CENTENNIAL, Colo.—Don’t bother to ask Craig Anderson about his restful offseason. There wasn’t one.
No relaxing ocean cruises. No backwoods junkets taken to rejuvenate from the most active season for the Colorado Avalanche goaltender.
“No time for a break,” said Anderson, who preferred being in a weight room to sitting on a recliner. “The game is mostly mental and you do as much as you can physically in the offseason to stay in shape.”
The 29-year-old figured to earn at least a weekend or two off based on last year’s workload. He played a career-high 71 games and 4,235 minutes, both franchise highs, after never logging more than 31 games and 1,636 minutes in a single year.
“You don’t get to this level wanting to sit on the bench,” Anderson said.
There were stretches when it didn’t seem that coach Joe Sacco would ever get him out of the net. Anderson made 15 starts to open the season and went 23 starts from Jan. 9-March 14 without a break and won six consecutive starts during part of that stretch.
It took a neck injury suffered in a Dec. 2 game at Florida to get him out of the lineup for four games.
“Craig had a solid season for us last year,” Sacco said. “He gave us a chance to win just about every time he stepped on the ice.”
Statistics verified his value to the team. During the 2009-2010 campaign, Anderson led all goaltenders with shots faced (2,233) and saves (2,047).
He had to make 48 saves in games on Oct. 24 against Detroit and on March 14 at Dallas.
“Andy was unbelievable when things broke down,” defenseman Scott Hannan said. “He made the big stops for us.”
Sacco agreed.
“Craig had a solid season for us last year,” Sacco said. “He gave us a chance to win just about every time he stepped on the ice.”
The numbers verified Sacco’s assessment.
Anderson finished last year 38-25-7 with a 91.7 save percentage and 2.64 goals-against average. The win total was two short of the franchise record set by Patrick Roy in 2000-01.
Anderson’s seven shutouts were two less than Roy had in 2001-02.
“I learned a lot from last year,” Anderson said. “I found a way to get it done. Nothing has changed for this year.”
Certainly not his desire to get into as many games as last year.
“If they need me to play 71, I will play 71,” Anderson said. “If they need me to play less or more, I will do whatever the coach tells me to do.”
