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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 20, 2009

Joe Sacco

DAVID KEON: Good morning. I'm David Keon with the National Hockey League's Public Relations Department, and I'd like to welcome you to today's call.
With us we have Colorado Avalanche head coach, Joe Sacco. Thanks to Joe for taking the time to join us today and answer your questions, and thanks to Brenden McNicholas of the Avalanche public relations department for arranging the call.
In his rookie season behind the Colorado bench, Joe has guided the Av's to the first place in the northwest division, and the western conference overall with a record of 6?1?1 for 13 points. He has been in the Avalanche organization for the past four seasons, serving the last two seasons as head coach of their AHL affiliate at Lake Erie. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach at both Lowell and Albany, also the Av's AHL affiliates.
The Medford, Massachusetts native enjoyed a 13?year NHL playing career totaling 738 games with Toronto, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Washington, and Philadelphia. In 2009, he served as the assistant coach for Team USA at the World Championships.
Thanks again to Joe for taking the time to join us today. Operator, we'll open it up now.

Q. Two of the reasons that you guys have jumped out and had such a hot start are Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly. You're facing a decision coming up. Their nine?game threshold is coming. Has a decision been made on whether they will stay with you guys for the rest of the season?
COACH SACCO: Well, the decision that's been made is that right now they deserve to be in our lineup and they deserve to remain in our lineup. We still have the option at some point to send them back to juniors if we feel that's in the best interest for them and for us.
But at this point, they've played every game and they're being used in different situations. Ryan has been used on penalty killing. He's been used in a defensive checking role.
Matt Duchene is playing on our first power play unit and other offensive situations. So, you know, as long as they keep playing the way they are, they'll remain here.

Q. 18?year?old kids being what they are, are you surprised that not only Matt, but also Ryan has done enough to become such a vital part of your team?
COACH SACCO: After watching their training camp, I'm not so surprised. Obviously I'm surprised because they are 18, but they are mature hockey players for their age. They both seem to have a really strong work ethic. I mean, they're the first ones on the ice to practice and they're the last ones to leave the ice. They put the time and the work in.
Like I said before, they are mature players for their age and they both have excellent hockey sense. Like I said, the biggest thing is they've been contributing to our lineup and they've been helping our team win.

Q. Couple different questions also in regards to Ryan O'Reilly specifically and also Matt Duchene. Now that it looks like they're gonna be here beyond the ten?game limit and for an indefinite period of time, what are you gonna be looking for from them over the long haul both from a development perspective and also what's best for the team as whole?
COACH SACCO: I'm gonna be looking for more of the same that I've seen over the course of the first eight games. Being in the NHL, if you can be a consistent player and find a niche, you know, you can contribute to a lineup. There's gonna be times when both Matt and O'Reilly will have ups and downs and hit the wall sometimes.
I just feel over the course of a long year, over the course of 82 games right now, we're looking for them to provide us with the same type of energy and the same time of enthusiasm and the same type of speed that they have over the course of the first games here.
Ryan, from a develop standpoint, I mean, he's playing, close to 15 minutes a night right now. He's playing on what I would call our third line, if you want to call it that. He's being used in our top penalty killing unit, so we're gonna work in that department with Ryan for him to understand his role, how he has to help our team. At the same time, offensively he has been putting up some points for us lately. What I like most about Ryan is his ability, his willingness to play 200 feet of the rink. He's a very smart player away from the puck for an 18?year?old kid.
As far as Matty's development, Matt is probably one of our leading chance getters right now. He's creating lots of chances not only for himself, but for his teammates. It was good to see him get that first goal. I know that he's been pressing a little bit, but he's gonna provide us probably with some more offense. A guy, again, that has a lot of speed and pushes the opposition's defenseman back.
We're not putting a lot of pressure on these guys. They don't have to feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders. We also have them surrounded by some good players where they can just kind of come in and do their thing.

Q. Along the way, will you be determining whether staying in Colorado is better for their development as opposed to sending them back, both players?
COACH SACCO: Like I said before, right now they deserve to be in our lineup. They're gonna remain in our lineup. We'll just take it on a game?by?game basis.
We have the option to send them back to juniors if we feel that is best thing for them and us. Right now, certainly the way they've played, they deserve to be here.

Q. Couple questions. One, when your first coaching job in the NHL is with a team that struggled so much last year, what were your expectations? I guess no coach in the minors wants to turn down an offer to coach in the NHL, but there wasn't from the media's perspective a lot hope going into the season. How big a role has Craig Anderson been in this 6?1 start considering he was in Florida last year and a free agent signing?
COACH SACCO: To answer your first question, I mean, as far as what we set out to do at the start of the year, there's a couple things. One, I just wanted to try to help get this team back to where we felt it should be and just to do it as quickly as possible.
The other thing we really tried to do right from day one of training camp was to create an identity here as a team. I just felt that we needed to be a more energetic and more difficult team to play against, a team that doesn't sit back.
We said from day one that we're gonna play on our toes and not on our heels and we wanted to pursue the puck aggressively. We wanted to be responsible when we did have it, but when we don't have the puck, we want to get on people, we want to get after them.
I think if you ask people who have watched us play, we're a fun team to watch. We're not gonna sit back. We're gonna try to go after teams. So I guess identity was the one thing we preached since day one, and then just to try to get back as quickly as possible to the standards that are expected from our team here in this city.

Q. Craig Anderson?
COACH SACCO: And Craig Anderson has certainly been a guy that ?? all you can ask of your goaltender is for him to give you a chance to win. Over the course of the first eight games, he's done that and more. He's played ?? you know, we do make some mistakes there's no question, weÂ’re working hard. We make some young mistakes at times, we have had breakdowns but Craig has been there to save us.
Like I said, he has given us a chance to be in every game and to compete and to win every game. He's only 28 years old and entering what I would consider is the prime of his career for a goaltender. He's been very solid so far. Not to repeat, but he's giving us a chance to win every game.

Q. You were with Team USA of the Worlds. Craig Anderson wasn't invited to the Olympic team camp in the summer. Did you think he's suddenly on the radar screen now where he should be?
COACH SACCO: Yeah, I mean, I'm sure he's opening up some eyes. There are a couple of good goaltenders that the U.S. has to select from, but it's very young in the season. We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves.
But if he continues to play the way he has, I would think that he would have to gain some attention from that. Certainly they can't overlook him at that point.

Q. When it comes to those teenagers you were talking about earlier, do you see any advantage in the fact that they get the chance to go through this together?
COACH SACCO: I think that's a good point. Yeah, I think it does help. I do remember, you know, just quickly when I was a first?year player, there was another young player. The two of us were together our first year. I think it makes the transition somewhat smoother and a little bit easier to deal with. You have somebody to talk with and that's kind of going through the same thing emotionally.
Both of these young players, like I said before, are mature for their age. They seem like they're both good character people. They have good qualities about themselves. You know, I think that having each other there to lean on in certain situations that come up during the year, I think they could benefit from that.

Q. You've been through the NHL and played yourself. For any young player, is the toughest part of the adjustment the mental side maybe or physically the grind of more games generally than most young guys have played?
COACH SACCO: Yeah, I think it's fair to say it's both. Physically, you know, they are playing against ?? obviously against a lot bigger and stronger and faster competition. The course of 82 games is different, too. These guys are both out of juniors, so they're used to playing more games than maybe a college player would.
But certainly that's gonna take some time to adjust. We know there may be points during the season where they may hit the wall a little bit. It happens to everybody, it happens to some of the best players in the game.
We're just trying to make sure that ?? one thing we're gonna try to do with these two players is make sure that their game is consistent. If they can bring what they have over the course of the first eight games, if they can bring that over the course of 82 games and continue to work hard and improve every day, there's no reason why they can't stick here.

End of FastScripts

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