Joe Sakic will not be on the ice in Vancouver on Wednesday. Although his MRI was negative, he’s not yet ready to go and did not make the trip to his home province. The next chance for him to play will be on Saturday in Edmonton. (The Oilers, by the way, claimed Jesse Boulerice of Lake Erie off of waivers today).
Tony Granato said in the above article that Arnason would play on Wednesday. With McCormick returning from his leave of absence (our condolences to him on his loss), that leaves one more forward to be scratched. It won’t be TJ Hensick (or, it better not be). I’m guessing Marek Svatos or David Jones (I’d lean towards the former, as he watched most of the 3rd period from the bench on Saturday).
Before people go nuts with the anti-Arnason talk, I (as usual) think it’s worth giving him a chance. I want to see how he responds to the scratch. If he still plays like a wet noodle after his first healthy scratch as an Av, then the gloves can come off. Until then, I’m anxious to see if the wake up call got through. Here’s his reaction to the benching:
“In hockey, lots of things happen,” Arnason said. “It’s the nature of the game, I guess. What are you going to do, right? It was the coach’s decision. I wasn’t happy about it. It’s the way it goes sometimes and you have to move on.
“The team pulled out a win, so it was good. I didn’t play as good the first five (games), but lately I think I’ve played a little better.”
Asked if he felt Granato was sending him a message, Arnason said: “I’m not sure if that’s what they’re doing, but it’s been a long message. We’ll see.”
I have no idea what that last bit means. I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes on the ice.
Here is the long message part:
Yoooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuu Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
I agree on the wait and see with Arnason. I don’t hold out much hope, seeing as both Chicago and Ottawa tried healthy scratching him to no avail, but he still deserves the chance.
I am actually ok with him playing if Sakic’s out. I’ve said all along that Arnason’s best role for this team was in the press box filling in when someone gets hurt.
If he plays well enough to bump someone else out of the lineup, more power to him. I’m not holding my breath though.
Agreed Jibbles.
Regarding Svats, I haven’t seen him play this year but from what I know about him, he is wasted space without a playmaker. Coaches need to know how to utilize their players.
I just have to say I love the Sanjaya metaphor!
Is it just me, or do Arny’s comments sound like he’s happy with his play of late? Two empty net goals, a negative +/-, and the worst FO % (other than Hensick with his two games) = contributing to the team? How does being “a little better” than sucking goat testicles mean he shouldn’t be in the pressbox? Those comments reek of someone who thinks the benching was unwarranted and that he doesn’t need to do anything to change.
Is anybody else finding it harder and harder to get excited for Avs’ games?
I don’t need the a team that wins every night. Nor am I one of those basketball fans converted to hockey that wants every game to be 7-5, but the last approx 8 games have been dreadfully boring. It feels like pre-season to me lately.
ClaudeLemieux: I agree tha past few games have been somewhat boring. When you continue to see the same screw ups over and over it’s hard to get excited.
On the Arnason subject, normally I would agree that he deserves a shot to see how he performs after a benching. Then again after ready the comments/quotes above, I have to wonder if it’s even worth a shot. He attitude seems to speak volumes to me, and the book he’s writing is getting old.