While the hockey world turns one eye to Boston and its celebration of a Stanley Cup championship and the other to Vancouver for their riots, out in Seattle, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL are set to make an announcement on their next head coach: former Avalanche player and assistant coach Steve Konowalchuk.
↵While he played the majority of his career for the Washington Capitals, Konowalchuk moved to the Avalanche in Oct. 2003, but he would only play part of one more season with team. The canceled 2004-05 season wiped out one extra year he could have had and then two months into the 2005-06 season a wrist injury ended his season prematurely.
↵The Seattle Thunderbirds were the junior hockey club for goalie Calvin Pickard, the second-round pick (49th overall) of the Avalanche in 2010. He signed an entry-level contract with the Avalanche in March and gives hope that he will be the team's goalie of the future in a few seasons. With no long-term solution in net currently on the roster, Pickard has a clear shot in a season or two.