Jonathan Drouin noticed it right from the start.
Drouin, who signed a one-year contract with the Avalanche this offseason, has played for teams that missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five of the past seven seasons. He knew that signing with Colorado was going to be a different experience.
This is a club that in 2023-24 has simple expectations — win the championship. It didn’t take long for him to see why.
“It was the informal (pre-training camp) skates,” Drouin said. “Sometimes the informal skates are kind of relaxing and just going through the motions, but it’s not that kind of skate here.