Adam Foote, elder statesman.
“Don’t remind me,” the Avalanche defenseman said with a laugh Sunday.
With Joe Sakic out, Foote, at age 37, is the oldest player on the Avalanche active roster.
There are a lot of reasons Sakic — previously expected to be out until mid-January with a herniated disc before suffering three broken fingers and tendon damage in his ill-fated encounter with a snowblower last week — might have played his final game in a Colorado uniform.
“I hope not,” Foote said. “I’m just happy that he’s all right, first of all. But knowing Joe, I doubt that.”
Sakic’s determination and resilience are undeniable, and Foote has been a first-hand witness to it while spending most of his NHL career as a Sakic teammate at Quebec and Colorado.
But not only will Sakic have to wait three months for his fingers to heal, the left-handed shooter faces the daunting task of regaining his touch, sensitivity and strength in his bottom, or left, hand. That can take a long time after returning to the lineup. Months. Maybe even a year.
Plus, back problems often turn out to be recurring when players are approaching 40.
Regardless of whether Sakic makes it back for the final month of the 2008-09 season or eventually decides to shut it down for the rest of the season, it would be difficult to envision a scenario under which he would try to return in 2009-10.
That would take: a) the burning desire to avoid going out “this way”; b) the belief the injury problems won’t continue and he could play at an elite level if he returns for a 21st season; and c) the faith that he could earn a berth on the 2010 Canadian Olympic team, for the Winter Games in his hometown of Vancouver, on merit rather than as an honorarium.
It all could happen.
But I wouldn’t bet on it.
What it means is that next season, Foote almost certainly will be the Last Nordique Standing in an Avalanche jersey.
On the verge of unrestricted free agency in June, Foote signed a two-year, $6 million contract to stay with the Avalanche. That came four months after his reacquisition from Columbus, where he landed amid the payroll- paring and scrambling following the postlockout implementation of the salary- cap system in 2005.
In the short term, this much is certain: Tonight at Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings and Avalanche meet for the first time this season, Foote will be the sole man in white and burgundy who was on the ice for the tone-setting — or most bitter — days of the Detroit-Colorado rivalry.
And that comes only after he missed nine games with head, neck and knee injuries suffered against Los Angeles on Nov. 22. The Kings’ John Zeiler was suspended for three games for the irresponsible hit on Foote from behind that left the Avalanche defenseman woozy, but it turned out he already was injured before that play.
“My knee (injury) happened the shift before,” Foote said. “I hit the boards. The pads froze and I hit the kneecap on the boards with no padding. I was concerned then that I would be out of the game, and when I went out for that next shift, maybe I would have done something different if I had felt well there.
“But after the initial (Zeiler) hit, at first, I was out of it. I was just happy to come around.”
Remarkably, for all the hits Foote has taken and delivered in his 17 NHL seasons, that apparently was only the second time he ended up with concussion-like symptoms.
“I remember one time I was chasing a guy down in St. Louis,” he said. “I dove when he shot and his skate boot hit me in the chin. That was a long time ago. Man, it might be 10 years ago. Other than that, I hadn’t had one since junior, when my head hit the boards.”
Foote’s return, and Kyle Cumiskey’s weekend demotion to Lake Erie, leaves the Avalanche with seven healthy defensemen.
Curiously, Colorado coach Tony Granato decided to make Daniel Tjarnqvist, who played well while filling in for Foote, a healthy scratch again for the Friday night loss against Chicago.
Granato on Sunday said he hadn’t decided which defenseman would sit out against the Red Wings, but he also emphasized that it won’t take injuries to get Tjarnqvist back in the lineup. If all stay healthy, Granato would be well-advised to rotate the scratch, also including Brett Clark and perhaps Jordan Leopold among those taking their turns at watching in street clothes.
But Foote, now healthy, is one untouchable.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
