Since the NHL’s return to the limelight in October, the league’s new look continues to reverberate. With the sharp increase in goals scored, what is the new definition of a top-notch goaltender? Are goal-scoring forwards still the stars of the league, or are defenders who can skate more valuable? How do you judge a rookie, by standards too new to define? Or by the old rules? What is the best and most cost-effective way for a team to excel under a salary cap? With a few stars? Or with cheaper second-tier guys?
The Avalanche seems to be at the center of these questions, and all of them come to a head on Saturday at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. The Avs took on a genuine goaltender controversy this week by calling up Vitaly Kolesnik from the Lowell (Mass.) Lock Monsters. In his first NHL game, Kolesnik, the former Kazakhstan national team goalie, stopped 20 shots in Colorado’s 4-1 victory over the Bruins. David Aebischer, who began the season as the Avs’ starter, served as Kolesnik’s backup and wasn’t happy about it, telling The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers, “I didn’t play as well as I can at the start of the season, especially, but I thought I rebounded pretty good. … But I guess I’m the only one thinking this.”
On the other end of the ice, things are picking up for Colorado. Alex Tanguay’s goal against the Bruins was his third in consecutive games. And pseudo-rookie Marek Svatos is still tearing it up. The Avs’ stars, it seems, are on the verge of picking up where the team left off when Peter Forsberg was still around.
But the team will get its first good look at the newest NHL superstar Saturday when they face off against rookie Sidney Crosby. In any other year, Svatos might be the toast of the league’s new players. But this season, all the attention has gone to the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Crosby. And for good reason. Crosby has 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points entering Friday’s game against Minnesota and is the leading candidate for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the rookie of the year. The game airs on Altitude at 5:30 p.m.
WEAK IN REVIEW
The company line is the Rockies got exactly the player they were looking for, a guy with unlimited upside who will one day light the world on fire. But Wednesday’s trade for Seattle catcher Yorvit Torrealba, apparently to replace JD Closser, was a complete whitewash. Torrealba, in five seasons, has a .250 batting average, 83 RBIs and 15 home runs. Closser, in two years, hit .251, had 37 RBIs and eight home runs. Kind of makes you want to buy an extra set of season tickets, huh?
THE COUCH
On: As if sports weren’t filled with enough drama, HBO and ESPN hype up the cheers and tears this weekend with two television movies. On Sunday at 6 p.m., HBO airs “Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team,” a documentary on the 1999 World Cup victory, remembered by many as the reason for Brandi Chastain’s famous jersey-shedding celebration. But there was much more to the story than the big media moments. The movie follows a 20-year buildup from when the players were teenagers through their international stardom. ESPN does it differently with its dramatization of a cheating scandal at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point – “CodeBreakers.” It chronicles the attempts of the 1950 football team to balance sports, academics and honor. Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN.
Off: Danger is no match for Silverton Mountain. This weekend the resort is asking for volunteers to help stamp down snow in potential avalanche zones and to ski the aprons making the slopes safe for other skiers. In return, Silverton is offering volunteers free skiing in December or April. One day of volunteer bootpacking earns a day of unguided skiing in April. Two days of work earns a day of guided skiing. Volunteers must provide their own avalanche beacon, shovel and probe to participate, and they must be able to comfortably ski or snowboard advanced and expert terrain. For more information, see silvertonmountian.com. Have fun and good luck.
AROUND THE WEST
While not on the radar for most of Denver’s NFL-hungry sports fans, the National Finals Rodeo, the Super Bowl of rodeo, finishes its 10-day run Sunday in Las Vegas. And this is no minor event. Through four events, Lamar’s Shali Lord had won three barrelracing events on her horse, Slider, to bring her season earnings to $128,834. Lord has since dropped out of the top five, with Sheri Sinor Estrada of Alamogordo, N.M., taking the lead. It will come down to the wire in most of the other events in the final days, including old-fashioned bareback riding, skill-heavy steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, and the marquee event, bull riding. The final rounds air live on ESPN on Sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m.
