Avs' Quenneville firm: Theodore will start

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Monday, April 28, 2008

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore, bothered by illness, has allowed eight goals on 36 shots in the first two games.

Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville made one thing perfectly clear Sunday: Jose Theodore will start in goal again Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings at the Pepsi Center.

"Jose's going to play," Quenneville said. "He's been our guy. He's had a great stretch run for us and was great in the first series and we expect him to be a big factor going forward in this series."

Theodore was replaced by Peter Budaj in the second period in each of the first two games of the Western Conference semifinal series.

He allowed eight goals on 36 shots in 51:24 of playing time for a 9.41 goals- against average and .778 saves percentage.

Compare that with his 1.88 average and .940 saves percentage against Minnesota in the quarterfinal series.

Theodore played in Game 1 despite battling flulike symptoms and was yanked at 1:13 of the second period after allowing four goals on 16 shots. He said he felt better in Game 2 but was pulled at 10:11 of the second period after giving up four goals on 20 shots.

"I think these extra three days are going to do wonders for him," Quenneville said. "A couple days (after) an illness, there's still some effects even though you feel way better. We'll get practice underneath him (today) and it'll definitely not be an issue.

"Certainly it's bad timing. Things like that happen and we have to deal with it. We dealt all year with all the challenges along the way with injuries and this and that and found ways through it. This is just one more hurdle and we've got to find a way to overcome it."

Injury update

The Avalanche didn't practice Sunday, and Quenneville isn't certain if Peter Forsberg or Scott Hannan will be able to play Tuesday.

Forsberg missed the first two games of the series because of a groin and/or ankle problem, and Hannan was scratched Saturday because of a lower body injury.

"We'll see," Quenneville said. "That'd be nice. Both guys should progress with the extra couple days. We'll see how Peter presents (today) as does Scotty. Both guys were in for treatments and we'll get a better assessment (today)."

Red Wings forward Darren McCarty is convinced Forsberg will play.

"I'm pretty sure, unless Forsberg's leg's going to fall off, he'll probably be in there for Game 3," McCarty said. "They're a veteran team. They're well-coached and they've got guys that have been in different situations like this before. It's not like they're a young team."

Ready for home ice

Quenneville described the mood of the team as disappointed but not discouraged, and he expressed optimism about turning the series around at the Pepsi Center.

"We're excited about coming home," Quenneville said. "We've played well here all year and we have to look at Tuesday's game as getting ourselves back into it. But we need to play much better than we did in Game 2.

"There's still a lot of enthusiasm within our group. We've had a lot of good stretches over the course of the season. We've had some tough stretches and we've recovered from them well, too. I just think coming home we can get some new life.

"The extra day in-between certainly is helpful, too. We're gearing for Tuesday and we have to approach it as, 'Hey, we have to win this game,' and play our best game of the series."

Slow starts costly

The Avalanche outscored the Wild 11-2 in the first and second periods but has fallen behind by 4-1 and 4-0 to the Red Wings and trailed by a cumulative 8-3 count through 40 minutes.

"Playing against Detroit from behind is a bad scenario," Quenneville said.

The Avalanche was one of the least- penalized teams in the NHL during the regular season, but discipline went out the window in the second period Saturday with seven penalties - five in a row that kept the Red Wings on the power play for all but 8 seconds in an 8:22 stretch that included two five-on-three advantages.

The Red Wings totaled 12 shots against Budaj during this time and didn't score but already were ahead 4-0.

"We took some unnecessary penalties in the second period," Quenneville said. "Discipline's important, but there's a fine line in that we want to be hard to play against. At the same time, you don't want to put them on the power play unnecessarily because that's a strength."

Numbers game

9 wins in the Avalanche's final 10 regular-season home games. The Avalanche also won two of three at home vs. the Wild in the first round.

• April 28, 2008

  5:36 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  WingNut1967 writes:

  What a wonderful gift, Thank you Joel.... We like Theo here in Detroit, he's our best player....

• April 28, 2008

  7:10 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  GoMaltby writes:

  "Playing against Detroit from behind is a bad scenario," Quenneville said.

  "Jose's going to play," Quenneville said. "He's been our guy."

  Umm...WTF. Does any one else see a problem here.
  I've never been a fan of Quenneville, but I've never thought he was a complete idiot either.

  Time for the Avalanche fans to learn the truth. Jose Theodore, is 1-5 against Detroit Career. Did you get that, CAREER.
  Jose Theodore is 0-2 vs Detroit in the Reg Season this year. Jose Theodore is 0-2 vs Detroit with 8 goals against in less then 60 minutes of play in the playoffs.

  Joel Quenneville expects him to win 4 against detroit in 5 games.

  Joel Quenneville is an F'n IDIOT. WOW, I am glad he doesn't coach the Wings. I am so sorry Avalanche fans, I really am.

• April 28, 2008

  8:43 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  rwings777 writes:

  Yes, I'm a Wings fan, but I love this rivalry. Most Wings fans do. Would prefer Forsberg & Theodore at their best. (But you also need Sakic, Hedjuk, and Smith to step it up.)

  Win or lose, some of the best hockey I've ever seen is Wings/Avs with BOTH winning. The height of the rivalry was the 48 hours between Games 6 & 7 in 2002. Yes, the Wings won Game 7 convincingly, but the anxiety, tension, and excitement between the games was great. I for one, don't want a sweep. Would be a letdown. Get healthy, Avs, and then LET'S ROCK!

• April 28, 2008

  9:04 a.m.

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  avs2001 writes:

  you dont turn your back on your goalie, who is the main reason you are here after a couple games like this.. Especially when the defense in front of him has been a swinging gate. Yes Jose let in some bad goals. but of the 8 he has allowed, there was 1 freak that shot 30 feet in the air, 3 redirects, and 2 breakaways. Very few of those are going to be stopped. Also, Detroit has always played a fall back style of game with a big lead, even though he played pretty well its hard to say what Budaj would have done in a 2-1 or 1-1 game, with the Wings on full attack.

• April 28, 2008

  9:37 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  GoMaltby writes:

  avs2001 if Budaj hasn't at least earned the chance to show what he can do in a full game, he might as we'll just leave Colorado.

  I do expect the Av's to play better at home, and the Wings to cool down some. Tuesday should be a good game.

  My opinion is (not that anyone cares) Theodore is a playoff choke artist... how do you think the Av's got him from Montreal? He was blowing it for the Habs, and now he's blowing it for the Avalanche. Make the change, or I'll go get my broom.

• April 28, 2008

  9:39 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DeimosJB writes:

  Guess I'm a little surprised that Budaj has allowed 1 goal during his time on ice, Theo has allowed 8, and it is Theo that is being cemented as the starter. Q, I hope you know what you're doing, because you sure don't look like it.

• April 28, 2008

  9:50 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Milarso writes:

  Any Avs fans think this is the right decision?
  On one hand, I think you gotta play the guy that got you here, on the other, Theodore has been sketchy and Budaj has been pretty solid.
  We'll see what happens.
  I'm a Detroit fan, but I think it's going to be very difficult for the Wings to take three in a row, especially in the Pepsi Center.
  And I agree with DMac. Unless Forsberg's legs fall off, he's going to be playing tonight.

• April 28, 2008

  11:25 a.m.

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  WingNut1967 writes:

  The next Game is Tue Apr 29, 2008 - 10:00 PM... Not tomorrow as alot of people seem to think...

• April 28, 2008

  11:27 a.m.

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  WingNut1967 writes:

  not tonight, I meant to say

• April 28, 2008

  12:08 p.m.

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  WitchKing writes:

  What? What? Before this series all we read here was how WELL the Nordilanche matched up with the Wings

  Coaching Advantage-Avs
  Forwards Advantage-Avs
  Goalie Advantage-Avs
  Intanglibles-Avs

  So, what happened?

• April 28, 2008

  12:21 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  GoMaltby writes:

  Here's a question for all you hockey fan out there. If Forsberg plays in game 3, who has the better game. Forsberg or Franzen?

  With out a question Foresberg is the better player, being almost a point per game player his entire career. Including these playoffs until the injury.
  Franzen is just coming into his own, and playing better then he really is, but also better then anyone else in this series.

  So Hockey fan's what do you think? Who has the better game? Foresberg or Franzen?

• April 28, 2008

  12:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  BWilliams writes:

  I don't mind playing Theo. Its time that he either sink or swim. At over $6 mill he should be playing like he did against Minnesota nearly every night. If he can't do it, then its time for the Avs to recognize that once and for all and to say goodbye at the end of the season.

  If he does go, then Dan Ellis of Nashville - Be prepared to receive piles of cash this off season as Detroit and Colorado compete to overpay for your services next season.

• April 28, 2008

  1:03 p.m.

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  CluelessInDenver writes:

  Has a goalie ever been yanked in three straight playoff games before?

• April 28, 2008

  1:20 p.m.

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  MrBrightSide writes:

  All the Wings did was hold serve and win home games, a series doesn't start until a team wins a game on the road. Granted, the first two were in Detroit, but that's what having the best record during the year gives you in the playoffs, it means something.

  You expansion cheatin Nique fans (aka 'Nordalanche') need to realize that hockey isn't football and the difference between winning and losing is in most cases, really, really small.

  I'm expecting a strong Av's showing early, setting the tone for a long, tough series. Then to top it off, the famous chicken head comes out of retirement and taking the net from Jose, only to be lit up like he was in his last game, a blast from the past!

• April 28, 2008

  3:11 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Ahab337 writes:

  Quenneville, I don't know what you're thinking. I'm a huge Avs fan, but take a lesson from the Red Wings and what they did in the 1st round with the Predators. The flopinator fell apart 2 games in a row, and they replaced him with Osgood. After that point, the Wings closed out the series. Budaj has been stellar against the Wings, whereas Theo has been chased from the net two games in a row. What else do you need???

• April 28, 2008

  3:32 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Ahab337 writes:

  And you Wings fans are idiots. Everybody's so quick to bring up 2002 but nobody wants to mention 1999, when the Avs dropped the first 2 games to the Wings only to win the next 4 straight. They must have suppressed that memory, little too painful. And by the way, 2002 was not Roy's last season. Morons.

• April 28, 2008

  3:42 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  PapaWayne writes:

  Coach Quenneville, you make a lot more money at coaching than I ever will, so I will reserve judgement on the decision to start Theodore.

  For your sake, I hope it doesn't come back to bite you on the @$$. It just.....doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

  I have to say, though, that Theodore does seem to be the biggest reason your team is still skating, though...Ian LaPerriere said it, and I think it's true.

  At any rate, here in Detroit, there's a lot of people smiling today.........

• April 28, 2008

  3:53 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  avs2001 writes:

  Theo didnt sink the habs in the playoffs-in fact he was the only reason they went anywhere the year he won the hart and the vezina. No goalie could have played well in front of that defense. period. They would have been blown away in games five and six without theo, so in my opinion they owe him the benefit of the doubt. Budaj is a hard worker, and may have a great future. But He has never started a play-off game, and even babcock said that the wings play was extremely different 0-0 than 4-1. The Avs may not win with Theo, but can anyone really say they are going further with budaj??? As an Avs fan(who was ready to give up on Jose) I cant see Budaj getting them back in this series. Besides, budaj's biggest weakness has ALWAYS been rebound control. And franzen and Holmstrom will eat him alive if he isnt controlling them.

• April 28, 2008

  9 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  WingNut1967 writes:

  Ahab337............

  I think the point was... Roy's last game against the Wings in the playoffs, was a 7-0 smack down. In game 7, 2002... I remember it well...

  His final game was played against the Minnesota Wild on April 22, 2003, in a game seven overtime loss in the quarterfinals of the NHL playoffs.

• April 28, 2008

  9:02 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  WingNut1967 writes:

  Have a Nice Night

• April 28, 2008

  9:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  nycavsfan writes:

  WingNut, obviously as a Wings fan the most memorable game for you was #7. (For me this game is sort of like how Kane in the movie Alien describes his memory of being attacked by the facehugger, "...some awful dream of smothering...")

  Would you like to know my favorite memory of the 2002 WCF? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. It was the very end of game 5. In fact, it's what the cameras showed of the crowd at the Joe immediately after the Avs won. Absolute dead silence. Everybody was just stunned, sitting motionless even after both teams had left the ice. I've never seen something like that before, and probably never will again.

  I don't relate this out of a sense of glee, really. It was just the one thing that still sticks with me after six years.

• April 29, 2008

  12:11 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  lilwing writes:

  Wow nycavsfan sounds alot like one of my memorable moments except a game 6 Oh the famous statue of liberty with 20,000 sad little av faces. and I do hope the Avs get it going a little I wanted this series since the start of the playoffs but it would be nice if it were a series.

• April 29, 2008

  12:29 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  nycavsfan writes:

  GoMaltby, I'm a little biased here, but I would have to give the edge to Forsberg over Franzen in terms of who will have the better game. A "better game" to me means who gets more points, not necessarily goals scored. Franzen has been dynamite and the Avs D will no longer give him the space he's been accustomed to; of course, this will open up opportunities for Datsyuk and Zetterberg. But assuming Forsberg is nominally healthy I expect his presence to have an even more dramatic effect on the Avs offense, both in terms of drawing defenders away from Hejduk, Smyth, etc. and in a better passing and puck cycling game, resulting in more and better shots.

  Maybe the real question is which defense will have the best success in shutting down these new threats? If framed that way, the Red Wings' D will be very hard to beat and the Avs will have to take more shots and hustle to get rebounds. Forsberg and his teammates will need to step up their intensity to a new level. Obviously I hope they do.

  (Note: The above analysis also assumes the Avs' goalie will play better than a piece of swiss cheese.)