CALGARY, Alberta
— The numbers going into Monday’s Avalanche game with the Calgary Flames were perfectly respectable: nine goals and 41 points in 46 games, with a plus-6, all for a team considered a pleasant surprise in the NHL.
But respectable wasn’t quite what the Avs had in mind when they signed Paul Stastny to a five-year, $33 million contract extension last season. Instead of being The Man for the Avs, too often Stastny has looked like just another guy out there.
And, next month, the United States men’s Olympic team will join the Avalanche in expecting great things from the young center. Does Stastny realize just how much pressure he’ll be under?
If he feels it, it never seems to show. Stastny’s equilibrium always seems right down the middle. “Gaudy” is not a word much associated with him, and that goes for his play too. It seems Stastny always is looking to make someone else the star, preferring the assist to the goal scored.
But maybe it’s time for Stastny to get a bit more selfish. His coach, Joe Sacco, always is harping on him to shoot the puck more, and so have Avs fans. Cries of “Shoooot!” fill the air more often than not when Stastny has the puck, especially on the power play.
Some look at Stastny and wonder if he’s a guy who doesn’t care that much — especially after getting the big dollars last year. Some wonder if he lacks the drive of his Hall of Fame father, Peter, who escaped a harsh communist upbringing and knew he had to produce to stay in North America as a hockey player.
But Paul Stastny is, in fact, quietly very hard on himself. His father never pushed the game on him, but once Paul decided to play, the expectations that come with being a player named Stastny are fully understood.
And yet, the Avs — and now Team USA — are looking at the numbers and quietly hoping they didn’t get it wrong with the 24-year-old.
There’s a good chance Stastny will be the Americans’ first-line center, but the numbers are going to have to improve over the no goals and three points of the previous seven games entering Monday if the U.S. will have any chance at gold in Vancouver.
Those will have to improve if the Avs will have any chance of playing beyond April too. After all, that’s why Stastny gets the big bucks.
