Okay, let’s see if I have this 100% correct.
The Avalanche last year rolled out one of their grittiest teams since, well, ever. Guys like Ben Guite, Ian Laperriere, Cody McLeod and Cody McCormick had opposing teams reaching for the Bengay after games. All four of those guys are coming back. Had the Avalanche stopped there, I would have been more than satsified with our level of toughness.
A week ago, the Avs announced they’d be bringing back Scott Parker. You know, just in case there’s a freak injury to all four of the players in the previous paragraph. Okay, can’t have too much insurance. Good job.
Today, the Avalanche finally admited to signing Per Ledin from Sweden. Ledin is made of gold and, get this, is known to be gritty. And then, the coup de grace (which is French for “things that piss me off”): the signing of Darcy Tucker.
Wha…?
Taking Parker out of the equation (please), do we really have a need for 6 guys in this mold? I’m all for toughness and intimidation (okay, agitation), but isn’t this going a little overboard? You still need to score goals, right? I guess I could something like Guite, Lappy and Tucker as a very intriguing 3rd line, with Ledin and the Codys on the 4th line. But my fear is that we’re going to see trippy shit like McLeod on the 2nd line with Arnason or Tucker and Lappy riding shotgun with Wolski.
Finding a balance between grit and skill is not always easy. I know it’s still early, but it seems like that scale is tipped too much in the wrong direction right now. And the oddest part is, it seems like Giguere is signing Quenneville-type players. Did he not get his own memo?
this tells me that the Codys aren’t on the Avs roster to start the year.
to which I’d have to say…why???
Well why pay less for more when you can pay more for less right? Avs accounting.
I’m not sure I would term Tucker and Ledin as less. We know nothing about Ledin, but Tucker is a fan favorite grinder with a scoring touch. You certainly would have a hard time saying that about either of the Codys.
We’ll see how it pans out. I’ve no idea what the lineup will look like opening day at this point. Hensick and Jones’ status is up in the air as well, especially if Sakic returns.
I, for one. love it! It wasn’t until the end of last season and the series with minnesota that the Avs started pushing back in a big, strong, rough and tumble division. Tucker, unlike McCleod can score a few and will help Lappy forecheck teams into submission, while Footer and Salei can crunch ‘em in our end. We have scoring already!!! Hejduk, Stastny, Wolski, Svatos, Smyth,and (let’s hope) Sakic score plenty, and Arnason can pot a few as well. The team needs to look and play meaner. And as for Quennville type players? Granato is the up-tempo crash and bang in your face type. He was as a player, has been so as a coach and I expect will be so again.
DAK, I think you’re missing the point on the Q-type comment. Tucker, Guite, Pick-a-Cody, Lappy, and Ledin are the grinding, two-way (primarily defensive way) players that Q showed favoritism to for three seasons. Giguire stated he wanted more flow, more offense, more skill, but so far all of his signings fit the mold of the players that Q seemed to prefer.
I think you need to amend your statement about Arny too. He can pot a few - against the Oilers.
Also, I think we’ll see the developement of one of the two following scenarios:
1) Jones, Hensick, and Stewart stay in the A so that the Avs can field two lines of bangers, or
2) the Pick-a-Cody’s stay in the A and a couple of the above three get a shot at getting time on a 3rd-ish line and the Avs field some kind of Lappy/Guite/Tucker/Ledin 4th line.
ROFL @ your “trippy shit” Oh wow, if that were to happen, it would suck immensely. I just hope Granato doesn’t shuffle the lines like Q did. A little consistency would be nice. And yeah, if some of those guys (perhaps excluding Tucker, who did have 61 points in a season a couple years ago) turn out to be our 2nd-liners, I have to say that it does not raise hope within me about the season. Not one bit.