Last night's appalling loss to the Red Wings---the fourth in the row for the team---revealed, for all to see, that the Colorado Avalanche needs a serious overhaul like yesterday.
First of all, Coach Joel Quenneville and his assistants Tony Granato and Jacques Cloutier should be fired today. Gone, all of them.
Goalie coach Jeff Hackett gets to stay, because his work with Jose Theodore has transformed the former has-been to a force between the pipes. Whatever Hackett has done has worked very well, and he should be commended. In fact, his success with both Theodore and Budaj is all the more amazing considering how far Q has gone to ruin both of them.
Now, as for the players, the following should be traded, cut, sent to the minors or swapped for a right-handed pitcher from the Yomiuri Giants. Immediately.
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Tyler Arnason He's useless in the faceoff circle, he's useless on defense and he only scores in spurts every ten games. He's outlasted his welcome, and has no place on this team. |
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John-Michael Liles Two seasons ago he was the second coming of Sergei Zubov. Now he's crap. No goals in more than 40 games, no presence in his own zone, no spark or effort. Just a pretty face. Goodbye. |
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Andrew Brunette Old, slow, and last season's 80+ point showing was a fluke. He's useless without Joe Sakic or Paul Stastny. |
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Kenneth Scott Hannan For a guy billed as a tough stay-at-home defenseman, he plays like he's got Patrick Kane's tiny frame and half the courage. The Avs made a mistake. Send him back to San Jose. |
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Milan Hejduk The Duke is just a shadow of his former self, and it's clear that he'll never score 50 goals, let alone 40, in a season ever again. His talents are waning and goalies don't fear him anymore. |
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Karlis Skrastins I'm not going to waste time even explaining this. |
I could name some others, but most of them are either young, hurt or minor offenders. And let me be clear that I like most of the players above, and I'm sure they're all nice people, but they don't belong on the Colorado Avalanche and they should seek success with other teams.
Look, I'm a Cubs fan (even if a somewhat recent convert), so I know frustration. But the only hockey team that should be like the Cubs are the Toronto Maple Leafs, not the Colorado Avalanche. I'm afraid that if the status quo is maintained, we could be seeing many more years of mediocrity and failure---and golf in April instead of gritty playoff heroics.
It's time to clean house.
Francois Giguere, don't make me fly to Denver to pay you a visit. Don't make me do it.