Young Avs are NHL's biggest surprise

So what's the deal with this young bunch of Colorado Avalanche?

Who would have thought these guys would be 5-1-1 through the season's first seven games, with a 3-1-1 record in the first five games of what could have been a disastrous seven-game road trip?

Not me, and probably not anybody else, either.

The Avalanche was coming off a last-place finish in the Western Conference; team president Pierre Lacroix fired just about everybody in the front office and coaching staff; longtime captain Joe Sakic retired; and co-scoring leader Ryan Smyth was dispatched to Los Angeles.

So much for expectations.

I know it's ridiculously early, but free-agent pickup Craig Anderson has been splendid in the crease; the Avalanche has a potent top line in Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk; 14 different players already have scored goals; 18-year-old rookies -- yes, there are two -- Matt Duchene and Ryan "Radar" O'Reilly sure look like they belong; defenseman Kyle Quincey, acquired in the Smyth trade, has been a force at both ends of the ice; and the special teams have been, well, special.

The Avalanche boasts the fifth-youngest roster in the league with an average age of 27.043 years. Ten regulars, four of whom are rookies, are between the ages of 18 and 25.

No problem, apparently.

"We're a young team, but we bring a lot of energy," rookie center T.J. Galiardi, 21, said. "We're just trying to do the right things."

This team hasn't done much wrong lately, though Saturday's visit to Joe Louis Arena to face the Detroit Red Wings will be a stern test.

"You saw what happened last year and we're a lot younger team and there probably aren't high expectations," said Paul Stastny, who's in his fourth NHL season but is just 22. "We're trying to prove ourselves after last year, and we're enjoying the challenge."

The NHL hands out more hardware than any professional league on the planet, but it's too bad it doesn't present one for the best coaching job in the first month of the season.

If there was, it would go to first-year Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco.

Hands down.