 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. |
Looking to the future
Nick Chapman from Huntington Beach, Calif., is curious about two Avalanche prospects and the team's goaltending depth . . .
Q: What are the chances of T.J. Hensick and/or Chris Stewart making the team next year? Also, how does our goalie depth chart read beyond Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj? Is Tyler Weiman any good, or did we acquire Michael Wall for a reason?
A: Since Hensick, a center, will be making the transition from college (Michigan), and Stewart, a right wing, only played a handful of games in the minors this season after signing out of the Ontario Hockey League (Kingston), I'd say the chances probably aren't all that great that either will start the 2007-08 season with the Avalanche. Stewart won't turn 20 until October and Hensick will be 22 in December, so both are young and could use some seasoning in the American Hockey League. It should help that the Avalanche will operate its own affiliate -- the Cleveland-based Lake Erie Monsters -- after sharing AHL teams with Carolina for three seasons. Assuming Hensick and Stewart start with Lake Erie, they'll get a ton of ice time and get indoctrinated into the Avalanche's way of doing things. I realize that Paul Stastny made an extremely smooth transition from the University of Denver to the NHL this year, but that isn't something that happens very often. Of course, the immediate future of any prospects also will hinge on what the Avalanche does this summer in the way of trades and free-agent signings, and how the youngsters perform at training camp.
As for goaltending depth, there isn't a whole lot. Tyler Weiman, 23, has completed three years of minor league hockey and Michael Wall, 22, has had two years of minor league experience. Both have had a measure of success, but neither is ready to play in the NHL for any length of time. The Avalanche still likes Weiman but acquired Wall from Anaheim at the trading deadline in exchange for Brad May because the team had only three goalies under contract -- Budaj and Theodore being the others -- and the team will need to fill two goalie spots with Lake Erie.
Weiman played a ton with the Albany River Rats, the AHL affiliate the Avalanche shared with the Hurricanes. He played 54 games and went 27-22-3 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .905 save percentage. It was Weiman's first full season in the AHL. Albany's other goalie, Justin Peters, is in Carolina's organization. Peters, by the way, was 10-18-0 with a 3.26 average and .886 save percentage.
Wall played with the Arizona Sundogs in the Central Hockey League following his acquisition -- the level of play in the CHL is probably equivalent to that of Double-A baseball -- but he'll be with Lake Erie next year. He went 6-3-0 with a 2.20 average and .917 save percentage; those are nice numbers, but the competition in the AHL is a lot tougher. Wall had a 10-6-1 record with the Portland Pirates in the AHL, along with a 3.13 average, at the time of the trade. He played in four NHL games when the Ducks ran into injury problems, posting a 2-2-0 record with a 2.97 average.
Hard to read with an Audi ad stuck in the middle of your column.
Posted by Bo on September 18, 2007 08:08 AMRick here is an excellent source for in the system avalanche player info/reports, jori the site owner and operator is a huge avs/hockey fan and knows her stuff.
http://avsprospects.blogspot.com/
Posted by derek koelmel on August 12, 2007 01:56 PM