Since the weekend, I have rethought my positions about the Avalanche’s apparent deterioration.
The Avs can be bona fide threats to win the Western Conference next season if all of the following happen:
Goaltender Jose Theodore returns to his form of 2001-02, justifying the $11 million the Avs are committed to pay him, and the cap space he will take up, the next two seasons.
(What he does in his private life, whether involving the Hilton Honored Guests program or otherwise, is irrelevant, unless it is reflective of what turns out to be a lack of commitment to rejuvenating his career.)
A second line, made up of some combination of rookie Wojtek Wolski, the fragile yet promising Marek Svatos, Ian Laperriere, Steve Konowalchuk and Tyler Arnason, contributes enough to take some pressure off what probably will remain the Andrew Brunette-Joe Sakic-Milan Hejduk first line. In addition, Sakic and Hejduk are superstars every night and the “kids” – Wolski and Svatos – make the folks in the lower bowl chant: “Alex Who?”
Arnason, plagued by the “potential” label in his previously disappointing stints at Chicago and Ottawa, is energized knowing that he is becoming the first son of a Colorado Rockies player to suit up for the Avalanche. His dad, Chuck, played 90 games for the NHL Rockies in 1976-77 and 1977-78.
Defenseman Jordan Leopold, a former Hobey Baker Award winner acquired from Calgary for Alex Tanguay, makes Flames coach Darryl Sutter look foolish in retrospect for having shackled him; and, if John-Michael Liles is back, the Avs look smart for putting so much faith in a pair of young Americans on the blue line.
The defensive pairing of Karlis Skrastins and Brett Clark again holds its own against the opposition’s top line, a task that will be made more difficult without having Rob Blake around as a looming force to step back into that role when needed.
Error-prone defenseman Patrice Brisebois, making an incredible $3 million in the second of his two-year deal, plays no more than 12 minutes a game.
The Avalanche discovers that almost by accident, it has put together a team with wonderful chemistry.
Lauren Pronger, the wife of Mighty Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger, decides she likes Anaheim even less than she did Edmonton, causing Chris to demand another trade – this time to the Eastern Conference.
Sakic misses the Jan. 24 All-Star Game in Dallas because of a minor injury, and all those who play for the Western Conference are quarantined for six weeks afterward because an equipment man shows signs of bird flu. The fears prove groundless, but the damage is done to the Western Conference franchises with elite players and the Avalanche surges into a playoff spot.
H-e-double-hockey-sticks freezes over, a Zamboni freshens the sheet every half hour, and the surface is better than what the Penguins play on in Pittsburgh.
See! It could happen.
The Avalanche has lost four of its top six players in the past year.
Pierre Lacroix’s decisive stand a year ago was that allowing Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote to leave in 2005 was unfortunate, but would enable the franchise to retain the rest of the corps and have bushels of cap room in this offseason. That has proven to be off-target.
The mishandling of Sakic’s and Blake’s options and bonuses has tarnished the Avalanche’s reputation for shrewdness.
Yes, this franchise seems to be reeling. The Avalanche doesn’t have much money left to fill out the roster, based on the notion that its unrestricted free agents not yet under contract either accept their qualifying offers or take salaries in the same neighborhoods in longer-term deals. If aggressive, Colorado might be able to juggle the numbers to add one big-name outsider. But even that seems doubtful, given the events of the past few weeks.
That’s the glass-is-about- empty view, and I think it’s the most realistic.
All that said, this needs to be pointed out: In the past 11 years, Lacroix – now in a reduced role as the franchise’s president, reporting to owner Stan Kroenke – has done a terrific job under not just Kroenke’s ownership, but under others with shorter pockets. He more than anyone else deserves credit for making this a top-flight hockey market. It wasn’t throwing money, it was making bold moves and doing what other NHL owners and executives didn’t have the nerve to do – take risks, spend money to make money, and still operate under a budget. It would be a shame if this all tarnishes his legacy and image, because to lay this at Francois Giguere’s doorstep would be grossly unfair.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
