Avs' Budaj deflects talk of 'controversy'

Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 17, 2007 at midnight

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AIR FORCE ACADEMY — It wouldn't be accurate to suggest that the Avalanche has a goaltending controversy since Peter Budaj earned the right to begin the 2007-08 season as the No. 1 man based on his second-half play last season.

But Jose Theodore isn't conceding anything, despite another disappointing campaign and the fact he's recovering from Aug. 29 arthroscopic knee surgery.

"I do have confidence in myself, that I can regain the status that I had," Theodore said. "People might believe me and people might not, but that's OK. I worked hard this summer and I'm looking forward to having a really good year."

Budaj, in only his second NHL season, started 39 of the final 46 games and nearly backstopped the Avalanche into the playoffs. Yet he deflects questions regarding his status like so many pucks.

"I don't want to think about it right now," said Budaj, who on Sunday stopped 24 of 27 shots in two periods in the Burgundy's 7-5 win against the White at the Cadet Ice Arena in the Avalanche's annual exhibition.

"We have Jose and he's a great goalie. It is not my decision to say I'm the No. 1 goalie. My role and my job is to play and to try and win hockey games."

Goaltending figures to be a prominent issue facing the Avalanche after the free-agent signings of Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan, whose arrivals filled two pressing needs.

If Budaj, who will turn 25 on Tuesday, can pick up where he left off last season — he went 13- 1-2 with a no-decision in his final 17 starts — and Theodore, 31, can approach the way he played while winning Hart and Vezina trophies in 2002, any goalie questions would be answered.

"I think every year every team is asked about its goaltending," said coach Joel Quenneville, whose team begins preseason play tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.

"Peter's proven two years in a row down the stretch he's capable of handling the work load and Jose's proven in the past that he's that guy. The internal competition's going to be healthy. Both guys have proven they can do it, and we don't see any reason why they're not going to get it done."

Budaj made 57 appearances last season while posting a 31-16- 6 record with three shutouts, a 2.68 goals-against average and .905 saves percentage.

"Definitely (the steady work) helped to improve my game, and my confidence level went up high and my experience level went higher," he said. "It's always fun to play a lot of games, but it's a different year and we've got to start from zero.

"I'll try to use the experience that I gained last year and, hopefully, we can be much better than we were last year."

There were rumblings this summer the Avalanche might buy out the final year of Theodore's contract, which will pay him $6 million, $5.3 million more than Budaj.

In the end, general manager Francois Giguere decided it was worth the risk to bring him back, in part because the Avalanche wouldn't have saved significant salary-cap room.

"Jose's got incentive in his own way. He's got a lot to prove," Quenneville said. "Last year, how it ended for him, I'm sure it created an appetite. I still enjoyed how he handled that process; I'm sure it was challenging.

"I'm really comfortable that (goaltending) is one area that's going to be stable and predictable. I'm confident it's going to be one of our strengths."

Though Theodore's performance hardly was up to par — he went 13-15-1 with a 3.26 goals- against average and .891 saves percentage — he was a good teammate and remained supportive of Budaj.

"We'll have a competition, but it's good and clean," Theodore said. "Teams need two solid goalies, and I think we have that. We all have only one thing in mind, and that is to win. We want each other to be the best that he can be."

HENSICK STARS: Rookie center T.J. Hensick enjoyed a spectacular Sunday with two goals and two assists for the Burgundy team, and a goal in a shootout.

"We've got a lot of guys that can make plays, and here's one kid that's new to the mix that can make them at the highest level," Quenneville said of Hensick, 21, who starred at Michigan for four years and was a Hobey Baker finalist as a senior. "We'll see how things progress over the next while, but certainly, he had a special day."

Hensick said skating on a line with veteran Ian Laperriere (one goal, two assists) helped him relax.

"It's been an eye opener for me, my first NHL camp," he said. "The speed is definitely faster and the players are stronger. Most importantly, the guys are in position a lot better than what I'm used to, so scoring chances are few and far between. When you get them, you've got to capitalize."

Problems between the pipes

Four NHL teams that are looking for a goaltending fix:

Coyotes

• David Aebischer signed to a one-year, $600,000 contract, is looking to resurrect his career after a disappointing stint with the Canadiens. Mikael Tellqvist faded during the second half after a good start.

Flyers

• Martin Biron acquired in a late-season trade with the Sabres, is an upgrade from Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki. He never has played in a playoff game, but the Broad Streeters have to get there first.

Kings

• Dan Cloutier missed most of 2006-07 to recover from hip surgery after being awarded a two-year, $6.2 million contract extension. Jason Labarbera spent the entire season in the minors.

Lightning

• Marc Denis is back because he has two years left on a three-year, $8.6 million deal and no one else was interested. Denis is competing with inconsistent Johan Holmqvist and rookie Karri Ramo.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com

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