Avs train up

So apparently, the Avs have already started training camp - which means it’s time to get ready for hockey, again. And I’m totally ready. I’m so ready that I’m going to march down to DU and by my Burgundy and White tickets right now. So ready that I’ve already predicted the outcome of this season for the Avs: it’s going to suck.

I hate to be a pessimist, I really do. I like making stupid predictions about the Rockies and Broncos. But when you look at this team from last year to this year, there’s absolutely nothing exciting about the coming season.

We’ve traded away our top scorer for Jordan Leopold, who is in turn expected to replace Rob Blake. The result is that we’re minus one top scorer, minus Rob Blake, and plus someone who’s maybe half of what Rob Blake was. We’ve made no big pickups in the off season, unlike seemingly every other team in the galaxy, including most of the teams in our division, especially last years’ winners, the Flames, and the Stanley Cup runners up, the Oilers (Lupul is a great pickup).

If the off-season tells us anything, it’s that Stan Kroenke has finally arrived in Denver. Like the Nuggets, Stan has installed a penny-pincher at every corner in the Avs’ front office. Pierre Lacroix, who when given the money was one of the best GMs in hockey, has stepped down and now his replacement either no longer has the money to spend, or isn’t willing to spend money, and is constantly looking for bargains to replace superstars (read, Tyler Arnason, Jordan Leopold). The Kroenke Sports regime is content to have mediocre teams good enough to barely make the playoffs, but not good enough to go anywhere. One Team, One Goal has disappeared, and unlike Pat Bowlen and the Broncos, who say the Super Bowl is always on their mind, the Avs are no longer looking for the cup every year.

If we’ve learned anything from the new NHL, it’s the speed, size and youth mean everything. The Avs have done some of that in the youth and speed department, but they’ve heavily downgraded in size, across the board. There are only a few bright points to look forward to. One of them is a healthy Marek Svatos (who we signed on a minimum contract), who was among the Western Conference leaders with 30 goals before being injured in the middle of the season. Another is Paul Stastny, University of Denver standout and Avs’ first-round draft pick who’s made waves in training camp and may make the team as a true Rookie. We’ll also get to see what Wojtek Woslki, who was less than impressive in the playoffs, can do in a full season. (I think Cody McCormick, Brad Richardson and Brett McLean also deserve a nod in this area). And of course, I think we’re all looking forward to the return of quite possibly the most important off-season signing, Ian Laperriere, his antics, and his orchestra.

But there are too many question marks that balance out the positives - something that we haven’t had to say too much in this organization’s history. How Jose Theodore will play given a full season as the starter is one of the biggest questions - not to mention how much of an effect his salary has already had on the team’s apparently limited budget. But the other literally huge gap is perhaps more important: the blue line. If anyone thinks that Ken Klee and Jordan Leopold can pickup the slack left by Rob Blake’s return to Los Angeles, let me know, because I’m not very excited. Leopold eats a lot of time, but neither of the two replacements show the scoring talent that Blake posessed, which was one of the biggest components of the team’s success last year. Match that with the loss of Alex Tanguay, and you have a real problem. The team’s leading scorer last year is being “replaced” (if you can call it that) by Tyler Arnason, a five-year pro who’s never scored more than 55 points in his career. Tyler is fairly quick on the ice, he’s young, and could still potentially develop into a scorer on a good team with some support…but he’s not going to come close to matching Tanguay’s production.

So when you look it all up and down, I can’t honestly say that the team has improved at all from last season. Our saving grace may be Jose Theodore, who can make up a lot of slack if he can return to his old form - but if he’s not perfect, it’s going to be a long season and a long few years to come.