Kiszla: Sakic ignores cynics

By Mark Kiszla The Denver Post Eyes that long ached with envy for the Avalanche now seek revenge. Is this the year prayers of jealous NHL rivals are answered, when a dominant hockey franchise finally takes a hard fall and the Avs stink for the first time since they moved to Colorado in 1995? "People want us to be bad," Avalanche veteran Ian Laperriere said Wednesday, on the eve of the team's 13th season-opener in Denver. "We have always done everything in the past to win, and it makes people in the sport jealous. They always hate a winner." For more than a decade, from Patrick Roy to Paul Stastny, hockey has been a Rocky Mountain high in Colorado. But is the party over? Peter "The Great" Forsberg has left the building (again). Captain Joe Sakic can see the bummer of birthday No. 40 on its way. And if you listen to the hockey... [read full story]