sentences:  The off-season also featured the departures of Alex Tanguay and Rob Blake, continuing the trend of star players leaving Denver that began the previous year.After a decade near the top of the Western Conference standings, the Avalanche were expected to struggle to make the playoffs in 2006–07.The team's expected decline also saw attendance take a hit, as Colorado's NHL record sellout streak of 487 games was ended on October 16 when 17,681 tickets were sold for a game, 326 shy of a sellout.