If they ever field a full squad, the Avalanche may just be world
beaters.
Unfortunately, that's looking impossible. Theo Fleury, Patrick Roy
and Peter Forsberg return -- half the team goes down with bad
backs.
Add the loss of Valeri Kamensky for the year, a sudden inability to
play defense, and things are rough in ol' Denver.
Even when winning, the Avs looked sloppy. Against Washington, the
Caps clearly outplayed the Avalanche, and only a strong game by
Craig Billington (in place of Roy) kept it close, and only a fluky
goal by Sandis Ozolinsh (went in off Calle Johansson's stick) won
it.
Then came Philly, and as everyone's done lately, the Avalanche beat
up on the poor Flyers. Chris Drury solidified his rookie of the
year bid with two goals, Peter Forsberg got three assists in his
return from an elbow injury, and Adam Deadmarsh pounded the
stuffing out of some big galoot on the Flyers. C'mon, who Doesn't
like to see the boys in orange stomped?
And then ... Detroit.
While they haven't had the fight-fests of years past -- despite the
fact that the Avalanche are among the lead leaders in majors -- the
games are still intense, passionate, and a blast to watch.
Well, except when the Avalanche lose. Then it sucks.
But, frankly, the Wings outplayed the Avalanche. They played
smarter, Norm Maracle outplayed Roy in goal, and they earned the
win.
The game delivered some bad news for the Avs. Valeri Kamensky, a
consistent playoff performer in years past (and yours truly's
favorite player) had his hand broken by Kirk Maltby. Maltby -- best
known for his work with Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Satan -- delivered a
two-handed slash to Kamensky's hand, sending him out for two
months. Maltby had already done the bidding of the Dark Lord with
an elbow to Forsberg's head early on, which sent Foppa into a blind
rage and turned him into a Maltby-seeking missile for the rest of
the game. Which would be fine, except Pete forgot to play hockey as
well.
Maltby got a four-game suspension, but suspensions don't matter to
minions of Satan, now do they? Kamensky -- who becomes an
unrestricted free agent at year's end -- has likely played his last
game in an Avalanche uniform. Dammit.
Now Fleury-less and Kamensky-less, the Avs played a fiery game four
days later against their traditional rivals ... Carolina? Yeah, I
don't understand it either, but the two teams played like they
hated each other. The top line -- Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Milan
Hejduk -- played a flawless game as the Avs eked out a 3-2 win.
Then came the game everyone will remember. Not because Fleury
returned (though he scored a goal). Not because of the
back-and-forth, up-and-down tempo. Not because the Avalanche
appeared to be playing sans defensemen.
No, it will be remembered ... because Joe Sakic fought.
Early on, after the Blackhawks jumped to a 2-0 lead, Sakic scored a
goal to tighten it. Gilmour and Dave Manson took some whacks at
Theo Fluery in front of the goal, and everyone leapt in.
It appeared to be breaking up, then Sakic and Gilmour skated over to
the boards, yapping at each other. (Gilmour backing away, FYI.)
Suddenly -- seconds after my Dad said, "does Sakic ever fight?" --
the gloves flew off, and Sakic pummeled the turtling Gilmour. First
fight in nine years, and he looked good doing it -- Bob Probert was
hiding behind a linesman, Doug Zmolek ran to the locker room, Reid
Simpson started to cry.
Then, once in the penalty box, Sakic tried to go over the glass to
get at Gilmour. Oh, no, he didn't really, but wouldn't that have
been cool?
The rest of the game was no less exciting, both for fans of the
pugilistic arts and fans of exciting games. Umpteen fights and
umpteen goals. Everytime the Avalanche tied it, the Hawks would
score again. Finally, the just-returned Fleury scored early in the
third and both teams went back to Chicago with a tie.
And, again, there were lots of lead changes and lots of fights.
(Though Sakic concentrated on goals this game.) Sadly, there wasn't
much defense again, and Chicago rallied to win it.
Fun Rumor of the Week
Theo Fleury's knee -- sprain or torn ligament? Fleury says sprain --
duh, he's playing again, after all, and has two goals in his two
games back -- but a persistent rumor has it that it's more serious.
Hooray.
New Guys
What with all the injuries, the Avalanche brought two Bears up from
Hershey, Christian Matte (making is 16,325th trip between Hershey
and Denver) and Chris Dingman (the "other guy" in the Fleury
trade). Matte, normally a wing, looked sharp centering the fourth
line; Dingman made an immediate impression, fighting Bob Probert
three seconds in to his first game with Colorado.
Sayonara?
As noted before, we may have seen the end of Kamensky's tenure with
the Avalanche, thanks to Kirk "Jerkface" Maltby. The injury ruins
any Avalanche plans to trade Val for a defenseman by Tuesday; it
hurts Kamensky's always-good playoff run, and therefore his earning
power as a free agent this summer; and it almost definitely renders
my Kamensky jersey "old school." So no one's happy.
Except Maltby. Dammit.
