 Avalanche inbox Avalanche writer Rick Sadowski answers readers' e-mails every Wednesday.Send your questions to sadowskir@rockymountainnews.com and he'll answer the best questions. |
Finish falls short
Dwayne Hall from Texas gives the Avalanche a high five for the team's play over the past several weeks ...
Q: I'm really proud that the Avalanche didn't pack it in when they were down by 12 points. Don't you agree the national writers will be picking them to finish higher next year, maybe be back challenging for the division?
A: No question, you have to tip your hat in the Avalanche's direction. The Avalanche players didn't pull the plug when the situation looked bleak. It looked like these guys were completely out of it six weeks ago, but no one quit. On the contrary, they worked harder than ever. Of course, the same problems that plagued the Avalanche earlier surfaced again Saturday in the loss to Nashville -- blowing a lead in the third period and losing at home. Having former Avalanche players Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya team up for the decisive goal stung, too, as did the fact that the Flames wound up losing their game to Edmonton about 90 minutes later.
It's just too bad these guys didn't play like this in the first two-thirds of the season. I do think they played hard, but they squandered too many leads and points with sloppy play in the third period. The third period was probably the Avalanche's best during the late-season run - until Saturday. This could be a very good team next year. Several young players really stepped up, Joe Sakic looks like he can go on forever, and general manager Francois Giguere should have plenty of salary cap money to spend.
Patty Macdough is concerned about rookie Wojtek Wolski ...
Q: I am very concerned that management has put a lot of stock in Wolski and he doesn't seem to have the toughness needed to play on a championship NHL team. He is a big player, but he doesn't like to hit or mix it up in the corners. Do you think it is worth waiting for him to mature while we only have one or two years left with Joe Sakic?
A: There's no question that Wolski was a lot more effective when he played a more physical game than he did lately, but you have to keep in mind that he was a rookie and only 21 years old. But he shouldn't be playing on the perimeter and you'd think he would have had more than 14 penalty minutes. Wolski does have a lot of talent and Avalanche management isn't about to give up on him, nor should it. You aren't the only one to notice that he wasn't driving to the net or spending much time in the corners, especially lately. It's why coach Joel Quenneville replaced him on occasion on Sakic's line. But Wolski should develop into a very good player and is expected to be a big part of the Avalanche's future.
It will be interesting to see if Chris Stewart, last year's first-round draft pick, plays well enough in training camp next year to make the team. He's 6-feet-2, 230 pounds and played a rugged game in junior hockey. He recently signed and is getting his feet - or should I say, his skates - wet in the AHL with Albany.
Richard W. Pickowitz has a question about possible free agents ...
Q; Of the pending Avalanche free agents, who is most likely not to be retained, or can we expect to see them all return?
A: Well, I can assure you that Joe Sakic will be back. He would be eligible for unrestricted free agency but has already said he'll sign another one-year contract to stay with the Avalanche. He has no desire to play anywhere else and plans on finishing his career in Colorado. Sakic doesn't know how much longer he wants to play, hence the one-year deals he said he would continue to sign.
I'm sure the Avalanche won't re-sign Pierre Turgeon, and I have my doubts about Patrice Brisebois. Both will be unrestricted free agents. Ian Laperriere has an option year left on his contract, and I would think the Avalanche wants to keep him. Scott Parker will be a free agent and I suppose he will be re-signed; otherwise, why would the Avalanche have traded for him? But I think he takes too many dumb penalties for the little ice time he gets.
Tyler Arnason, Ben Guite, Jordan Leopold, Brett McLean, Kurt Sauer and Marek Svatos have contracts that will expire, and all of them probably will be re-signed. Leopold, Sauer and Svatos would be restricted free agents; the Avalanche needs to tender qualifying offers to retain their rights.
Ossi Vaananen was a healthy scratch several times down the stretch, so the Avalanche might be thinking about letting him go. Ken Klee and Mark Rycroft are two more guys set to become unrestricted free agents, and they could be gone. The Avalanche has to figure out what to do with Jose Theodore, who has one year left on his contract; it's valued at $6 million and counts as $5.3 million against the salary cap. The Avalanche could buy him out and save some cap money, but I'm starting to believe he will be back, simply because there really aren't going to be many quality goalies available in the free-agent market.
Theodore certainly has improved his game this year. Last year he wouldn't sit still long enough for the bench to really get warm. Now, he's almost perfected bench warming. Maybe next year he'll make a good stick boy for some other team. I hope he's gone. He's been a sub-par goalie for 4 years and shows no signs of changing. League minimum if he's lucky.
Posted by bear on April 13, 2007 09:48 AMI hope Jose Theodore can find a team / organization that trusth him, he has improved his game a lot even though he did it when sitting on the avs bench.
Posted by Sykie on April 9, 2007 08:57 AM