Colorado Avalanche fans who gave up their season tickets may rue that decision.

Last year, the Avalanche missed the National Hockey League playoffs for the first time since moving to Denver in 1995. An infusion of youth, an effect of the 2004-05 lockout and the resulting salary cap, has given the NHL – and the Avalanche -- a facelift.

Those fresh faces can be seen on the Pepsi Center ice: Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos, Peter Budaj, John-Michael Liles and Kyle Cumiskey. T.J. Hensick, one of three rookies who nearly made the team in preseason, was called up in late November and scored his first NHL goal in his second game. You could see others – Chris Stewart, David Jones, Trevor Cann, Mike Carman, Derek Peltier, Ryan Stoa, Kent Patterson and Kevin Shattenkirk – in the next year or two.

“If you look around the league I think we’ve got definitely some of the most promising young players in the league for sure,” says Liles, who at 27 years old is the veteran of the young bunch. “You look at Stastny, Wolski, Budaj, Cumiskey, you have a tremendous range there … a lot of very talented young players that can play very different roles.”

The lockout altered the NHL. Developing young stars such as Chicago’s teen-aged rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, the 2006-07 MVP in his second NHL season, and last year’s Rookie of the Year Evgeni Malkin and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin became more critical to the bottom line. And the Avalanche minor-league system is spitting out NHL prospects faster than a Joe Sakic slapshot.

Stastny, a second-round choice in 2005, made the transition from college (University of Denver) to the NHL without blinking an eye. The son of Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Stastny has the pedigree (his uncles Anton and Marian also played in the NHL). Few predicted Paul would finish second to Malkin in the Calder Trophy voting. Stastny, a 22-year-old with a toothless grin, already has improved on his rookie season, leading the Avs in scoring.

“Stastny is a terrific player, the best of the group,” says Brian Engblom, commentator for the Versus and Altitude networks and a former NHL player now living in Denver. “He’s a lot like his dad, the way he moves around on the ice. The intelligence he shows is way beyond his years. He’s disciplined like his dad was. He has that joy for the game. He has the potential to be one of the great two-way centers in the future of the NHL. That’s the greatest compliment I can pay him.”

Stastny had 28 goals and 50 assists as a rookie and was a critical piece as the Avs fought down to the final game, but failed to garner a playoff spot. Stastny’s work ethic has drawn raves from players, coaches and management type alike.

“Knowing the Stastny background he comes by it honestly,” says Avalanche Director of Player Development Craig Billington, a former backup goalie to Patrick Roy. “The most impressive thing is he keeps trying to get better. He was in development camp after being a rookie of the year candidate. He didn’t have to do that, but he wanted to do it so he could be a better player.”

Stastny, two years removed from a two-year stint at DU, is a star in the making. Even the man he could supplant as Colorado’s top player acknowledges Stastny is a special person on the ice.

“He’s just a very, very mature kid for his age,” says Joe Sakic, who played his first two NHL seasons (1988-90) with Paul’s dad in Quebec. “You can see from the year (Stastny) had last year and how he wanted to improve. Everybody sees what Paul does and how he prepares himself. A lot of that is mental preparation that you usually don’t see in younger players. That’s definitely has a lot to do with his dad and being around the league.”

How’s this for irony? Sakic supplanted Peter Stastny as the Nordiques’ top scorer in his second season. Paul Stastny has done the same to the 38-year-old Avalanche legend so far this season.

But you can see the admiration Sakic has for his younger teammate. “He’s got hockey smarts, the hockey instincts,” Sakic says of Stastny. “He’s just a hockey player.”

For a hockey player, there is no higher praise. Yet, Stastny was not expected to be the Avs’ No. 1 rookie a year ago. Those hopes fell to Wojtek Wolski, Colorado’s No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft who scored a goal and had three assists in the 2006 playoffs to boost expectations. Wolski, who turns 22 on Feb. 24, had an impressive 50 points a year ago, but that paled compared to Stastny’s 78. Coaches harped on his inconsistent play and the young player sulked a bit.

“Coming into the NHL and to have that much attention and pressure (was difficult),” Wolski admits. “This year, I’ve come to understand (the coaches) are not here to hinder my career or put me down. They’re trying to make me better and if I play better the team will eventually do better. So I think the big thing is a change of attitude, realizing and understanding that they’re there to help me.”

Count Engblom among the many NHL experts who love to watch Wolski on the ice.

“Wolski in some ways is the most interesting player,” Engblom says. “He’s still learning what he can do and what he can’t do. You see him trying to make the same moves he used in juniors on NHL defensemen and they go, ‘that’s not going to work on me.’ But he is finding a way to make them work.”

So, who knows, with a little luck and a lot of hard work this group could provide the next Peter Forsberg, the next Adam Foote or the next Joe Sakic.

Stastny will only admit, “There’s a lot of skill, a lot of potential there, but it’s always hard to predict the outcome of what’s going to happen. Just from skating with some of these guys there’s a lot of potential. Obviously, coaching, management and scouting are expecting a lot of things, but (the young guys) have been producing their whole lives.”

Greg Henry is a freelance writer and editor who has written for Colorado AvidGolfer, Colorado Expression, Mangia, Architecture and Design of the West and Wild Blue Yonder magazines and The Denver Post.