Back in 2003, the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild went to overtime in Game 7 of their first round series. The Wild won that game in what would be goalie Patrick Roy's final game as a player. Eleven years later, Roy faced the same outcome in his first season behind the Avalanche bench. Here is a look at the highs and lows of Colorado's promising 2013-14 season.

Highs

The Avalanche returned to the playoffs for the first time in four years and did so with an incredible start. The team won 10 of its first 11 games this season and followed that run with a few stretches of great hockey. The team went 9-5-0 in November before a 10-3-1 run in January. The Avs also finished strong with points in seven of their last eight games. They not only made the playoffs, but also claimed the top spot in the division.

Under new coach Patrick Roy, goalie Semyon Varlamov flourished. The netminder had previously cost the team a few high draft picks and many thought he was a massive bust. He posted a solid .927 save percentage in 63 games; his previous high was .924 in 2010-11 but his career average stands at .917. He wound up nominated for the Vein Trophy.

Rookie Nathan MacKinnon was nominated for the Calder Trophy for top rookie after putting up 24 goals and 63 points in 2013-14; he added 10 points in the playoffs including a four-point game in Game 2 and a pair of three-point nights in game 1 and Game 5; he scored the overtime winner in Game 5.

Then there is the issue of Roy issuing a statement on opening night. Is it a high or a low?

Take a look:


Lows

It was a controversial moment around the league to be sure and many questioned his behavior. The NHL fined him for it, but the players seemed to rally around it.

Aside from that moment it is truly difficult to pinpoint a low point for this team in 2013-14. One might argue that the team's mediocre run in December, when the Avs won five, lost five in regulation and lost four in overtime/shootout, is a low point. However, every team is bound to go through a rough patch; Colorado only had one such moment all year.

Season MVP

In 2012-13 the Colorado Avalanche were the second worst team in the NHL. The team had not made the playoffs since 2009-10 and seemed to be on a spiral downward. The goaltending situation was in disarray. The defense was questionable. Matt Duchene, who was considered a franchise center, was performing way below expectations. In comes Joe Sakic and Roy, and voila: the goaltending is a strength. The defense, particularly Erik Johnson, picks up its game. Duchene puts up the best point total of his career while the young core that includes Gabriel Landeskog, Paul Stastny, Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O'Reilly continued to flourish.

Many of the players credit coach Roy for uniting the team and the moment was the aforementioned altercation on opening night. Roy is definitely Colorado's season MVP.

Elimination Scapegoat

The Avalanche led the series against the Minnesota Wild 2-0 and 3-2 but could not get the job done. The team blew a total of seven leads in the series, including four in Game 7 alone. The team made a number of comebacks, but that final game of the series epitomized the team's inability to take a stranglehold on the game or the series. Was it inexperience? That is hard to gauge, but considering the youth on Minnesota, it might not be fair to put this on a lack of playoff experience.