Being Named Avalanche GM 'A Dream Come True' for MacFarland

The Colorado Avalanche kicked off the start of a busy week - with free agency beginning on Wednesday at noon ET - with the
news that Executive Vice President/General Manager Joe Sakic has been named President of Hockey Operations, while Assistant General Manager Chris MacFarland has been named General Manager
as announced by the club on Monday morning.

"It was a huge day for our organization, I'm really happy for Chris," Sakic said, sitting beside MacFarland at a podium at their media availability on Monday afternoon in Ball Arena. "This has been in the works for a couple of years, Josh and I have been talking about when we thought the opportunity for Chris would move up to General Manager. We felt that this was the right time.
"It's well deserved," Sakic continued. "He's a tremendous person and a tremendous worker. He's meant so much to the franchise and myself. We've gone through a lot in the last five or six years and have a championship together. We just wanted to keep this thing rolling. With that, I just want to welcome Chris MacFarland as our new General Manager."

MacFarland graciously thanked the audience of local media for attending and then proceeded to thank a list of people who have helped the 52-year-old throughout every stage of his impressive career en route to attaining his 'dream' job of becoming a General Manager in the NHL.
"It's a dream come true," MacFarland said. "It's an honor to work in this organization and for the Avalanche logo. It's very humbling. I'm so proud to be a part of this organization. Joe has always said - and he lived it in the locker room - it starts at the top. They've been there for us since Day 1. If we asked for something or needed their support, it's always been, 'Yes, what can we do? How can we help?' That goes so far and that's on and off the ice. I'm very humbled for their support. They stuck by us four or five years ago when we had that tough year. They believed in us. That's never been lost on me. Joe, I know and our families are so proud to continue to stay on here. Thank you to the Kroenke's and KSE executive team."
MacFarland, who grew up in the Bronx, N.Y. and played college hockey at Pace University where he received a bachelor's degree in business in 1992 and later graduated from the university's law school in 1998, first expressed his gratitude to the Columbus Blue Jackets organization, where he worked for 16 years in the hockey operations department. before joining the Avalanche in May of 2015.
"[Columbus] welcomed me with open arms and made me feel part of the team right from Day 1, that was massive for me," MacFarland said. "That continued on here when seven years ago, we made the decision to come to Colorado and be a part of this organization. I got a new family right away. [Avalanche Assistant General Manager] Craig Billington, [former Vice President of Hockey Administration] Charlotte Grahame, [Team Services & Communications Advisor] Jean Martineau, [Vice President, Media & Player Relations] Brendan McNicholas, [Director, of Team Services & Immigration] Erin DeGraff and all of our administrative people, support staff and scouts, made me feel a part of the family right from Day 1. That cannot be underestimated how important that is. I'm very thankful for that and how they welcomed me with open arms."
With the Blue Jackets, MacFarland worked in nearly every facet of the organization. He was involved in scouting at the professional and amateur level, player contract negotiations, salary cap management and arbitration, collective bargaining agreement (CBA) administration, budgeting and team scheduling issues. He also oversaw the hockey operations efforts of the Blue Jackets' minor-league affiliates.
It was no surprise that after completing his seventh Avalanche's Assistant General Manager - where he has worked intricately with Sakic regarding all hockey-related matters including being a pivotal part of the turnaround from finishing last in the league in 2016-17 to capturing the Presidents' Trophy in 2020-21 and going on to win the franchise's third Stanley Cup this past June - that MacFarland was on the receiving end of multiple interview requests for GM vacancies around the league, and has been since the summer of 2020.
"Everyday working with Chris, just seeing the respect he gets from the coaching staff, the players and everyone around the league, he's ready for this," Sakic said of the decision, which he noted that he and Josh Kroenke, the President/Governor, Avalanche & Vice Chairman, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC, have been discussing for a few years now. "He's been ready for a number of years. He deserves this opportunity. From my end, it was an easy decision. Why let someone that you trust so much, that is so dedicated and who has done so much to help create this thing, why let there be an opportunity for him to go somewhere else and now, you're looking for a replacement when we had the perfect candidate right here all along. I'm really happy for Chris. He's deserved this for a really long time. Our organization is in a great place."

For MacFarland, the decision to stay in Colorado versus pursuing other opportunities around the league was an easy one to make. He stressed the importance of being able to continue working alongside Sakic, the club's former captain - who led the franchise to its first two Stanley Cups [1996 and 2001], to most recently being voted as the recipient of the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award upon the Avalanche's 2022 championship - where the duo have established an efficient and phenomenal camaraderie.
"He's hockey royalty, the Avs logo is Joe Sakic," MacFarland said. "His on-ice accomplishments everyone knows; three-time Stanley Cup champion, Conn Smythe winner, his deadly wrist shot that he's been known to say once in a while to the staff and just a world class human being. He's truly a terrific leader and someone to work for and an incredible friend… It's truly an honor to step into the GM chair and continue to work with Joe and remain a part of this organization with him. That was a really crucial part for me."
The duo reflected on their evolution together, especially noting the commanding turnaround from the team's 48-point season 2016-17 to hoisting the Stanley Cup this past June. And while Sakic will be stepping away from the day-to-day duties of General Manager and it will be MacFarland, who embraces those and field calls from fellow GMs of the league, the plan is still to continue utilizing the collaborative dynamic that the pair have established and so well executed together.
"He's one of the best to ever do it, he knows the game inside out from multiple lenses," MacFarland said of working with Sakic. "I wasn't a professional player and he was one of the best. You'd be foolish not to tap into those things, whether it's his thought during those tough years where we had to rebuild and doing it methodically. You had to tap into that. For me, the way he leads. People might say he's a quiet leader, but I don't think he is. He's true to what he is. His demeanor and the way he empowers his staff is incredible. He's informed, but his temperament is one of his biggest strengths as well as his hockey background."
And while the news of both Sakic and MacFarland's respective and deserving promotions certainly deserves proper celebrations, there is imminent work to be done and a rapidly dwindling clock as free agency begins this Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET, which also means the Avalanche's quest to defend their 2021-22 Stanley Cup championship is officially underway.

Following the news of the club's front office and hockey operation changes, MacFarland and Sakic wasted no time in locking up one of the biggest priorities for the club in winger Valeri Nichushkin, as the team announced on Monday afternoon that the 27-year-old Russian winger inked an eight-year deal with the club to avoid testing unrestricted free agency.
Nichushkin's deal came just a day following the news that Colorado had signed newly acquired - via a trade with the New York Rangers - goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, a fellow countryman of Nichushkin, signed a three-year deal with the club. Both of Nichushkin and Georgiev's transactions were promising and imperative deals for MacFarland and Sakic to accomplish as they look to reassemble the best possible squad for the defending champions in the Avalanche heading into the 2022-23 campaign.
"Everybody's dream is to win the Stanley Cup," Sakic said. "Now, we're the Stanley Cup champions so we're going to get everybody's best game. I felt over the last couple of years that we had been getting everybody's best game. We're ready for this opportunity. Obviously, we're in the salary cap world and teams like going after free agents and winners, they've got that pedigree and we have those guys. It's going to be tough, we're in the salary cap world and there's a lot of parody. We expect it to be hard, but we're up for the challenge. We're going to try and build this team back up so we can try to repeat."
"We're going to have to make tough decisions as an organization," MacFarland echoed. "To find the right pieces that fit into the right holes that give us a chance to be one of the teams that has an opportunity for the next number of years. That remains the goal."