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 .
Hey, Adrian. There were some rumors on a few boards that Wojtek Wolski might be able to come back now that his season is over. Any truth to those?
— Mark, Fairbanks, Alaska
Mark – An update (April 6, 1 a.m.) to my initial response:
Under NHL bylaws, Wolski – the prohibitive favorite to be named MVP of the Ontario Hockey League this season – cannot play for the Avs until his junior season ends. Once the Avs returned Wolski, 19, to the Brampton Battalion early in the regular season, he wasn’t eligible to return to the NHL until his junior season was over. For more information on Wolski’s potential addition, .
Hi, Adrian. I’m an Avs fan living in Shark country. Everyone out here says the Sharks are the team no one wants to face in the playoffs. Agree? If the Avs do make the playoffs, which is the team they least want to face?
— J. Hewins, San Francisco
J. – I agree to an extent. The Sharks are a dangerous looking first-round opponent – if they get in. The thing that’s surprising about San Jose is how inconsistent the team can be at times. Look at Saturday’s game against Phoenix at home, for instance. They got outshot 29-9 in the first two periods to a very average Coyotes team. In a game that important, at home against that team, how does that happen?
I think the new rules hurt the Sharks a bit this season. I’ll sound like a homer here, but I think the Sharks got away with murder in the playoffs against the Avs in 2004. They were a big clutch-and-grab team, in my opinion. Under the new rules, they can’t bear-hug other teams’ best players anymore and get away with it.
As for the Avs, obviously I’d say Detroit is the team they least would want to face. They went 0-4 against the Wings in the regular season, and none of the games was very close.
I don’t have OLN and therefore have not been able to watch hockey all year. Will the playoffs be on regular TV? Are there any plans on getting on network TV any time soon? Thanks.
— Rob Hardy, New Albany, Miss.
Rob – Actually, several NHL games were broadcast on NBC this year, and the network will also show playoff games this year, including the Stanley Cup Finals. So, I assume you get an NBC affiliate in the Mighty Mississip you can watch.
We’re frustrated by the double-minor penalty for drawing blood that seemingly rewards players who don’t wear visors. Shouldn’t the league be encouraging the players to wear visors?
— Priscilla and Stefan, Tucson
That’s a good point, and something the league might look into – but I doubt it. You can argue the reverse, too: that players who don’t wear visors cost their teams more in the long run, with serious facial injuries, etc.
Look what happened to Bryan Berard, etc. I think the NHL subtly encourages players to wear visors, but the league still doesn’t want to make it mandatory because the players’ union insists on the freedom to choose.
Hi, Adrian. It is said that “insanity” is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Sooooo, why does Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville keep using Joe Sakic in the shootouts? Zero-for-7, not good!
— Sue Lane, Aurora
Sue – Sorry, but you have to keep using in the shootouts. Sooner or later, he’ll put the biscuit in the basket in a shootout. You can’t just throw Sakic under the bus in this situation, in my opinion.
Are those enough clichés for you? Sakic is a guy I’d still put my money on when the team most needs a goal. Keep the faith, o ye of little.
Hey, Adrian. I am a huge Avs fan and love the Avs Mailbag. I was wondering how certain it is that Sakic will be back next year. I know the Avs didn’t pick up his option, but is that just a technicality? Please tell me Sakic will be back!
— Kelley, Orlando, Fla.
Kelley – I think Sakic will definitely be back. He’s had another good year, and has made it plain he wants to finish his career in Denver. I just don’t think Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix would let the face of the franchise go, especially after an offseason in which he saw the loss of Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote.
Sakic will likely have to take a pay cut from the near $7 million he’s making now, but I don’t think he’ll have a problem doing that. He just wants to win at this stage of his career, and might take a big discount to allow the team to sign a good free agent or two.
Which coach is responsible for the absolutely pathetic power play the Avalanche is putting on the ice this year? He needs to go – and soon! The Avs won’t be competitive in the playoffs at the current conversion rate.
— Greg Lawler, Colorado Springs
Greg – Well, as of this writing, the Avs have the fifth-best PP percentage in the league (19.3). What would you be saying as a fan of the other 25 teams?
I read that New Jersey is going to purchase the Lowell Lock Monsters and give up on the Albany River Rats. What will happen to the Colorado prospects in Lowell, and has Colorado considered buying a team like the River Rats who will not have an NHL club after this season?
— Mary, Clifton Park, N.Y.
Mary – The Avs will have to pursue another market in which to buy into an AHL agreement. It could be Albany, but I doubt it. I think the Avs would like to have an agreement with a team further West, but the options are limited. Don’t count on the team entering into an agreement with the Colorado Eagles of the CHL, either. The building is too small, probably, to be converted into an AHL building, and the Eagles are making too much money in Loveland to want to sell.
Could you give us an update on what Patrick Roy is doing these days? He sure keeps a low profile.
— Darby Anderson, Omaha
Darby – Roy is the coach and part-owner of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. He has shown himself to be a very good coach with the Remparts, and is happy with his post-retirement life.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Roy back in the NHL before long, though, probably as a general manager. I think he’d rather be a GM than a coach in the NHL – but I know he really enjoys coaching young kids now.
Jose Theodore has potential to be great. If he doesn’t work out, Peter Budaj is more than good enough. I’m more concerned about the moves that weren’t made. Jim Dowd seems like a decent player, but I don’t see how he even begins to replace Steve Konowalchuk or Marek Svatos.
— Mark Thompson, Thornhill, Ontario
Mark – Well, Dowd has been good with the team so far, but I agree – I think the Avs should have made more of an effort to get a better offensive player with the losses of Konowalchuk and Svatos. But they just didn’t have much room under the salary cap, especially after getting Theodore.
They’ve been surprising in how good they’ve been offensively, but in the playoffs, it could hurt not having that extra scorer they might have been able to get.
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 .
