Matt Duchene

The Colorado Avalanche have undoubtedly had a great start to their 2011-12 season.

The countdown to the start of the NHL regular season really begins to pick up now that teams are reporting back to duty for training camp.

Excitement has begun to pick up for each team for the 2011-2012 NHL regular season, and the Colorado Avalanche are no different.

The Avalanche are a team that have made a lot of changes over the summer in an attempt to make a jump in the standings.

When the Pepsi Center opened in the fall of 1999, it was a sight to behold.

It was the most modern arena in all of the NHL, sporting a state-of-the-art LED scoreboard, two levels of luxury suites, and the first "video-ring" that encircled the entire perimeter of the lower bowl.

"The Can," as some affectionately refer to it, maintained its status as a premium venue all the way until 2008, when it hosted the Democratic National Convention and the 2008 Frozen Four tournament.

Matt Duchene was probably the best player for the Colorado Avalanche last season and the guy that really gave the Avalanche faithful some kind of hope even after the season was lost.

Duchene tied for the team lead in goals scored last season (27) and assists (40). He led the team in points, with a grand total of 67, in just his second year as a professional hockey player.

The Colorado Avalanche have only been around for 15 years, but have already created some pretty amazing history in the time that they have been in Denver.

Records have been set, countless awards have been won, blockbuster trades have been made and the franchise has won two Stanley Cups.

Along the road, there have been several defining and iconic moments.

Here are the top 10 iconic moments in the history of the Colorado Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche are a much storied franchise. Beginning as the Quebec Nordiques who was the first franchise to record three 1st overall picks in consecutive years, then moving to the Mile High City and capturing two Stanley Cup trophies.

Once we saw the Avalanche lose one of their most iconic sports figures in net to retirement, a Mr. Patrick Roy, the Avalanche never seemed to be the same.

The Colorado Avalanche are still relative newcomers on the NHL scene when compared to the historic Original Six franchises. Still, the only two players to have served as captain of the Avalanche are as good as any that have ever played.

In the season marred with disappointment, no Colorado Avalanche player has been more disappointing than Paul Stastny.

Considered a franchise building block since his 78 point rookie season in 2006-2007, the 25 year old center has looked more like a $6.6 million paperweight with only 54 points in 70 games this season.

In previous seasons where Stastny played at least 65 games, his career low is 71 points.

Forward Tomas Fleischmann practiced with the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday, more than two months after being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in his lungs. The 26-year-old Czechoslovakia native last played January 18 in a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks.

Fleischmann will sit out the rest of the season for precautionary reasons, and will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The question is: will the Avalanche try to re-sign him?

Last night's make-up game against the St. Louis Blues became the first win for the Colorado Avalanche since the All-Star Break.  The victory also snapped a ten game losing streak, the longest since the franchise moved from Quebec to Colorado.

The win itself, while obviously a positive for a team who had been finding ways to lose games rather than win them, was great to see, but there were a couple other things that struck as huge positive takeaways for the Avs.