With the firing of Joe Sacco the avalanche have finally left behind an era of poor coaching and can hopefully move forward, develope a new system, and give our young players some confidence. Sacco overall had a poor showing in his few years of coaching. He appeared to suffocate any offensive creativity with fundamental play and never adjusted to the players available to him skill set.

The question is: Who do the Avalanche hire next as head coach?

One option that has been thrown around frequently is having former avalanche great Patrick Roy take the helm. I would be a proponent to this move for a number of reasons. For one, Roy brings a level of intensity due to his desire for perfection. He simply wants things to be done properly and will let you know if you have not and give guidance on what to do next time. Roy is also a good fit because of our young goaltender Varlamov needing that extra push. Varlamov has shown flashes of amazing goaltending and is very capable of stealing games. With a new system and one that in theory "a goaltender would like to run" Varlamov should do well.

Another option is former Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. I go to the University at Buffalo and have seen this man behind the bench for years. He truly is a professional and knows how to coach and develope players and is no stranger to running an exciting brand of hockey. The Avalanche are a much different team than the sabres and with the pieces we have in place (and are going to have in place after the draft) I see Lindy doing good things with this squad.

Guy Boucher is another name that fellow spectulists have brought up so far. Boucher brings extreme intensity. With the young team we have maybe a little jolt is what they need. Boucher is a good coach and didn't succeed in Tampa for two reasons. One, the lightning aren't nearly as deep of a team as the Avalanche. Granted he had some stud players in Tampa but no real depth to the overall team. And two, it was hard for him to lead when some of the best players on that team are as old as he is.

Lastly, they could make a great PR move and make former Denver University head coach George Gwozdecky the man behind the bench. The people of Denver would love this move. He led Denver with an aggressive coaching style and got the most out of his players. Gwozdecky could really make an impact on our young players seeing as he has plenty of experience coaching 18-25 year olds.

While I would be happy with any of these guys behind the bench I am preferenced to Ruff. Maybe I am a little biased seeing as I live in Buffalo and have been watching Ruff coach for half of my life. Who do you guys want to see coaching the avalanche next year?

With the coaching question out of the way, how about who the avalanche select at this years draft with the number one overall pick. The front-running three have to be Seth Jones, Nathan Mackinnon, and Jonathan Drouin.

Seth Jones is the likely selection out of the three. It simply makes so much sense for the avs to draft him. The avalanche had arguably the worst d-core in the NHL this year. The only (semi) bright spot was Eric Johnson. And even at that Johnson still hasn't quite developed into the stud defenseman we were hoping for when we let stew and shatty ride off into the sunset.(Johnson is another player who could benefit greatly from the coaching change) Jones from all accounts is that franchise d-man. He is big(6'4), fast, had great skating, can quarterback a power play, and appears to always be doing the right thing on the ice. What makes this story greater is that he grew up and first learned to skate and play hockey in Denver. His father Popeye Jones(11 year NBA player) reached out to Avs legend Joe Sakic about how his son could improve. Sakic recommended skating lessons emphasizing the importance of speed and maneuverability. Jones did end up taking skating lessons and it shows in his game today. Another ironic aspect about Seth is that he had front row seats to game 7 of the Stanley cup finals in which the avalanche beat the devils. If the avs opt to go defenseman with the first overall pick no doubt Jones will be called.

While Jones makes nothing but sense there is still a very real possibility of drafting Nathan Mackinnon. Mackinnon possesses everything a true NHL number one center needs. He is fast, crafty, has great vision and a wild shot to boot. Mackinnon was projected as the number one prospect at the beginning of the season. However, after Jones stand out performance at WJHC Mackinnon was leap frogged. If the avalanche were to get Mackinnon who would be the odd man out? RoR...Stastny...both? The avs could pick up Mackinnon and trade staz and ROR for that much needed help on the defensive end. Lots would come into play if the avs were to pick Mac, that is certain.

Lastly, one of the most exciting players and game breakers I've seen in a long time, Jonathan Drouin. Drouin plays for Halifax along with Mackinnon. Drouin has shown amazing stick handling and deking ability. He simply turns guys inside out when he is at the top of his game. His hands are some of the best I have seen and he also does solid work defensively. This is another pick that could make sense seeing as we need a winger to play with Duchene and P.A. That line would have some serious speed and crazy offensive potential. Yikes.

My pick and I believe the general concensous has to be Seth Jones. He is the cornerstone D-man this team has lacked since the early Adam Foote days. He is NHL ready and can step in and immediately make a difference and hopefully give Varly a reliable crutch to lean on. While he is NHL ready it wouldn't be a bad idea to let him develope for a year. Defenseman usually take longer to develope but not when you are Seth Jones.

Also want to throw a quick shout out to former Avalanche writer Aaron Musick. Your time here at hockeybuzz has not only been a treat for myself but all avalanche fans. Your writings after each game were always thought provoking and interesting to read. Whenever I would watch an Avs game and see a huge mistake (which happened frequently over the past few years) I would be excited to read about it in Aarons "Facepalm of the Game". You are a great writer and I am excited to still partake in avs talk on twitter with you.

Good read, sorry to be the first to respond to a threat started 18 days ago but hey I guess some of us Avs fans are still hanging in there

I agree with your assessments of the coaching candidates. I don't think Tippett will be lured away from Phoenix and I'm not sure he fits the style of team we have but admittedly I haven't watched much of Phoenix. I'd definitely stay away from the DU coach simply because as you put it, it reaks of a PR move and I think we've had enough of that. What we want are results regardless of who's in the seats. That's management and ownership's problem respectively and I think winning solves it better than any gimmick. Not to say he isn't a good coach but I just don't think that;s the way to go. I wouldn't be disappointed with Ruff because of his experience but his inability to get Buffalo over the hump over the past few years raises questions. Perhaps as someone who's seen him personally you could correct me on that. Boucher is also enticing but he's also flamed out with one franchise and I'd be a bit leery of that. In short, I totally agree with you about Roy. It's a risky move because if he fails it looks awful for the franchise but he's a proven winner at ever level he's worked at and I really think what you said about him helping Varlamov could be the key to our success. We're going to spend the next few years with a developing defense while we integrate the likes of Siemens and Seth Jones and I think having a goaltender be able to cope with that is paramount.

As far as the draft, it's a no brainer to me. You absolutely have to pick Seth Jones. He is EXACTLY what this team needs in every regard. There's no question that we have talent up front. Most of which in my opinion has yet to fully develop. Our defense is a mess and adding a top flight guy like Jones will move this team into the direction it needs to go in.

I also wanna give a lil shout out to Aaron, great job buddy! I'll be following you on twitter and at your new site. In the mean time we need a new blogger here on HB. Any ideas?