In a strange move, the Avs have called up TJ Hensick and sent down Brad Richardson. It’s an odd move on a couple of fronts.
The timing seems odd to call up Hensick now. Yes, Hensick is leading the Monsters in scoring and has loads of talent. But the time to call him up was a month ago when Hejduk and Richardson were injured and the Avalanche needed a scoring spark. Now that they’ve got a full complement of players (they are so “deep” up front that Ryan Smyth is toiling on the 3rd line), it seems odd to call up Hensick now. Adrian Dater called today’s transaction “a surprising move” and I agree.
Unless…
Hopefully, this was just a rest issue and not an injury issue: Joe Sakic had a season-low 14:24 of ice time, and did not appear on the ice during the final 5 minutes of the game.
That’s from my recap of last night’s game. It was only speculation on my part, but it looks like my fears were valid: “The only downer: Avalanche captain Joe Sakic, whose second-period power-play goal turned out to be the winner, left the game with about five minutes remaining with what the team said is a minor groin ailment.”
Uh-oh. As Shane pointed out over at Avs Talk, the call-up of Hensick would seem to indicate that something might be up with Super Joe. If there is, the Avs are keeping it under wraps pretty well. Barring an injury, there just doesn’t seem to be much reason to justify bringing up Hensick at this point in the season.
Stay tuned - I have a feeling there may be more to this story.
Strange indeed. If anything, especially with Lappy out, the team needs more grit and less glamour up front right now. Handcuffing Smyth and Svatos with Arnason couldn’t be a good thing long-term. I hope Sakic is not injured. He is dreamy.
A Sakic injury is good for the team.
You heard me correctly, a Sakic injury is good for the team.
Sakic has played like crap this year. He’s been a horrible leader for a long time - that’s not ever going to change - and that is beside the point. He wasn’t playing up to his ability, yet we know what we’re getting when he steps out on the ice. I don’t want him to rush back to the ice because he’s not helping us win games right now and because a rest should only make him fresher down the road. If he could sit out ten games, that would be ten more games he’d have left in the tank come the stretch run and playoff time.
Further, it would give his ice time to one of our young, talented players who deserve it. That’s premium ice time, and if Stastny is promoted to the 1st line with Hensick centering the 2nd, that’s some real, significant ice time to use to judge what kind of NHL player Hensick could become.
That ice time could also be used to showcase Hensick if he’s not in the Avs’ plans. If he comes in and lights things up, and FG doesn’t feel Hensick is in the Avs’ plans long-term, this is a great tryout to show other teams that he’s an NHL player. Maybe then he gets dealt for some defensive help or whatever the Avs may need.
Regardless, having Sakic out there right now does nobody any good. Sakic’s injury is a good thing, as long as it isn’t season-ending.
zzzzzz
Witty retort.
Definitely surprised it’s Richardson who got sent down, especially since he started on the 1st line a few games ago. But I seem to recall that he was in Quenneville’s doghouse a time or two last season, which I thought was odd considering that Richardson was playing on the PK a bit at the time, and that he was in the middle of having a pretty decent offensive year.
I wonder if Quenneville’s just got a good old case of the red ass as far as Richardson is concerned? Whatever it is, it can’t be too good for his confidence.
I predict Hensik plays 9 games. After 9 games this year counts in Hensik’s contract meaning he would be that much closer to restricted, then unrestricted, FA. Since he’s likely not a long-term factor this season he will get 9 games and then they’ll call someone else up if Sakic’s not better.
“Sakic being a poor leader” may possibly be the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life, and I worked in customer service for 5 years, and taught college freshmen.
Sakic is a poor leader? huh
Imagine that, our mindless pom-pon waver mindlessly buys into the mindless nonsense that the mindless writers write about Sakic.
He’s a shit leader. He’s a lead-by-example guy on a team that needs a skull-cracker. The fact that there have only been two seasons in Avalanche history where we have even come close to seeing consistent effort put forth by the majority of the players on the team speaks volumes about the absolute ineptitude of Sakic as a leader.
He’s a great player. Veterans respect him, kids grow up wanting to play like him. But there’s not a fucking soul on Earth who would be the least bit afraid to look him in the eye in the locker room after putting forth a shit effort. Sakic is the reason we’ve seen such a lethargic attitude and inconsistent effort for so long.
Heaven forbid you ever have an original thought or actually THINK about something before you slam it. I honestly don’t know why you have a blog in the first place, when all you do is regurgitate what you read in DPO and RMN, or talk about how X player looks like Y movie star.
And yet you have the nerve to imply that you know the first thing about hockey. People like you are the reason why I don’t like to tell people I am an Avalanche fan.
Alright Thomas reads my blog.
Would Q really promote Son of Stastny and leave The Duke and the Missing H-Link on the second with Henssssssssssssssssick or Arny the Wilting Man? Just promote the entire second line to the first and slide Hensick in with Smythy and Wolski. It’s not like teams are playing the Sakic line like it’s the 1st line on the road anyway. Lets just call the 2nd line what it is, the first line…
By the way, you might want to actually read the CBA instead of pretending that you know what the hell you’re talking about.
Hensick is 22 years old (by the guidelines of the CBA), and as such, he earns an accrued season by playing one NHL or MINOR LEAGUE game, which he has already done. It doesn’t matter if the Avs dress him for one game, sixty games, or send him back to the AHL without ever dressing - he’s still got an accrued season.
As a matter of fact, given that he is 22 years old and must play 80 games before his first contract ends after turning 25 or else he becomes a Group 6 free agent, IT WOULD BE IN COLORADO’S BEST INTEREST TO PLAY HIM MORE THAN NINE GAMES.
As for restricted free agency, he’s already halfway there, because of his age when he signed his first SPC and given that he already has one accrued season. So that doesn’t matter at all.
What’s funny about this whole thing is that I know exactly where you got this. There is a rule where a player who was drafted from major junior and signed to an NHL deal can only play nine games before his NHL team has to decide whether to send him back to his junior team or keep him in the NHL for the entire year (because if he’s still CHL-eligible, he cannot play in the AHL).
Idiots on various messageboards have been taking that to mean that any rookie can only play nine games before they earn an accrued season. Not true.
So this all ties in with what I said before. You just regurgitate what you read, instead of actually thinking for yourself and doing the fucking research. Yet, you have the nerve to insult others for having the noodle to do their own research, think for themselves, and actually have a fucking backrground in the game.
No, I don’t read your blog. I clicked the link yesterday to see if it was what I thought it would be. I thought that if I read your blog, I might actually have mistaken your level of hockey knowledge and maybe I wouldn’t be so offended at your arrogance and ignorance. I had you pictured as someone who would compare X player to Y movie star, and I thought that reading your blog would disspell that thought.
Then I clicked the link and laughed out loud.
That was the point
I apologize to DD for turning his comments into the Jibbles vs O’Thomas Factor. I will refrain from (effectively) baiting him into a raving lunatic from now on. He may still become one, but it won’t be because of me
(Sorry last time I promise)
I actually got more hits from you guys going back and forth today than I did when Mirtle linked to me!
No need to apologize to me, btw. It’s interesting.
Lets trade Sakic for a 7th rounder! he sucks! What has the guy brought to the Avs in his career?
I honestly don’t know why you have a blog in the first place, when all you do is regurgitate what you read in DPO and RMN, or talk about how X player looks like Y movie star.
I honestly don’t know why Thomas DOESN’T have a blog. Trolling comment threads just to disagree with and then furiously insult and belittle other people has to get old after a while.
(And I actually used the italics tag correctly. I am a genius.)
Thomas,
Who are the great captain in the NHL right now?
We have already debated the various mertis of Sakic and his ability to be a good if not great captain. However, assuming your premise has merit, I would like to know who these kick ass captains are right now.