Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posted his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2008-09 NHL season. This is the season finale.
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Hey, Adrian. I hear people accusing the Avs of tanking to get top prospect John Tavares in the next draft. You’re around the team and in the locker room. Do you believe there’s any truth to this accusation?
— Aaron, Boulder
Aaron – The Avs got four of a possible last eight points, basically costing themselves a higher chance of getting the top pick. I think that answers the question.
Adrian – Wondering why we haven’t heard of any effort by the Avs to get Paul Stastny’s old DU roommate Peter Mannino. Seems he’s a rare goalie capable of inspiring teammates, yet he’s languishing in the Islanders’ farm system. Any thoughts?
— Emil T., Boulder
Emil – Hey, why not? The Avs will definitely be looking for a new goalie this summer (or two). So why not give the local guy a shot? That said, I think the Avs are going to try hard to land a veteran, more of the Manny Legace variety, probably on the free-agent scrapheap market. Still, you never know. Maybe Mannino is the answer.
Given that the Avs have some promising defensemen yet no true goal scorers in their system, do you think they would take Matt Duchene over Victor Hedman with the No. 2 pick?
— Collin, Minnesota
Collin – The Avs can only pick first, third or fourth in the first round. The NHL’s complex algorithm forbids the Avs from getting the second pick. But, yes, I think you’re right: The Avs need to think offense first in this draft, not defense.
Yeah, I know there’s some age on defense now, but five of the Avs’ current top six are signed for next year, and
there is some good talent already in the pipeline (hello, Kevin Shattenkirk). The Avs need better forwards in their system, and they’re going to get a great crack at one on June 26.
A.D. – It seems, at least anecdotally, that over the past two seasons an uncanny number of former Avalanche players have scored against the Avalanche? Any stats support this theory?
— David, Aurora
David – Sorry, not enough time this week to empirically research the numbers. But you’re right, it does seem like an ex-Avs player is always scoring against them.
For instance, very often I’ll highlight an ex-Avs player in The Post’s “advance box” in the print paper, in the “Spotlight On …” feature. It seems like every time I do that, the guy scores a goal that night — or any player I highlight in the box.
Dan Hinote did not score against the Avs on Sunday, and he was the Spotlight guy. But, he’s scored, what, four or five goals for the Blues since signing in St. Louis? I know at least two have been against the Avs, and I think the correct number might be three. (Sorry, it’s late and I’m too lazy to research the exact number.) But I know he’s scored at least a couple against his old team.
Teemu Selanne probably has scored 59 goals against the Avs since leaving in 2004. Paul Kariya has scored a few as well. Who can forget Peter Forsberg scoring two goals against the Avs in his first game against his former team, for Philadelphia? Chris Drury, I remember, scored a few goals against the Avs after being traded. Remember when Mike Ricci scored a bunch of goals against the Avs in the 1999 playoffs for San Jose? Or how about the slap shot goal by Jeff Finger this year, for Toronto at the Pepsi Center?
I guess hell hath no fury like an Avs player scorned.
What are your thoughts on the play of Cody McLeod? I don’t get to see many games, so I basically need to watch highlights and read articles.
— Dave, Ontario
Dave – Overall, I’d say No. 55 had the best year of anybody on the bottom two lines — and probably better than a player or two on the first two lines (hello, Marek Svatos).
McLeod scored 15 goals, and obviously was one of the team’s better physical players. Yeah, a few of the goals were kind of lucky/bad goals and yeah, he’s never going to overwhelm you with his artistry with the puck. But McLeod is a legitimately solid NHL player now, the kind any team could find room for. He shields the puck well from defensemen when lugging it down the wall, and goes to the net with as much or more persistence than anybody on the team, save maybe for Ryan Smyth.
McLeod still needs to watch the careless penalty or two. He tends to reach a little too much with the stick defensively, too, drawing semi-regular hooking calls. But he’s a guy I think the Avs have to be happy with right now, one of the few guys on the team who can say he overachieved this season.
A.D. – With recent news of the CBA being tucked away for the next two years, I still can’t help but fear for the possibility of another lockout. Do you think hockey is safe from another blackout year? Or are we always going to be looking over our shoulder every couple of seasons?
— N., Denver
N. – No, not a chance. There will not be a labor stoppage of any kind in the NHL for years and years to come, if ever. Everybody got a good taste of the awful medicine that was the 2004-05 canceled season, and nobody wants to go through it again. Greed won’t go away, but canceled hockey seasons will have gone away for a long time anyway.
Interestingly, don’t be surprised if there is no NBA season in two years, when their CBA is up. The roundballer bean counters and other sports leagues actually may use Gary Bettman and the NHL as an example of how they can gain major concessions from player unions, and the NBA is headed for some kind of reckoning with regard to salaries, in this economy especially.
Basically, the NBA isn’t any better off than the NHL, save for a better TV contract. Yeah, I know that’s a big difference, but really, attendance to NBA games isn’t any better than hockey (yes, I know they play in the same arenas usually). And, really, their TV ratings aren’t much to shout about anymore. NBA and NHL regular-season TV ratings aren’t worlds apart at all. The NBA could easily go through an NHL-style contraction, at least as far as salaries and TV rights fees go — very soon.
Hey, Adrian. I listened to you on “NHL Home Ice” yesterday and was very enlightened by the information those guys were able to pry out of you. I think that’s the kind of stuff Avs fans want to hear more from you. Why don’t you write more about those topics discussed on XM?
— Ed Clark, Salida
Ed – Hmm. Well, I don’t know. I mean, I’m not sure I really remember what it is that I said on that XM show.
(A couple minutes go by.)
Oh yeah, now some of it is coming back to me. I said I think Joe Sakic will retire as part of my three or four minutes on the show. But, I think I’ve said that a few times this year, the latest being the other night on my All Things Avs offering.
Radio shows are a bit different than your typical newspaper offering, though. By nature, it’s conversational and, with sports anyway, a little more speculative and water-cooler-ish. A newspaper column is supposed to be a little more authoritative (we like to tell ourselves this anyway), but the advent of blogs and live chats and the like has made it a little more talk-radio-ish. I’m not sure I love all these changes, but what I do like is that they have made us “authoritative” newspaper people more accessible to the masses.
Anyway, believe me, I save my A-material for The Denver Post, not any XM radio show. So, maybe they caught me on a good day, but I think you’re giving a little too much credit to anything that was said on that show.
Adrian Dater has covered the Colorado Avalanche since the team moved to Denver in 1995. , or .
