Jose Theodore comes to Colorado with a résumé that includes the Hart and Vezina trophies because of a terrific second half of the 2001-02 season, a contract calling him to be paid $11.5 million over the next two years and a lot of emotional baggage.
In the pre-cap era, the contract wouldn’t have been as important. Now, it is. If he turns out to be unable to return to anything approaching his MVP form, the deal will be a disaster – perhaps even if Peter Budaj turns out to be an elite goaltender who swipes the No. 1 job from Theodore and won’t give it up.
Everything now needs to be evaluated on how much of the payroll pie a player takes, and Theodore’s $5.5 million salary next season is a new benchmark for this roster – including for Joe Sakic and Rob Blake, whose deals expire after this season and will be asked to take hometown discounts if they want to come back (if Blake is asked back at all).
If Theodore isn’t what Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix thinks he can be (again), it’s a mess.
The Canadiens and general manager Bob Gainey took advantage of La- croix’s fantasies about Theodore pulling off a Patrick Roy reprise. Absolutely, the parallels, both existing and possible, are numerous and intriguing. But Theodore is damaged goods. His fractured heel actually made the deal possible, because of the long-term injury exemption involved, but it goes far beyond that. His psyche, work ethic and lifestyle have been questioned, and there’s no disputing his game has slipped considerably since that amazing 2001-02 season.
To be fair, many of these things don’t involve Theodore directly, and the furor over them in Montreal can be advanced as one reason he might be better off playing somewhere else.
Sharks: His father, Ted Nicholas Theodore, and half-brother, Nicky, pleaded guilty to loan sharking and weapons-related charges last year. Ted was fined $30,000 but didn’t go to jail. Authorities said Ted had run the ring out of a Montreal barber shop for about 20 years, and that another branch operated out of a Montreal casino. Of most concern to the NHL, the ring lent money – allegedly at interest rates between 200 and 600 percent – to gamblers. Jose’s other two half-brothers, Rock and Ted Jr., also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and charging illegal interest rates, respectively. Authorities said the brothers were the runners but said Jose was not part of the investigation.
Bikers: In 2003, the Journal de Montreal published old pictures of Jose Theodore hanging out at least twice with Hell’s Angels in a gang clubhouse in Quebec. The Journal said the police previously had contacted the NHL and that the league then contacted his agent, Don Meehan, to express concern about Theodore’s contact with the biker gang. But reports said at least one picture might have been taken after that contact with Meehan. Meehan disputed the report that the league had warned Theodore and said the goaltender always had been cordial about having his picture taken with fans. No big deal? It was in Montreal.
Propeciagate: Yes, this one was a little ridiculous. In pre-Olympic testing for performance-enhancing substances, Theodore – who wasn’t selected to Team Canada, anyway – “flunked” because of traces of a hair-growth drug, Propecia, in his system. The drug is banned in the Olympic world because it can mask the use of steroids, but Theodore – who had been told to stop using the drug because of the imminent testing but apparently didn’t – scoffed at the notion that anyone could think he was using banned body-building substances.
“It’s pretty obvious I’m not a big guy,” he said Thursday. “So I think there’s no question there. It’s just something that got blown out of proportion.”
Future father-in-law: Guy Cloutier, a Quebec entertainment industry mogul, is the father of popular television talk-show host Veronique Cloutier and Stephanie Cloutier, who is Jose Theodore’s girlfriend. Heading into the weekend, she was due to give birth to a daughter any day. Guy Cloutier was convicted in 2004 of sexual abuse for a long-ago relationship with a young client, singer Nathalie Simard. According to authorities, the relationship began when Simard was 11 and lasted until she was 18. The case and the now-35-year-old Simard’s autobiography, campaign against pedophilia and $1.2 million civil suit against Cloutier are notorious in Canada. Theodore was in no way involved, but it was another distraction.
Most important: Theodore hasn’t played well, and it’s naive to think he can automatically and instantly turn it around when he gets back in the lineup, whenever that is, just because he’s out of Montreal. Cristobal Huet played in the last six games before the Olympic break and Theodore’s injury, and Theodore’s numbers – 3.46 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage – are awful. Any attempts to chalk that up to a mediocre team around him are absurd: Huet was playing for the same team and had been excellent before the break.
Indeed, perhaps getting out of Montreal will help Theodore regain some focus on his game. That’s what Lacroix is counting on. Regaining that 2002 form? That’s a longshot. Lacroix on balance has done such a good job in his 11 years in Denver; he deserves respect and leeway. But this deal was too much of a reach.
Northwest dealing
Edmonton: Speaking of a team hoping for a goaltender’s renaissance, the Edmonton Oilers will be back in the playoff hunt if Dwayne Roloson – acquired from Minnesota at the deadline – gives them some steadiness in goal. Given how bad the Oilers’ revolving cast in the net has been this season, Roloson doesn’t even have to be great to make the Oilers a threat. And Sergei Samsonov, acquired from the Bruins, still wears those same labels: “potential” and “enigma.”
Calgary: Status quo, with the exception of adding young Edmonton-born center Jamie Lundmark from Phoenix and sending much-traveled center Jason Wiemer to New Jersey. The status quo, with Miikka Kipru- soff playing great, will be good enough to win the division.
Vancouver: The Canucks still have the dressing room clique problem, with Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi off in their own little corner – or planet. The Canucks shopped Bertuzzi, but didn’t like any of the offers enough to do anything with him. But in the wake of their injury siege, the acquisitions of defensemen Keith Carney, Eric Weinrich and Sean Brown (they’re so old, USA Hockey inquired about signing them up as a group for the 2010 Olympics) will help down the stretch.
And Mika Noronen gives them a promising backup (for now) to Alex Auld in the net.
Minnesota: Did disgruntled defenseman Willie Mitchell (traded to Dallas for Martin Skoula and a prospect) and Roloson turn off the lights on the way out?
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
