10 things that must happen for Avs to contend

By Adrian Dater The Denver Post Here we are again. It's that time of year to tell the Avalanche what it needs to do to win another Stanley Cup. That last Cup in 2001 grows more distant every year, so NHL reporter Adrian Dater has cooked up a surefire recipe to get it back. 1. Develop a home-crowd advantage Avalanche fans have had the label of being neophyte, bandwagon types. Fans are not the main reason a team wins or loses, but it never hurts to have an annoyingly effective presence against the other team. Whether it's a creative, Krazy George sign flasher or a leather-lunged heckler or two, a home team needs a little help from the "seventh man" on occasion. Too often the last couple of years the crowd at the Pepsi Center has been in snooze mode. The Denver crowd is funny. Some nights it's ready to rock. Other nights, it's... [read full story]