Mile High Mayhem

Relax Avs Fans

What I am about to say will score me cheap political points in a few places. However, I think this needs to be said. Avalanche fans, welcome to what we in the business like to call a REBUILDING phase. Yes, this team needs to be torn down.

Here comes the rub. Avalanche fans, you have clamoring for two seasons now about how the Avs need to rebuild and start over. You get your wish, and BAM, now you complain about how it’s being done. The Colorado Avalanche are like the San Fransisco 49′ers. Before the cap, one of the most dominant teams in the NHL, after the cap, struggling to find an identity, and now having to completely rebuild.

Last night’s trade of Ryan Smith has become a boiling point for me, but it reminds me of another unpopular trade this franchise made under it’s former self, the Quebec Nordiques. Mats Sundin was a very popular center, and thought to be one of the main pieces of the Nords’ rebuild process of the early 90s, along with Adam Foote, Joe Sakic, and Owen Nolan (Forsberg would win the Calder in 1994). Sundin was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Wendel Clark (which set off small-scale riots in Toronto) and Sylvain Lefebrve (one of the parts of the 1996 cup winning team).

Yet, I digress. This have been actually worse for the Nordalanche. Take the late 80s, back when it was very much harder to build a franchise. After a pretty dominate start to the decade (including two trips to the Wales Conference finals) The 1987 season brought in the start of the lean years.

Stasny and Goulet started to have injury problems, and the free fall began. It took a few years for the Nords to come back to respectability, but you can’t argue with the results on the last time this team had to rebuild. So, Avs fans, be patient. This is only the third time in the team’s history we have had to rebuild (although, one was NHL-induced).

Things will get better, chicken little, the sky ISN’T falling. Give Sherman a chance, Gigure left us with a GIGANTIC mess.

Ryan Smith to the Kings

This one takes me by total and complete shock. However, I knew once the cap number came out, Smitty’s days in Denver were over. There was talk he was going to Ottawa for Heatley, to the Rangers for Drury, ect. however this one, just came out of the blue it seems.

LA Kings 5th Round pick

Heading to Colorado is Tom Preissing, Kyle Quincey, and a 5th round pick.

Tom Preissing

STRENGTHS: Makes smart decisions with the puck. Is capable of putting up good offensive numbers, especially if given regular ice time with the man advantage. A power play specialist.

WEAKNESSES: Is undersized, and will always face an uphill battle against NHL power forwards. Must still prove he can log big minutes in the big league.

Kyle Quincey

Both give the Avs a better opportunity on the power play.  However, Preissing’s age is a concern here. Yes, Smitty was 33, but the man is still in the fading years of his prime. At first look, it looks like something Bryan Burke dreamed up when it came to the Kaberle deal. However, look on the positive side of this…the Avs have manged to cut payroll, and add depth to the blueline. Now, something has to be up on the free agent side, because you don’t trade a top six forward like this, without something up your sleeve. Will it be Tanguay coming back? Also, Qunicey’s 23 years old, he has time to grow, he can be added on with Guance, Shattenkirk, and Yip to make one of the deepest, youngest defensemen in the NHL. This is not a total loss, Avs fans.

Now with that being said, couldn’t we have gotten a better return if we would have shipped him, to say an Eastern team? Now you have to play Smitty at least four times a year. Short term, the Kings will win this deal hands down, but I think in the long term, this may end up favoring the Avs…

The winner of this trade.

Why are the Avs the winners? Smith is now 33, his best years are behind him, especially for the type of player he is. The garbage men of the NHL take a ton of abuse on their bodies. I imagine Smith has to start feeling the effects of it sooner rather than later.

Kyle Quincey is 23 years old, and has put up a couple of impressive campaigns with the Kings. Tom Preissing is a quality depth guy, and could fit in well with a Joe Sacco system. Finally, the fifth round pick, I never complain about draft picks, ever.

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DING DONG ARNIE’S GONE!!!

Well, I might as add to the dogpile. Tyler Arnason signed with the Charlotte Checkers New York Rangers today. It’s a two way contract, however, I think that two way is between Charlotte and Hartford. Seriously, what were the Rangers thinking? Did they not ask the Hawks, Senators, and Avalanche about Arnie’s “I’m just here for the paycheck” mentality. He really is a drooling idiot, who’s afraid to get hit. I know the signing happened a few hours ago, but quite frankly, I just now stopped laughing long enough to catch my breath.

Hey Slats, we have Darcy Tucker on the trading block? Interested? Maybe, Scott Hannan? Oh, and Arnie, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, oh, wait I’m sorry you’re even too scared for that.

Don’t Be Quick To Read Into Sakic’s Team Canada Invite

Joe Sakic, as expected, was invited to the Team Canada camp in Calgary. So, immediately, Avs bloggers, with pretty much the exception of Avs’ beat writer Adrian Dater, are all over the fact this means Sakic is coming back.

Remember, some teams have non-NHL players on the roster. Granted Russia will have quite a few KHL players, and Sweden has some SEL players, but you don’t have to play in the NHL to be on the Olympic Roster. The truth of the matter is, NO ONE knows what Sakic is going to do. I could imagine that his hand is still not 100%, remember he did suffer a major trauma to that area.

If Sakic was to come back to the NHL, the Avalanche know they cannot afford to sign him for six million for a season. Quite frankly, I think Sakic thought that was a bit overzealous as well. He’s made his money, I’m sure one year at a million will be more than enough for Super Joe to sign on the dotted line.

I would like to see Sakic come back, if not for anything else, but to see him mentor Matt Duchene. Duchene said he idolizes Sakic, and a year in Super Joe’s basement would do him wonders. Sakic knows this too, because I imagine a coaching job is in the future for Joe. He is a rare superstar that can play the game at a high level, would have success as a head coach somewhere, with time.

So, don’t read into Sakic being on the roster as he’s back. Only when Sakic himself says he’s back will I believe it.

Did the Avs Show Major Restraint Yesterday?

The word on the street is, the Avs may have had some preliminary talks with the Chicago Blackhawks about Cristobal Huet. Noting the signing of Hossa to his mega-contract, I’m sure the Hawks would have loved to dump Huet’s salary in a heartbeat.However, the talk is that it never really got off the ground, especially with the Avs trying to dump salary, and find suitors for both, the pylon, Scott Hannan and Ryan Smith.

It look as though the Avs did show some massive constraint yesterday, going with the 28 year old Anderson over proven, older goaltenders. Looking at the size of some of the deals Roloson and Khabibulin, it looks as the current Avs regime actually gets what a rebuilding process is all about. Not signing players to borderline insane contracts. Sure, we may have overpaid a little for Anderson, but it’s not on the Hannan/Smyth/Tucker scale.

A Little Anderson/Koci Combo

Here are some YouTube videos from the two newest Avs

Koci vs Chara Oct 25, 2007 (Koci get his ass kicked)

David Koci Vs Wade Belak Oct 20th 2007

Craig Anderson, 3_06_08 Intro

Craig Anderson great save against Mark Streit

\”Oops\” - Craig Anderson throws stick - Todd White goal

Meet David Koci

This is the newest Av, David Koci. The most I can tell you is this guy is FREAKING HUGE.  Six foot Six, 238. He’s a VERY VERY VERY VERY poor man’s Lappy. He’s not afraid to drop the gloves, his play kind of reminds me of one of the Hanson Brothers.

Avs Sign Anderson.

This all but confirms that Jonas Gustavsson will not be coming to Denver. Craig Anderson, and yes I am looking on the positive side, had a great season in Flordia, backstopping them almost into the playoffs, when Tomas Volkon was injured. Other players say that he is a solid leader, and has solid fundamentals, somthing Budaj seems to be lacking lately.

Anderson signs for 2 years and 3.6 million. Not a horrible pickup, but I think we overpaied quite a bit here for a guy who has yet to prove he can be a starter for an entire season. Will the Avs get another goalie today? As it stands right now, no. I’m not too sure if 1.8 million per year is what you want for a guy who is not known as a starter in the NHL. I do not understand what Sherman was thinking here.

Grade: D-

Christmas Time in the NHL

It’s Christmas time in the NHL, and once again, the Avalanche tree looks crappy as hell. Already with sixteen players, most of whom have AWFUL contracts, the 2009-10 crap crop of Avalanche looks to be another last-place team, especially with the news that the Oilers are looking for a way to get circumvent having to pay the roster bonus to Ottawa, and to get Daniel “bad driver” Heatley to the Oil. It’s going to be another stacked division again this year. The Sedin sisters twins are expected to resign with the Canucks by the noon EST deadline, J-Bo has already resigned with the Flames, and who knows what the Wild will do.

That leaves the Avalanche, and things not looking so well (we’re screwed). Making matters worse is the way KSE is thinking about the current situations of their Denver properties. The Thug….errrr Nuggets cut their payroll last season, and they ended up in the Western Conference Finals. Guess what the directive for the Avalanche is? You win a new blender if you said “CUT PAYROLL”. Which, in and of itself, is not a bad idea. As much as Smitty is beloved in Denver, he was completely overpaid and now the Shermanator has to find a sucker potential buyer for his services. Meanwhile, don’t expect Darcy “Huh? There’s a game going on?” Tucker to be bought out. (the one thing the Leafs have done right in 10 years) Tyler “I’ve worn out my welcome everywhere by looking like I’m worth something, only to come back and show I’m a drooling idiot” Arnason, Ben “damn it, where did my talent go?” Guite, Brian Wilisie, “The Mac Attack” Cody McCormick, and Andrew “Dude! Where’s my skills” Raycroft will all not be coming back, thankfully.

Of course, that leave the gaping hole, Peter Budaj, in net. Who will the Avs get to fill it? The crack pipe dream is Jonas Gustavsson from Sweden, but we will not know for another couple of days where he signs. Then of course there is Nikolai Khabibulin, who is still a serviceable number one in the NHL, but in his mid-30s, I hope he’s saved his money. The more than likely scenario has former Flyers goalie Martin Biron signing with the Avs very shortly after the 12pm opening bell. So, once again, the Avs will try to make a starter out of two backups, and Joe Sacco will get to play hot potato with the starting goaltenders.

On the skating side, I’m not expecting much, if anything. I would think that the biggest name that may come is Alex “I have more important things to do in May” Tanguay. There has been that outside shot that he would return, but more than likely, he will, and I pray this happens, stay in Montreal.

One again, Avs fans, keep the expectations low. Remember, if we don’t do much this year, it’s not really the Sherminator’s fault. He has a lot of feces to dredge through, before this team becomes respectable again.

Lappy Says Goodbye

Time to riot, Avs fans. From the Denver Post:  This is the quote from Ian Laperriere.

“I had a great time in Denver for the past four years. Thank you, fans, for your support. “I’d like to thank the Lacroix family as well, as they are the reason I had a chance to live in and enjoy Denver. There is a good chance Denver is going to be our home when I’m done playing.”

This was a man who GAVE HIS HEART AND SOUL TO THE TEAM. We loved Lappy, the man was the second coming of Adam Deadmarsh. Not only that, but he was active in the community as well, which is VERY rare for players these days.

Now, why do I write this blog? Just wanted to let you see the reason why Lappy won’t be back this year. Captain pine himself.

Yep, Darcy Tucker. Captain drain on the cap. After tomorrow we lose two players with heart, as the Mac Attack, COdy McCormick wasn’t offered a qualifying sheet, yet, the Avalanche allow garbage like Darcy Tucker to stay on. It’s going to be a long season, folks.