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Colorado Avalanche Blogger •
I wrote this blog last year but wanted to re-run it, as I think of it every July 1.
After the dust settles during the first week of free agency period, we'll see a lot of players change teams. Some fans will be really happy about the players they got and promise the Cup while other fans will despair and kiss the playoffs good-bye. Regardless of what happens in free agency, my motto is, it looks good/bad on paper.
There are numerous teams in history that have put together All-Star teams and fallen on their faces. Look at the New York Rangers in the late 1990’s, before the cap was instated. So many famous faces lined the scorecard, but no cups. They continued to dwell in the mundane confines of mediocrity. Also, look at the 2003-2004 Colorado Avalanche. Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya joining such illustrious names as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake, yet no cup came to Denver that year, it went to the Lightning who, at the beginning of the year were picked by The Hockey News to finish sixth.
Some teams don't look great on paper, but achieve a lot. My favorite example is the Western Conference playoffs in 2006. The matchups were all a heavily favored team against a team. All were supposed to be relatively easy. Detroit Red Wings were supposed dominate the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars the Avs, etc. However all four lower-seeded teams upset the higher seeds. The Oilers continued to trudge through the playoffs. The ultimately lost to the Hurricanes but still went three rounds later than they were supposed to.
So, no matter whether a team signs Jesus to play with them or a team does absolutely nothing, the first week of July does not guarantee a cup. The names on the page don't matter.
Will the team be cohesive? Will everyone buy into the coaches' scheme? Will the infamous injury bug strike? All these questions help answer the question of "who will win the Stanley Cup?"
Wish list:
Even though the Avs have a lot of holes and very little cap room. Here are three people I would love to see the Avs sign.
1. Marty Biron/Dwayne Roloson: Before the Budaj signing, I thought they would provide a mentor to Tyler Weiman. That fact notwithstanding, I still would like a guy who's played under pressure, as a stop-gap. My preference would be to have Jonas Gustavsson sign. However, waiting for Gustavsson is a bad idea, if it leaves us with one backup goalie (Budaj) and two unprovens ('Cash and Weiman). Both of these veterans would be a good choice to cover the Avs' six.
2. Dan Hinote: He was a fan favorite here and played the same game as Laperriere. He is coming off a rough year in St. Louis and it would be nice for the fan base to regain a fan favorite after losing one in Lappy.
3. Mike Komisarek: Facts are facts- Adam Foote is in his last year. The Avs have a lot of defensive prospects but none fill the role that this guy does. He's not the strongest positionally, but he is physical and plays with fire. Foote's last year in the NHL should be grooming another defensive oriented defenseman.
4. Third line center- We need a top PK guy to win faceoffs in the defensive zone so that Paul Stastny won't have to block as many shots and face as many possible injuries. We haven't really had one since Stephane Yelle left.
I know we don't have the cap for all three, unless Gustavsson signs (I wouldn't bet on it) but two out of the three would be nice to improve this team. It's a long road to recovery and we'll have to be smart. Hence, I would not vastly overpay for any of these three (I concede to get them we'll have overpay a little bit) but it would be awful to go into the year not solving at least one of these holes: goalie, fourth line right wingers, physical defenseman or a third line center.
After the dust settles during the first week of free agency period, we'll see a lot of players change teams. Some fans will be really happy about the players they got and promise the Cup while other fans will despair and kiss the playoffs good-bye. Regardless of what happens in free agency, my motto is, it looks good/bad on paper.
There are numerous teams in history that have put together All-Star teams and fallen on their faces. Look at the New York Rangers in the late 1990’s, before the cap was instated. So many famous faces lined the scorecard, but no cups. They continued to dwell in the mundane confines of mediocrity. Also, look at the 2003-2004 Colorado Avalanche. Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya joining such illustrious names as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Adam Foote and Rob Blake, yet no cup came to Denver that year, it went to the Lightning who, at the beginning of the year were picked by The Hockey News to finish sixth.
Some teams don't look great on paper, but achieve a lot. My favorite example is the Western Conference playoffs in 2006. The matchups were all a heavily favored team against a team. All were supposed to be relatively easy. Detroit Red Wings were supposed dominate the Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars the Avs, etc. However all four lower-seeded teams upset the higher seeds. The Oilers continued to trudge through the playoffs. The ultimately lost to the Hurricanes but still went three rounds later than they were supposed to.
So, no matter whether a team signs Jesus to play with them or a team does absolutely nothing, the first week of July does not guarantee a cup. The names on the page don't matter.
Will the team be cohesive? Will everyone buy into the coaches' scheme? Will the infamous injury bug strike? All these questions help answer the question of "who will win the Stanley Cup?"
Wish list:
Even though the Avs have a lot of holes and very little cap room. Here are three people I would love to see the Avs sign.
1. Marty Biron/Dwayne Roloson: Before the Budaj signing, I thought they would provide a mentor to Tyler Weiman. That fact notwithstanding, I still would like a guy who's played under pressure, as a stop-gap. My preference would be to have Jonas Gustavsson sign. However, waiting for Gustavsson is a bad idea, if it leaves us with one backup goalie (Budaj) and two unprovens ('Cash and Weiman). Both of these veterans would be a good choice to cover the Avs' six.
2. Dan Hinote: He was a fan favorite here and played the same game as Laperriere. He is coming off a rough year in St. Louis and it would be nice for the fan base to regain a fan favorite after losing one in Lappy.
3. Mike Komisarek: Facts are facts- Adam Foote is in his last year. The Avs have a lot of defensive prospects but none fill the role that this guy does. He's not the strongest positionally, but he is physical and plays with fire. Foote's last year in the NHL should be grooming another defensive oriented defenseman.
4. Third line center- We need a top PK guy to win faceoffs in the defensive zone so that Paul Stastny won't have to block as many shots and face as many possible injuries. We haven't really had one since Stephane Yelle left.
I know we don't have the cap for all three, unless Gustavsson signs (I wouldn't bet on it) but two out of the three would be nice to improve this team. It's a long road to recovery and we'll have to be smart. Hence, I would not vastly overpay for any of these three (I concede to get them we'll have overpay a little bit) but it would be awful to go into the year not solving at least one of these holes: goalie, fourth line right wingers, physical defenseman or a third line center.
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