Avalanche general manager Francois Giguere saw his team’s season end Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings, one week after the playoff series began. Giguere, in his second year at the helm, has a busy summer ahead, with 13 potential unrestricted free agents and a coach, Joel Quenneville, who has no contract for next season. On Friday, Giguere took some time out with Post hockey reporter Adrian Dater to discuss the season and what lies ahead.
Q: What can you tell us about the status of Joel Quenneville’s job going forward?
A: Well, I won’t discuss anything specific about the coaching position or player personnel moves right now. I won’t be making any decisions just 12 hours after the season has ended. I think it’s important to take a step back, and not get too down from the down parts and too high from the high parts. I just want to do a sound and objective decision-making process. That’s part of my personality.
Q: How would you evaluate how this season went for your team?
A: For me, I was happy with the season. We faced a lot of adversity. For me, one of the things that really came out of this season was how important having an affiliate team (Lake Erie) was. We had so many young guys that came up and did a good job, and I think that helped accelerate the development of a lot of those guys. I think we realized we probably had a little more depth than we thought going into the season, with our young guys. You finish sixth out of 15 in a conference that — and I’m biased — was way stronger than the other one, and you’ve got to be happy with how the team responded. At the trade deadline, we were a little bit behind the eight ball, and I thought we played great down the stretch. We had a great series against Minnesota, and those are the factors that I’m going to focus on.
Q: Your team battled injuries all season, then was decimated by the second round against Detroit. How tough was it, knowing you were going to battle without so many key guys?
A: Going into the series with Detroit, having four days’ rest, we were probably as healthy as we could be. And then the night before the first game, our goalie (Jose Theodore) gets sick. That probably affects him for two games, then Peter (Forsberg), who had had two good days of practice, he hurts his groin in the morning skate. For all practical purposes, we lost him for the whole series. Those were unfortunate incidents, then we had several on-ice injuries in the first three games. I thought, with all the injuries we had in the regular season, that we’d be fortunate enough not to have to deal with it as much in the playoffs. But it didn’t turn out that way. We had two guys (Scott Hannan and Ian Laperriere) who got hurt in the first series, but their (foot) fractures were nondisplaced. But those guys playing with those injuries showed unbelievable grit and character.
Q: Forsberg’s future seems murky at best, and he was hurt a lot in his time back here. Any regrets on signing him?
A: No. Peter came in and probably was even more productive than I anticipated. I think he played a big role in us getting into the playoffs, and I think he and the other guys we got at the deadline energized the team. Overall, I was real happy with Peter coming back.
Q: Joe Sakic hasn’t made up his mind whether to play another season. How soon do you think you’ll know, and what are your thoughts on him continuing?
A: I think Joe has proven he can still play at a high level. Last year, I thought it was important for Joe to give us an answer very quickly. This year, with his injury and everything that happened, he’s going to need some time to take a step back on his own end to go through everything to get ready and play a season. With everything that he’s given this organization, I’m going to be patient and let him go through his due diligence. If he comes back, we’ll be willing to take him with open arms.
Q: You have a lot of unsigned players right now. How concerning is that to you?
A: We do, but that’s part of the philosophy that I have. I’m very careful in the term of the contracts that we give out. When you’re careful on the term, that means you have to come back and negotiate a little quicker. But the one thing I know for a fact is our players like playing for our organization. I feel very confident that we have a great reputation in the league, and there’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to ice a very competitive team next year. In the next little while, the hockey staff is going to have to sit down and go through the process like we did last year. We’re here to work, and things will get resolved. Our first priority will be to take care of our own people, and then we’ll see what’s available through free agency.
