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Report: Avalanche coach Sacco and GM Sherman safe with their jobs

Joe Sacco

Colorado Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco talks to his team during the closing seconds of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009. The Red Wings won 4-2. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

AP

If you haven’t noticed recently, things aren’t going so hot for the Colorado Avalanche. They’re in the midst of a ten game losing streak, they’ve fallen virtually out of the Western Conference playoff race, and they just had a pair of trades that sent fan favorites Craig Anderson, Chris Stewart, and Kevin Shattenkirk out of town to Ottawa and St. Louis respectively.

With the fan base angry and looking for answers as to why a team that was in the playoffs last season is now seemingly destined to end up out of the postseason mix, the calls for coach Joe Sacco and GM Greg Sherman to be put on the unemployment line for their seeming lack of ability to keep things going this year. Luckily for us, The Denver Post’s Adrian Dater is on top of things and from what he hears, Sacco and Sherman are safe.

Sacco and Sherman will return next season in their respective roles, an NHL source told The Denver Post on Sunday. In his second year of a three-year contract, Sacco will be given the chance to help turn around a team that has seen nothing but turbulence and big changes in player personnel of late. Sherman is also in his second year at the helm.

Sacco has had more numerical losses in personnel this season than any other coach in the Western Conference, and the third-most in the NHL. The Avs have eight players sidelined with injuries, and the team has had 296 man-games lost to injury.


It’s tough to judge Sacco this season with so many brutal injuries the Avs have had this season. Season-ending injuries for Tomas Fleischmann and Kyle Quincey substantially limited them both on offense and defense while Peter Mueller’s bouts with concussions have kept him out of the Avalanche lineup all year. Losing two top-six forwards like that would hurt anyone and with the Avs not having the depth required to keep up with so many injuries you get to see the results you’re seeing from them of late.

Sacco has looked exasperated with how things have gone on the bench with so many defensive lapses and with the roster shakeup Sherman is doing something to try and help him out. Acquiring a top pair defenseman in Erik Johnson helps out for the future but it’s clear that they’re not going to get something done this year in the ultra-competitive West. We understand that fans will get angry, but in this case, Sherman is at least attempting to fix things for the future rather than sit back and fiddle away while things get worse.