I’m a fan of Terry Frei. I consider him to be the best of a pretty good group of professional writers covering the Avalanche. But his article today on the goalie situation in Denver had me shaking my head in disbelief.
In short, Frei is in favor of returning to the alternating goalie system. In Frei’s opinion, “neither — not Budaj, and certainly not Theodore — has proven worthy of being considered the guy” and that ” it’s clear now that the Avs have a pair of backup goalies — at best.” He’s got the Theodore part right, but he’s off on Budaj. Way off.
Seriously, what does Peter Budaj have to do to get some respect? He certainly doesn’t have it from Joel Quenneville, but we already know our coach is a complete loon. But Frei? I’m speechless. Look, I don’t think that Budaj is the second coming of Saint Patrick, but come on people. When he’s gotten a chance to be the #1, he’s performed admirably - at times, even carrying the team. In the last two seasons, playing in front of a defense that often has resembled the Keystone Kops, his record over 83 games is 45-24-8. I’ll take 98 points from a backup goalie, Terry.
And, unlike Theodore, Budaj actually is better when he’s getting a string of starts. His best month of last season was in March when he started 13 of 14 games. Over that stretch, he posted a 2.24 GAA and a .910 save percentage. And, oh yeah, he was 11-0-2 as he led the team back into playoff contention. This year, Quenneville threw Budaj back into the blender and, to no one’s surprise, it affected Budaj’s game. Budaj struggled early, but a large part of that can be attributed to the fact that he started 4 consecutive games for the first time on December 19th.
Once Budaj got some consecutive starts, he started to roll. From December 13th to January 2nd, he started 9 of 10 games, and posted a 5-2-2 record. His GAA was 2.08 over the stretch and his save percentage was .924. There are a lot of teams who could use a number 1 goalie capable of posting those kinds of numbers. But, the team lost a couple of games which surely is the fault of Budaj and not the team’s inept powerplay. So, he’s back to the bench. In Quenneville’s world, a goalie must win every single game. If he doesn’t, he rides the pine. I can only imagine how much fun it would have been to see him bench Roy after a 3-2 loss. “Okay, Billington, you’re up. I want you to take this opportunity and go with it.”
Look, I’ve posted stat after stat that supports Peter Budaj as being a very capable starting goalie (while also proving that Jose Theodore is not). Even with the clusterfuck of a rotation Quenneville has used this year, Budaj has the better numbers. Are there better NHL goalies than Peter Budaj? Sure. Is there one in our organization? Not even close. There is absolutely no excuse to use Theodore for any reason other than to give Budaj the occasional game off. The fact that people are actually supporting Quenneville’s misuse of Budaj makes me think that I’ve woken up in crazytown.
The next thing you know, we’re going to start seeing defensemen play at forward and forwards playing the point on the powerplay.
Oh crap.
I read that this morning and was thinking the same thing.
I don’t know how much more of this crap I can take.
Boots is the better goalie in every facet except maybe shootouts. His teammates think so (just watch the way the D plays in front of him most nights vs when Theo is in net), the numbers says so, most RESPECTABLE hockey pundits think so, damn near everybody in our little circle-jerk thinks so…
But not Q. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, never Q. HIstory has said rotations don’t work. Avalanche history (ie last season) has said it won’t work. Why are we still trying this?
You know, I may be the last person still on the “Don’t fire Q” bandwagon. But this goalie carousel has me on the fence even now.
I still feel too many team fire coaches just as the “something’s not going perfectly and we don’t know what to do, do soemthing anything…fire someone”. At the same time, Q’s as guilty of that mentality as anyone.
“Something’s not working quite perfectly, do something. Switch lines demote someone, move a forward to D, Granato you’re on the ice, Theo, in net. Wait no Buds, no Theo, gaaahhh. Do something” I prefer a steadier approach and Q is testing my patience.
Ahh Fuck it, I just talked myself into it: Fire Q
Well, to be fair to Frei, Budaj has played awful recently. His rebound control was non-existent agaisnt Detroit and he essentially lost us that game, and he didn’t do himself any favors in the Phx games either.
He’s still shown himself to be a solid guy in net, a good backup at the very least and at best a decent starter. Grouping him with Theodore is an insult.
But as to what Q is doing, it took 3 sub-par games to put Budaj back on the bench. An improvement over 1 bad game, I guess. I still also think Q is under enormous pressure from the front office to give Theodore that last chance that might vindicate PL’s move.
I still am all for a goaltender shakeup. Budaj, while solid, is not the game changer the Avs need. The next Patrick Roy is not going to be available on the trade market anytime soon either, so I think the Avs have to accept they’ll need to grow up a prospect.
Al Montoya’s unique situation in NY, stuck behind super-goalie Henrik Lundqvist with a team hard up against the cap and unable to bring him up, could allow the Avs to skip some of the development process for the minimal cost of a rental player or 2, perhaps Liles (who will walk after this year if he’s not traded imo).
“Well, to be fair to Frei, Budaj has played awful recently. His rebound control was non-existent agaisnt Detroit and he essentially lost us that game, and he didn’t do himself any favors in the Phx games either.”
I’m not going to say he was at his best in those 3 games, but I think it’s a long, long way from being awful as well.
he had us in every one of those games, all essentially 1-goal losses.
Great stats DD. Frei is much smarter than this, I have no idea what Budaj has done to gain this treatment. I about drove off the road this morning when a caller called the coaches show to compliment the coach on staying patient with Theo and how he looks like he’s gaining his confidence back! WTF!? In one fell swoop, Frei has brainwashed a bunch of Denver Post readers.
To me Budaj is very much like Chris Osgood. Osgood was never the best goalie in the NHL when he played for Detroit in his younger days. He even let in some highlight reel blue line shots. However, Bowman stayed with his goalie because he needed that and Bowman understood that championships can’t be built by alternating Legacy with Osgood. Osgood had his flaws but Detroit as a team was able to not only do well but excel in front of him. If Q was coaching the 1997 Detroit Red Wings would be he rotating goalies? Yes he would.
The Osgood comparison is top notch. And I think you’ve stumbled on the solution - bring in Bowman to coach!
It would be worth for Red Wings fans reaction alone…
And the multiple cups we’d win
I still am all for a goaltender shakeup. Budaj, while solid, is not the game changer the Avs need. The next Patrick Roy is not going to be available on the trade market anytime soon either, so I think the Avs have to accept they’ll need to grow up a prospect.
The Avs already have a prospect to grow up. His name is Peter Budaj! The guy’s still only 25 and he’s only been in the league two full seasons. He’s still a youngster!
I may be the only one who sees it, but Budaj could be a superb start-every-game goalie sensation in a couple of seasons if he’s JUST GIVEN ENOUGH PLAYING TIME to really develop his numerous skills. He’s a solid goalie and is great when playing consecutive games.
And let’s not give him a hard time for losing against the Detroit Red Wings. Everybody loses to the Red Wings.
Bowman in Denver and Forsberg in Detroit. That would revive a little something, eh?
And let’s not give him a hard time for losing against the Detroit Red Wings. Everybody loses to the Red Wings.
Sure, but not everyone has Karlis Skrastins chasing forwards all the way up to the blue line. The Avs are special that way.
Bowman in Denver and Forsberg in Detroit. That would revive a little something, eh?
heh - it certainly wouldn’t hurt, that’s for sure.
Sure, but not everyone has Karlis Skrastins chasing forwards all the way up to the blue line. The Avs are special that way.
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