Andy Cross / The Denver Post)
DENVER — Blame Barry Trotz. Or thank him.
To understand how things got right with the Avalanche, Pierre McGuire says, it helps to start with where the wheels came off. He'll even give you a date: Dec. 17, when the New York Islanders and Trotz, their sagacious coach, rolled into the Pepsi Center and left with a 4-1 win.
"Before that, I thought Colorado was playing really, really good hockey," McGuire, the NBC Sports NHL analyst and reporter, told The Denver Post recently. "I did the Tampa Bay-Colorado game (Oct.