Avalanche Names Francois Giguere Executive VP & General Manager

The Colorado Avalanche announced Wednesday the appointment of Francois Giguere as the club’s Executive Vice President & General Manager to lead the day-to-day operations of the club.
“When we listed all the necessary attributes for this position, one name became clear in our minds,” said Avalanche President Pierre Lacroix. “Francois embodies all the requirements a strong executive needs in today’s NHL. His knowledge of our industry and its many complicated elements together with his understanding of this organization and our expectations each season make him the ideal candidate to lead this franchise into the coming years.”
Giguere, 42, returns to the franchise where he began his hockey tutelage over 16 years ago. During that time, Giguere has been involved with nearly every facet of an NHL hockey operation. Before spending the last five years with the Dallas Stars as Assistant General Manager, Giguere served as Vice President of Hockey Operations for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2000-01 season. His roots with the organization date back to 1990 when he served as controller in the finance department with the Quebec Nordiques. In addition, he’s held hockey administration (1992-95); Assistant GM (1995-00) and VP Hockey Operations (2000-01) posts within the organization.
“I was closely involved with Pierre during this process,” said Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke. “Francois fits the profile that we all agreed would be necessary to lead this franchise into the next decade. He’s a quality individual with all of the necessary credentials to continue the winning tradition that the Avalanche has established.”
“My family and I are extremely happy to be able to return to Colorado,” said Giguere. “I’m excited about the challenge of maintaining the level of excellence that the Avalanche has always held. I can assure Avalanche fans that those standards will be the focal point of my work on a daily basis.”
During his tenure with the Avalanche, he was instrumental in developing and managing the hockey operations budget, and worked closely with Lacroix on contract negotiations, arbitration cases, player transactions and matters involving player personnel. He was also responsible for overseeing player development and player personnel staff and was the club’s central liaison with its minor league hockey affiliates.
A 1985 graduate of Laval University where he obtained a degree in Administration, a license in accounting and a law certificate, Giguere worked for three years with a prominent Quebec accounting firm Caron Belanger Ernst and Young before being hired by the Nordiques as controller in 1990. His role with the Nordiques was expanded in 1992 to include hockey administration responsibilities by then General Manager Pierre Page who needed additional support after Page assumed the Head Coaching role with the Nordiques in 1991. Giguere was named as Assistant GM by Pierre Lacroix before the shortened 1994-95 season and accompanied the franchise in its move to Colorado in May, 1995.
Giguere arrives in Denver with wife Brigitte, son Philippe (15) and daughter Frederique (12).
CAREER TIMELINE OF FRANCOIS GIGUERE
1990 – Hired by the Quebec Nordiques as Controller in the Finance Department, following a three-year stint with a prominent Quebec accounting firm1992 – Role as Controller expanded into Hockey Operations Administrator by Pierre Page, Quebec General Manager and Head Coach1995 – Appointed as the Nordiques’ Assistant General Manager by Pierre Lacroix…Relocated to Denver, CO May 1995 with Avalanche organization2000 – Promoted to Colorado Avalanche Vice President of Hockey Operations2002 – Hired as Dallas Stars Assistant General Manager

Avs Record First Shootout Win Behind Kolesnik

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Antti Laaksonen scored the only goal in seven rounds of a shootout to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Laaksonen beat Martin Brodeur with a backhand shot after Joe Sakic, Marek Svatos, Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay, Pierre Turgeon and Andrew Brunette missed for Colorado.
Vitaly Kolesnik, who won his second game in two starts since he was recalled from the minors on Tuesday, stopped New Jersey's Viktor Kozlov, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Brylin, John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner.
In regulation, Brunette had two goals and Sakic also scored in the first period as Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Jay Pandolfo, Gionta and Gomez scored for New Jersey, which dropped its third straight game.
Gomez sent the game into overtime, scoring at 10:09 of the third period with a deflection of Richard Matvichuk's point shot.
Brunette opened the scoring at 3:31 of the first period, putting in his own rebound in a goal-mouth scramble. Turgeon assisted on the goal for his 1,300th career point. Turgeon is the 27th player to reach that level.
Sakic scored with 3:31 left in the period.
Brunette struck again with 1:19 remaining in the first, blasting Turgeon's rebound past Brodeur.
The Devils cut it to 3-2 in the second period.
Pandolfo took a feed from Mogilny and split the Colorado defense to fire a shot over Kolesnik's glove at 5:49.
The Devils struggling power play, only 1-for-33 in the previous five games, connected on its first opportunity with the help of a lucky bounce at 7:12 to cut the Avalanche's lead to 3-2.
Kolesnik went behind his net to play a Devils' dump in. The puck never got to him. It hit a crease in the boards and bounced right to Gionta, who scored before Kolesnik could scramble back into position.
Notes: Avalanche forward Dan Hinote played in his 300th game. ... Devils defenseman Dan McGillis was a healthy scratch for the fourth straight game. ... With Kolesnik in goal again, David Aebischer was not in uniform for the first time this season. Peter Budaj was the backup.

Ottawa Scores Four Times In The Third, Beats Avs 6-2

DENVER (AP) - Dany Heatley scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and added two assists, and the Ottawa Senators scored four times in the final period to overwhelm the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 Monday night.
Ottawa again had trouble with its power play (1-for-7) and played without Jason Spezza, the NHL's third-leading scorer, because of a hip injury.
It didn't matter.
After Mike Fisher scored in the first period and Christoph Schubert scored his second goal of the season in the second, the Senators turned a 2-all game into a rout. They lead the NHL with 46 points.
Heatley scored his 20th goal nearly six minutes into the third period, then Patrick Eaves made it 4-2 with 6 1/2 minutes left. Bryan Smolinski, back on the ice after getting hit in the head in the second period, followed with his fifth goal 94 seconds later and Brandon Bochenski capped the outburst 42 seconds after that.
Dominik Hasek was steady as usual, stopping 22 shots and keeping the Sens close early. He's allowed 19 goals during a 9-0-1 streak.
Daniel Alfredsson had three assists.
Avalanche rookie Marek Svatos scored his 15th goal and Patrice Brisebois ended a 21-game goal drought, but Colorado gave up too many good scoring chances in losing for the fourth time in six games. Rookie goalie Vitaly Kolesnik got the worst of it, allowing six goals on 31 shots. He lost his second straight game after opening his career with two wins.
The up-and-down action was about what you'd expect from the league's top two scoring teams. The hard hitting and rough play wasn't.
Colorado defenseman John-Michael Liles hit his head on the ice after Fisher pulled him down late in the first period. Liles later returned.
Ottawa forward Peter Schaefer crumpled to the ice midway through the second when teammate Chris Neil, who took an elbow to the head from Svatos, hit him in the face with his stick. Schaefer received stitches and returned, and Svatos later got rammed into the boards from behind.
Not even the goalies were safe.
Kolesnik lay face down on the ice for about a minute after Fisher barreled over him on a semi-breakaway midway through the second period. Kolesnik climbed to his knees after being attended to by the trainer and stayed in the game.
There was more.
Smolinski had to be helped from the ice a few minutes later, blood trickling from under his helmet after he dived to block a shot by Antti Laaksonen and was hit on the side of the head with the puck.
The action with the puck picked up after that and the Senators got the better of it, ending their first losing streak at two games.
Notes: Colorado's Pierre Turgeon had an assist on Svatos' goal, giving him 799 for his career. ... Ottawa D Wade Redden missed his ninth straight game with a sprained knee. ... Colorado has scored in the first period in 10 straight games.

Avs Fall To Penguins 4-3

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The rookie came through with one of Pittsburgh's biggest goals in a season notable mostly for the Penguins' underachievement. Only, it wasn't Sidney Crosby.
Maxime Talbot scored the decisive goal in the third period and Mark Recchi, stalled for weeks in a one of the longest slumps of his career, had a goal and an assist to help the Penguins end a six-game losing streak and beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 Saturday night.

Talbot followed up his own rebound of Lasse Pirjeta's shot from the right circle slightly past the midway point of the third, and the Penguins held on despite rookie Marek Svatos' 14th goal with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

"We talked a lot before the game about putting the puck on the net, something we haven't been doing,'' Talbot said. The Penguins outshot the Avalanche 35-26 two nights after they were held to 22 shots in a 5-0 loss to Minnesota.

After that game, the 18-year-old Crosby was critical of his teammates' lack of effort and suggested some players simply gave up on the game, unusually stinging criticism for a player who so far has been respectful of his veteran teammates.

That performance led to a team meeting Friday called by coach Eddie Olczyk and attended by general manager Craig Patrick, and the Penguins responded with one of the few strong defensive games they've played while going 8-15-6.

"We did all the little things and got timely goals, the power play chipped in and we got great penalty killing and excellent goaltending and good determination in the dressing room,'' Olczyk said. "We weren't going to settle for anything less than a win.''

Talbot said that was important after the Penguins seemed to settle all too easily for a loss against the Wild.

"There was a big difference in this game and the last game,'' Talbot said. "That last game was horrible. We gave a lot of effort for 60 minutes and we got a win and it feels really good.''

The Avalanche couldn't get the tying goal despite having a power play in the final two minutes and keeping the puck in the Pittsburgh zone nearly the rest of the game.

"We definitely played a desperate team,'' Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. "You can really tell it was a meaningful game on their end of it.''

Despite goals by Milan Hejduk, Dan Hinote and Svatos, the Avalanche stayed perfect four times they've played on successive nights - each time they've won the first game and lost the second. They beat New Jersey 4-3 in a shootout Friday night.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the 2003 No. 1 draft pick, made 23 saves to win at home for the first time in four starts this season. The Penguins had lost three in a row and were 1-5-1 in their last seven at home, where they were 0-9-1 against Colorado since the former Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995.

Colorado was 1-of-8 on the power play, though Hejduk scored on a 4-on-3 to tie it at 1 after Recchi put in a rebound of Matt Murley's one-handed shot from the slot.

"They played hard but we gave them a lot of help, and our power play wasn't as effective as it should have been,'' Colorado's Rob Blake said.

Recchi began the game with a minus-20, the worst mark of the NHL's 749 players this season. The 464-goal scorer had no goals in 10 games and only one in 14 before scoring his eighth.
Pittsburgh's Dick Tarnstrom scored late in the first on a rebound on his own shot off Recchi's pass from behind the net, and rookie Eric Christensen made it 3-1 by redirecting Sergei Gonchar's shot past goalie Vitaly Kolesnik early in the second.

But the Penguins couldn't hold that two-goal lead - Hinote scored late in the second off a rebound of Blake's shot from the blue line - or another at 4-2.

Kolesnik had won his first two starts since being called up from the minor league Lowell Lock Monsters earlier this week but couldn't follow up his Friday night win, allowing four goals on 35 shots.

"He had some momentum going on his side,'' Quenneville said of his decision to play Kolesnik for the third time in four nights. "I think he played very well and gave us a chance to win.''

The Penguins were 0-7-1 against the Avalanche the previous five seasons, and hadn't beaten them since a 3-2 decision on Feb. 25, 1999. The last Pittsburgh home victory over the Quebec/Colorado franchise was Feb. 21, 1995.

Notes: Joe Sakic assisted on Hejduk's goal and has at least one point in nine consecutive games. ... Avalanche starting goalie David Aebischer was the backup after being sitting out Friday. ... Colorado had won two straight and five of seven.