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Thursday, October 7, 1999
An Avalanche of change hits in Colorado
Do not look for this year's chicks in last year's nests.
It's a particularly useful suggestion when watching the Colorado Avalanche, the team that the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated 2-1 last night.
When last seen, the Avalanche was doing battle with the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final, a series Colorado eventually lost in seven games.
But this season, Colorado is a team in transition, trying to make that rare move from age to youth without a collapse in between.
On the Avalanche's only power play last night, the forwards were not Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Theoren Fleury. They were Alex Tanguay, Milan Hejduk and Chris Drury.
There's no doubt that these three are fine young players. Drury won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie last season, and Hejduk was the leading goal scorer among rookies. Still, it's something of a shock to see them out there in that situation.
There are some extenuating circumstances.
Forsberg is recuperating from shoulder surgery and Sakic was playing the point, something he often does, depending on the mood of coach Bob Hartley and the recent productivity of the power play.
Fleury is gone, now with the New York Rangers after suffering an attack of Crohn's disease during the playoffs. At the time, the Avs passed it off as an attack of flu but they knew differently.
Even though Fleury has the disease under control, his absence at such a crucial time had to play a role in the Avs' decision to let him go as a free agent.
The Rangers also used their unlimited budget to pick off a pair of other regulars from the Avalanche -- defenceman Sylvain Lefebvre and forward Valeri Kamensky.
Add to that the fact that Warren Rychel was let go; Adam Deadmarsh has a hip pointer; Craig Billington was shipped off to the Washington Capitals; and Shjon Podein is recovering from knee surgery, and it's not surprising that the Avalanche lacked a familiar look last night.
In their Toronto appearance last year, the Avs provided one of the better spectacles of the season. But last night, perhaps because they didn't get into town until the wee hours of the morning, they played a much more controlled game.
But a bigger factor had to be the changing faces. It's not easy to introduce youth to a team while it's still among the elite.
The established stars demand a lot of ice time and as a result, the youngsters find it hard to develop.
Also, fans become attached to the stars and let management know they don't want to see them go.
But judging by Colorado's performance against the Leafs last night, this transition has a good chance to be successful.
The youngsters showed flashes of brilliance but the established stars are still as dominant as ever and providing the right example -- in their play if not in their behaviour.
Patrick Roy held the fort in the nets, but he risked a misconduct when he went chasing after referee Bill McCreary following the Leafs' first goal. And defenceman Adam Foote, who seemed to rarely leave the ice, was outstanding -- until he got tossed for yapping at McCreary with only 10:15 left in the third period.
And when the Avs needed a goal to get back into the game, it was veteran Joe Sakic who snapped a beautiful shot over Curtis Joseph's shoulder from the faceoff circle.
There aren't many players in the league who can make a shot like that.
The puck landed on Sakic's stick and then it was gone. No windup. No quick look. Just a snapped wrist shot that blazed into the upper corner.
Now if only the Avs can control their tempers, they may be able to make this rebuilding movement a success.
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