Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag each Monday during the 2005-06 NHL season on DenverPost.com.
To drop a question into the Avs Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
Thanks for your Avs Mailbag! I look forward to it every Monday morning with my coffee. When the team travels to a hometown of a player, can that player stay at “home” or does he have to stay in the hotel with the team? For example, when the Avs play in L.A., can Rob Blake stay at his house?
— Cara, Colorado Springs
Cara – So, what kind of coffee drinker are you? Are you a simple, Winchell’s-type person or a Fourbucks – er, I mean, Starbucks – gal?
Me, I’m a four-to-five-cups-a-day guy. Mostly home brewed. I’m only a print reporter, can’t afford those multiple Starbucks runs.
As for your question, the answer is yes, they can stay at “home” for certain road games. Blake, for example, usually does stay at his Manhattan Beach pad at least for one night while the Avs are in the L.A. area. I’ve seen his place, and believe me I’d stay there, too, if I could. His backyard is the Pacific Ocean.
The players can’t stay away from the team in the playoffs, however. That’s a sacred thing, where everybody is together all the time, even in Denver.
Hey, Adrian. After , I saw Vitaly Kolesnik do something odd. As he skated off the ice, he reached down and scooped up some of the ice off the rink, and it looked like he put it in his mouth. Is this another one of those strange goalie-type superstitions, a la Patrick Roy talking to the goalposts? Just what was up with that? I found it to be very curious.
— Shane L., Fayetteville, Ark.
Shane – I’ll look into it – as soon as we can find an interpreter to help Kolesnik answer our questions. He doesn’t speak a word of English yet, so asking him anything has been tough. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a superstition of his. Goalies have so many. I don’t know if I’d put ice from a rink in my mouth, though. Could be a lot of stuff in it.
Hello, Adrian. I noticed that Brad May was a healthy scratch in the Dec. 4 game. Is he on the trading block?
— Nancy Pratt, Aurora
Nancy – No, May actually missed that game with a slight groin pull. He played on the Avs’ most recent road trip. As for being on the trading block, anything is possible with Pierre Lacroix at the helm, but I doubt there are a lot of takers for May. And, I don’t think the Avs are trying to deal him anyway. I think he’s been fine in his role with the team, and I think he’ll be here the rest of the year.
What is the problem with David Aebischer? He has been very good or very bad since the season began.
— Nicolas Belleau, Jonquiere, Quebec
Nicolas – Well, that’s it in a nutshell, isn’t it? This is why Aebischer has been benched a couple of times, and why he quite possibly has been on the trading block. But, if the Avs expected Aebischer to have the kind of numbers he had in 2003-04, they were probably deluding themselves. It’s a new league, with new rules, and Aebischer has faced many, many more quality shots against than before – as are most NHL goalies.
I think what’s hurt Aebischer a bit has been the location of some of his worst starts. Some have come at the Pepsi Center, and there is always a natural tendency for fans, media and even the coaching staff to think the sky is falling when a goalie falters at home. His last start against Buffalo was a good example. He hasn’t played since.
I still think Aebischer has talent and can be a very good player for years. On the other hand, he has struggled at times, even giving him the benefit of the doubt with the new rules.
With the home game against the Senators tonight, do you think we will see a rematch of the Dan Hinote-Zdeno Chara fight from Sweden last season? The segments we were able to catch online were very entertaining to watch. You gotta love the way Danny always tries to get his team the advantage, even if it puts himself at risk.
— Kathy W., College Station, Texas
Kathy – Yes, I heard about this fight. Apparently, it was a doozie. You never know what Hinote will do, so anything’s possible tonight. He will fight anybody; the problem often is, he hurts himself. He’s not very big, and has had shoulder surgery before from shoulders falling out of socket throwing punches.
I hope he fights guys more his own size now and in the future.
Dear Sir: Do you agree that the reason for the Avs’ poor power play is that the high-priced unit is reluctant to go to the net, while the regular lines have more of the regular guys willing to do the dirty work like crashing the net or digging around the board?
— Yi Wang, Orange, Conn.
Yi – A valid hypothesis. I think the Avs historically have gotten themselves into trouble on the power play by trying to be too fine. That was certainly the case , when they passed and passed and passed the puck, but didn’t shoot it enough. Peter Forsberg used to drive coaches crazy on occasion with his overpassing, and now Alex Tanguay does the same thing sometimes.
That said, I wouldn’t quite advocate benching Tanguay and Milan Hejduk in favor of guys like Ian Laperriere and Andrew Brunette on the first PP unit. Power plays go in streaks, and right now the Avs are in a bit of a slow period. But those guys can catch fire quickly.
Why did it take Joe Sakic so long to wake up this season? I know that it is not only about numbers, but they are important after all. His were really bad until a few weeks ago, which really surprised me as I thought he would easily crack 100 points this season.
— Joachim Wressnig, Vienna, Austria
Joachim – Good to hear from Vienna. I love those little smoked sausages you guys make (boy, that makes me sound like a redneck American, doesn’t it?).
Well, Sakic might still get to 100 yet. As of Monday, he had a nine-game point streak and was slowly climbing his way up the NHL scoring leader list. Sakic did start off a bit slow, and I’m not sure why. It probably had something to do with not playing for a full season. Even the best have to work their way back into things.
He’s playing well right now, although I know Avs fans would like to see him really bust out with a two- or three-goal night soon. Don’t bet against it.
After watching Marek Svatos get pulled down after a home-run pass from John-Michael Liles and then scoring on his penalty shot, it occurred to me that the pass was one of the few that was cleanly received. Do you think, given the velocity of the puck and design of the sticks, that in the near future sticks will be designed differently to prevent less hop from home-run
passes? Or do you think it’s a case of “practice makes perfect”?
— Andy, Boulder
Andy – An interesting question. There has been a lot of change in the making of sticks in recent years. Most players use one-piece graphite sticks now, although some tried them and didn’t like them for reasons you allude to, namely a slightly higher degree of difficulty handling the puck.
I don’t think you’ll see players go back to the all-wood sticks anytime soon, though. The graphite sticks create higher velocity on slap shots, which is what any shooter wants. But perhaps in certain late-game situations, when a home-run pass is needed by a team trailing by a goal, players might consider using wooden sticks to handle hard passes.
In regards to the recent Avs Mailbag question regarding the “best hockey board game.” … There are a few out there, but the best one is from Strat-O-Matic games. They are best known for their cult-following SOM Baseball. The game is played by essentially comparing players’ stats and your coaching decisions, followed by a random number. Their website is: . They are without a doubt the premier in sports
boardgaming. When you buy the game, you can purchase specific years for which you want player cards. For diehards, this means you can play one of the Oiler teams from the ’80s with the ’96 Red Wings, or you can relive the Wings-Avalanche rivalries. The SOM website is woefully deficient, so please check out the game description from for more info. I’m sure any hockey nut will find it fascinating. Regards!
— Jeff, Michigan
Jeff – Yes, once again a faithful Mailbag reader enlightens me more. I didn’t realize Strat-O-Matic hockey still existed. Glad you cleared it up. I played the baseball variety as a boy, with an older friend of mine who went to Dartmouth College named Jack Fidler.
I didn’t realize people still enjoyed rolling dice instead of video games, but like I said in a previous Mailbag, I’m still partial to rotary dial phones and Beta videotapes, myself.
Adrian Dater has covered the Colorado Avalanche since the team moved to Denver in 1995. To drop a question into his Avs Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
