming ready to play and they're focused. It's fun to see."
Defensemen Cory Sarich, who played on Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup championship team in 2004, said players bought into Roy's never-be-satisfied mentality right from the start.
"I'm satisfied in what we've done so far, but I'm not satisfied as far as where we need to go," said Sarich, who was acquired from the Flames with Alex Tanguay in the June trade that sent David Jones and Shane O'Brien to the Flames. "I think our group has done a good job enjoying the wins and refocusing. It's always about the next game."
When told that's what virtually every Avalanche player has been saying, Sarich said: "That's good. It's what you want, getting everybody to follow suit and on the same page. I'm glad that you're getting a lot of the same answers.
"There's going to be bumps in the road, and those are tests of character. I think we've stood up well against the first one and I'm sure there's going to be more. Our next hurdle will be this portion of the schedule where things will get pretty heavy with the travel and good opponents."
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Avalanche prospect Chris Bigras, who was so impressive in training camp, was one of eight defensemen invited to Canada's national junior team selection camp for the 2014 World Junior Championship tournament in Malmo, Sweden. The camp begins Dec. 12 in Etobicoke, Ontario.
Bigras, 18, was the Avalanche's second-round pick (32nd overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft. He has three goals, seven assists and 34 penalty minutes in 26 games for Owen Sound in the Ontario Hockey League.