Avalanche coach Joe Sacco had a long time to think about his opening-night lineup.
"Six months," the fourth-year coach said Saturday during his first news conference since the 2011-12 regular-season finale last April.
After last summer's free-agent signings, beginning July 1, and the first cancellation of NHL games in October that led to a four-month lockout, Sacco waited for the day to talk publicly about his excitement over the maturing, young Avalanche team.
That time finally arrived Friday, when a smiling Sacco walked to the podium in a Family Sports Center conference room, while his team could be seen informally practicing on the neighboring ice sheet.
"For me and the players, it's nice to get back to
Avalanche coach Joe Sacco speaks with the media at Family Sports Center on Friday. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
doing what we're accustomed to doing. It's been a long time," Sacco said.The Avs are back and tentatively set to begin training camp Sunday if the ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement is completed Saturday, with all 30 teams opening 2013 next Saturday. Sacco and other NHL officials are confident that a 48-game regular-season schedule and opening-night opponents will be announced Sunday.
"The mood and the spirit ? I've talked to just about every guy that's back now ? and they're all very excited," Sacco said. "They all seem to have a lot of enthusiasm. The spirit is very high in (the locker room), and just peeking in and watching the scrimmages the other day, their own personal workouts, there's some good jump, some good pace in their steps. It's exciting for everybody. It's certainly been a long time coming."
The Avs' camp will have 26 players, including six who have been called up after spending the first part of the season with the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League ? forwards Mark Olver, Mike Sgarbossa, Patrick Bordeleau and David van der Gulik; and defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott.
The players participated in a fourth consecutive informal "captain's practice" (minus coaches) Friday. Goalie Semyon Varlamov, who returned from Russia on Wednesday, was on the ice with the group for the first time.
Sacco said he was excited about newcomers P.A. Parenteau and Greg Zanon, in addition to the maturity of young stars Varlamov, Erik Johnson, Matt Duchene and captain Gabriel Landeskog. Sacco said Parenteau undoubtedly will be used as "a top-six forward" and Zanon as a trusted veteran "defensive defenseman."
The Avs finished 41-35-6 last season (88 points), seven points out of a playoff spot after winning just two of their final seven games. They were in the playoff picture until the final two weeks.
"We had a good little run last year, but we've got to be a playoff team, and there's only 48 (regular-season) games," Avalanche defenseman Shane O'Brien said. "We've got to get it going Jan. 19 and take it from there. There's no reason we shouldn't be a top-eight team in the Western Conference, and that's what we're going for."
Landeskog, a second-year, 20-year-old power forward, replaced veteran Milan Hejduk as captain last summer.
"I feel like when we get some system's skates in this next week, I'm positive ? I'm really optimistic about this group," Landeskog said. "We're a young group, but we're a year older than last year, and we all know how it felt to miss the playoffs a year ago."
Sacco said the team's style of pressuring the puck in all three zones and using its speed won't change. "We have to cover a lot of things in a short amount of time, but probably more important than that is the conditioning aspect of it, trying to make sure when the puck drops in the first game, we are ready to play at a high pace and high level," he said.
Fourth-year forward Ryan O'Reilly, last season's leading scorer, remains unsigned and is playing in Russia. His agent, Mark Guy, resumed negotiations with the Avalanche on Tuesday, and a possible new contract for the popular forward won't be announced until after the CBA ratification process.
"He is not available, and that's a situation that will be with Greg Sherman, our general manager, and Ryan's representatives," Sacco said. "I think you all know how I feel about Ryan. He's a good teammate. He's a good player. ... From a coaching standpoint, we have 26 players here in camp, so it's not much different than when you have a guy injured. My focus is on the 26 guys that I have available."
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357, mchambers@denverpost.com or twitter.com/mchambersdp
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