This was one time a series didn’t turn on goaltending.
Jose Theodore wasn’t the Avalanche’s problem in the ignominious sweep, nor in the fourth-game loss to Anaheim on Thursday night that sent many Pepsi Center fans to the exits long before the final horn and the postseries handshake line.
And Ilya Bryzgalov – though he had 40 saves in Game 4 and again was unflappable and (almost) unbeatable – wasn’t the Avalanche’s problem in this series, either. The Mighty Ducks’ big Russian goaltender didn’t need to steal the series. He coolly did a workmanlike job, occasionally making a spectacular save – a praiseworthy accomplishment, certainly, but one which goes with the job description.
And afterwards, Bryzgalov was sitting at his stall in the Pepsi Center visiting dressing room, holding a soft-drink can and acting roughly as excited as if the Ducks had just won an exhibition game in Saskatoon.
“I will be excited when we win the Stanley Cup,” he said.
Did he think Colorado had forced him to be spectacular?
“I can’t judge myself,” he said. “I see myself from the side. I’m just in the game. I just play the game. It’s the other people, who can judge me, sitting in the stands or the press box and watch my performance.”
Once more, with feeling: His performance against the Avalanche wasn’t even close to playoff larceny. The downfall was attributable to the Avalanche’s struggles, not only within shouting distance of Bryzgalov, but at getting the puck into the offensive zone in the first place, and also the all-too-often careless and stunningly casual play in the defensive zone that helped keep the Ducks on the attack.
At the other end, the only semi-indictment of Theodore’s play is that he didn’t play so spectacularly that comparisons to that retired fellow now coaching the Quebec Remparts could be something other than reaches.
He wasn’t good enough to carry an overmatched team, which is what the Avalanche was in this series. That was obvious long before the Avalanche season-ending loss Thursday night – so obvious that much of the discussion over the past few days already (and justifiably) had taken on post-mortem tones.
“I felt better every game,” Theodore said. “In the playoffs, there are a lot of details. As a team, you have to play well on the (power play and penalty kill) and defensively and offensively.”
Did his teammates, including his defensemen, let him down?
“No, no, not at all,” Theodore said. “You have to give credit sometimes to the other team. Look at the way Anaheim beat Calgary. I knew it was going to be hard. I thought our guys did everything we could, and we left everything on the ice.”
After the Avalanche acquired the then-injured Theodore in March, some players interpreted the move as a sign that Pierre Lacroix was making a bold move to bolster Colorado’s chances of making a run deep into the playoffs this season.
I’m not sure it was that at all. There were no 100 percent guarantees that Theodore would recover from his fractured heel in time to play, and even if he did, how could anyone know that he could shake off the rust and the mental baggage his terrible play at Montreal this season added to his already extensive collection of potential distractions.
Sure, Lacroix wasn’t giving up on this year. He hoped that Peter Budaj would hold down the fort and that the Avalanche indeed would make the playoffs and perhaps even a run, but the Theodore deal was made for the next two seasons. Theodore will take up $5.3 million of the Avalanche’s available salary cap figure in each year, and that’s significant now because risks no longer are just about budgets but about percentages of the cap.
“There’s a lot of good things we can build on, and I know I’m already looking forward to next season,” Theodore said. “I enjoy the city and this organization, and I’m looking forward to being here for a full season.”
Lacroix is staking his reputation on him.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
