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NHL Preview 2013: Avalanche Warning

The Colorado Avalanche may have been 16-25-7 last year, but this season is already looking up. For starters, the team landed the next great hockey phenom with the first pick of the 2013 NHL draft: center Nathan MacKinnon, who has drawn comparisons to Sidney Crosby. (They're even from the same hometown.) He's not the only young star on the Avs. They also made a deal with their 20-year-old captain, Gabriel Landeskog, to keep him in Colorado for another seven years. Perhaps most exciting is their new coach. In May, the Avs hired Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy to be bench boss. The young core might need some time to gel, but the pieces are there. This could be the season that the Avalanche begin, once again, to bury the rest of the NHL.

by Dante A. Ciampaglia

Check out the rest of Sports Illustrated Kids' NHL 2013 Preview on the SI Kids Blog!

Photo: JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES

nhl preview 2013-14 colorado avalanche