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Who's to blame for Avalanche fall?
Rob Frank from Arvada believes that Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville and former general manager Pierre Lacroix are to blame for the team's failure to make the playoffs . . .
Q: OK, it's time to vent. I recently read an article that spoke of the chance that Jose Theodore may not return to the team next year. Gee, you think? No doubt Peter Budaj has been a pleasant surprise, but how about giving Joel Quenneville credit for running (David) Aebischer off. I guess Montreal got the better of that one, huh? I guess it turns out Coach Q knows nothing about the psychological side of the game. At least, he didn't ruin all three goalies in his little shell game he played (in 2005-06). Between his fearless efforts and those of Pierre Lacroix, maybe they should share the credit for trashing a great hockey franchise.
The team had a great run down the stretch (this season). But if the coach had been able to get his team to play in back-to-back games against the "powerhouse" St Louis Blues in midseason or a March overtime loss against the clueless Edmonton Oilers, we wouldn't have needed the two points against Nashville to make the playoffs. Maybe we should look at packaging Quenneville and Theodore. Heck, throw in (Jordan) Leopold as well. You have to admit finishing the season at a minus-4 while playing in only 15 games is an impressive stat. That's got Norris Trophy winner written all over it.
And by the way, how about the great timing by Pierre Lacroix stepping down and putting his puppet (Francois Giguere) in place to take the heat for decisions made in dealing with the salary cap. Does anyone really think that Giguere actually made any of the decisions this year . . . NOT. At least, Pierre had the forethought to put someone in place to take the heat for him. I guess the true test of a GM is being able to pull the strings in a league with a salary cap in place.
As much as I hate to say it, being an Avs season ticket holder since 1995, the hated Red Wings seem to be doing pretty well in the "New NHL."
A: OK, Rob, tell us what you really think! No doubt about it, the Red Wings (among others) have done a much better job working with a salary cap than the Avalanche, which should have been able to find a way to keep Peter Forsberg after the lockout ended two years ago. Lacroix was GM at the time and has to take responsibility for the bad as well as the good things he did. But I don't think it's fair to call Giguere a Lacroix "puppet." The Avalanche was in pretty bad shape with the cap for a number of reasons: Theodore's $5.3 million cap figure being one, along with $2.3 million each in bonus money for Joe Sakic and Rob Blake stemming from contracts they signed in 2001. The NHL forced the Avalanche to count the bonus money against the cap this year, money the team will be free to spend this offseason. As of this writing, the Avalanche has 12 players signed (including Theodore) for about $26 million in cap money. Even if the Avalanche doesn't buy out Theodore, which could be the case for no other reason than that there may not be any decent goalies available, Giguere will still have another $20 million or so to spend on re-signing players and free agents from other teams. This offseason will be a major test for Giguere.
As for the goalie situation, I agree with your point regarding the way Quenneville handled Aebischer two years ago, even though I thought the Avalanche overachieved in 2005-06 by advancing to the second round of the playoffs. I wouldn't have traded Aebischer or anyone else for Theodore, who certainly isn't the second coming of Patrick Roy despite his lucrative salary. Having said that, while the Canadiens were able to unload that salary (a positive point for them), Aebischer hasn't exactly sparkled in Montreal. He went 13-12-3 with a 3.17 goals-against average this season, essentially became Cristobel Huet's backup and lost playing time to a rookie, Jaroslav Halak, down the stretch. Aebischer will be a free agent this summer, and I doubt the Canadiens will re-sign him. And I'm not about to judge Jordan Leopold based on playing in 15 games when he had three different injuries. I think the Avalanche could have gotten more for Alex Tanguay, but Leopold was a pretty good player in Calgary.
As for the trading deadline, the Avalanche wasn't in any position to make a major deal without mortgaging the future, and this team wasn't going to contend for the Stanley Cup even if it had made a big splash. Atlanta (Keith Tkachuk), Nashville (Peter Forsberg) and the New York Islanders (Ryan Smythe) acquired marquee players in exchange for prospects and draft picks, and where did it get them? All three teams were knocked out in the first round, and the players they acquired will be unrestricted free agents.
Yuriy from Russia is no fan of Todd Bertuzzi . . .
Q: I am an Avalanche fan from Russia. Watching Calgary play Detroit in the playoffs, I wonder how Bertuzzi can still enjoy his life while the guy he (injured) is trying to find his place in life? Is it not ironic that the team he (was traded to) is Detroit? I think his career should be over.
A: The NHL obviously thinks differently. Bertuzzi served his suspension for attacking Steve Moore in March 2004 and lost about a half-million dollars in salary. At this point, all we can do is hope that Moore returns to health and is able to live a normal life. He is still hoping to resume his playing career, but that sure seems like a long shot considering he hasn't been given medical clearance to play and it's been more than three years since he was injured. Moore has filed a civil suit against Bertuzzi, but no trial date has been set if it comes to that.
Mike Laden says that Jose Theodore makes too much money to stick with the Avalanche as a backup for Peter Budaj . . .
Q: I agree that the Avs would like to keep Theodore, but not at $6 million. You can't have your backup making 10 times what your starter's making.
A: The problem, Mike, is where does the Avalanche turn for another goalie if the team buys out the final year of Theodore's contract? In a perfect world, the Avalanche buys him out for $4 million, saves a bit of salary cap money and acquires another veteran goalie to team with Peter Budaj. It's possible the Avalanche will be able to do just that, but it doesn't look like there will be a whole lot of capable goalies available this summer, unless one is acquired in a trade.
Minnesota probably will attempt to deal Manny Fernandez because the Wild has two other quality goalies in Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, but Fernandez has two years remaining on a contract that carries a $4.33 million cap figure. San Jose's Vesa Toskala has one year left on his contract with a $1.375 million salary and cap figure. He'll be a free agent after next season, so it's possible the Sharks will think about trading him.
GM Francois Giguere hasn't said what he plans to do about Theodore, but this is what he said the day after the season ended: "As far as I'm concerned, you have to be careful about putting too much emphasis on the salary. He came in, he worked hard, he had a 24-year-old goalie (Budaj) that came up and did a great job. (Theodore) had to be on the bench and not play as much. He worked hard. I think he earned the respect of his teammates, coaches and management by the attitude and work ethic, and in the offseason, we'll address all of those issues."
I really like what the Avs did over the off-season acquiring Smyth and Hannan. Obviously a little bit of luck and a lot of health is required for any team with Cup aspirations. Our first line is about as good as anyone's, and our second line is pretty good. In fact, we seem to have depth down all four lines. Defense isn't as good as the old glory days, but there's only so much money to spend. Obviously we all wish that Theodore didn't cost as much as he does. But if the Avs have to pay him, they might as well play him, too. Everybody remember the baseball Rockies jettisoning free agents and paying their salaries to play for someone else? I'm not sure if that can apply in hockey or not, but you get my thought.
Keeping in mind that there's only so much money to go around, and that we can't go out and get an all-star team anymore, what do you think the Avs can do to even better their situation? Or do you think its gonna be as good as its gonna get until around the trade deadline?
Posted by Paul Zimmerman on September 16, 2007 01:05 AMisn't the farm system designed to take players with potential and develop them into future stars? aren't there any goalies in our system to look at or develop? give me the young player who still has passion, not the veteran mercenary looking for a fat check. there are great players to be developed and discovered. let's give them a chance. by the way, i believe peter budaj is a 40 game winner. he's awesome.
Posted by jim hundley on July 11, 2007 03:13 PMThe Alex Tanguay trade is to blame for the Avalanche missing the playoffs this year.
Posted by Ron on July 10, 2007 10:42 AM