What a Day! Avs Fans Rejoice!

WooHoo! That pretty much sums it for Avs fans.

Lets start with the news we all learned just a few minutes ago.

Ryan Smyth signs with the Colorado Avalanche!
Source: http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212495&hubname=
The No Movement Clause scares me a little bit, but Smyth fills in the left wing sport on what will now become the Smyth-Stastny-Hejduk line. Props to Francois Gigure for getting him at a borderline price, but seemingly putting the Avs back into the elite club in the Western Conference.

Scott Hannan Joins the Avs!
Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=4965
Another great move on an exciting first day of free agency. The Avs get their defensive defenseman and we took him away from the Sharks, who literally "took a bite" out of our Playoff chances last year.

So where does this put the Avs?

First of all, we addressed our main concern of getting a reliable defensive guy. Hannan has been solid over the past few years for the Sharks and will come into Colorado as a top line defeseman most likely.

Smyth is a huge move that not only gives us a man in front of the net, but another leader who will help promote the hard work our team put in last season. He was easily a Top 3 or 4 free agent and we got him. Ryan Smyth is now an Av. Celebrate.

This elevates us from a Playoff team to a Stanley Cup team. Think I'm going overboard? I'm not. Look at the Avalanche core:

Sakic, Hejduk, Brunette, Stastny, Smyth, Wolski, Liles, Hannan, Leopold, Arnason, Lappy, Budaj, etc.

That's a dangerously impressive group.

I was thinking back to 2004 when we got both Selanne and Kariya and was thinking about whether or not this could be a repeat of that season. But don't fret. If all goes according to plan, the Avs will be bring home their third Cup next June. Enjoy it.

3 months to go...