Who Should You Be More Excited For: Colorado Avalanche or Denver Nuggets?
By Andrew Dill
November 25, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; A general view outside of the Pepsi Center before the game between the Denver Nuggets and the New Orleans Hornets. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
With the National Hockey League season set to being October 8th and the National Basketball Association to follow October 28th, this question arises; Which team should you be more excited for, the Colorado Avalanche or Denver Nuggets? The Avalanche were clearly the better team last season, coming away with the Central Division title and advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while the Denver Nuggets fell injury-prone, missing the playoffs for the first-time since 2003.
The favorite to be excited for at this point would have to be the Colorado Avalanche. Under rookie head coach Patrick Roy, the young Avs’ took the league by storm, collecting the Central Division title while possessing a talented young core of Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie, Semyon Varalmov, Erik Johnson, and Ryan O’Reilly. Colorado did lose center Paul Stastny to free agency but picked up some key help along the way. They would go on to sign veterans Daniel Briere, Jarome Iginla, and Brad Stuart to help add veteran presence and depth.
The Nuggets on the other hand didn’t have the season they would like last year, but put together a solid draft and signing a familiar face in free agency – Arron Afflalo. Brian Shaw‘s first-year as head coach was one where he battled through adversity, forcing to play second and third-string players quality minutes. Denver will be healthy once training camp rolls around, getting back small forward Danilo Gallinari who missed all of last season rehabbing from a torn ACL. J.J. Hickson, Nate Robinson, and JaVale McGee all suffered major injuries which forced them to miss most of the season.
Coming to the conclusion, I personally think you should be equally excited for both teams this season, but I’ll give the slight-edge to the Avs’ just because of last season’s success, but don’t sleep on the Nuggets. I believe “The Can” (Pepsi Center) will be rocking this season, due to the fact both teams will be contending with the best. Leave a comment below on who you are more excited to see play this season, the Avs’ or Nuggets.