KRIEGER: Fret not, Avs reunion has substance

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 1, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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The buzz is back. The feel-good moments began with Adam Foote's in-game arrival Tuesday in Calgary.

They'll continue tonight, when Foote skates onto the Pepsi Center ice as a member of the Avalanche for the first time since the NHL lockout of 2004-05 broke up the nucleus of two Stanley Cup champions. Peter Forsberg will either join him tonight or make his own grand entrance Tuesday.

"I've already had all my friends ask for tickets first game he's back," center Paul Stastny said Friday.

"It just seems right that they're here," said captain Joe Sakic. "It's too bad that they both left, but it's great to have them back. It's like old times. They fit right in."

Yes, it's a sentimental journey. Happy days are here again. But before you go looking for a hanky, hold on. There was something else.

I've got it here somewhere.

Oh, yes. Ice hockey. The race for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Contrary to what you may have heard, this is not just a reunion weekend.

"I think a fan's perspective is probably about recapturing the glory days, but for me, those are guys that know how to win, know what it takes," said forward Andrew Brunette. "They're very effective hockey players and real good additions to our hockey club."

This is the most intriguing part of general manager Francois Giguere's trade deadline splashes, but also the part that makes them susceptible to attack. It is easy, particularly from a distance, to dismiss the homecoming of Forsberg and Foote as a marketing maneuver. There's no denying the Avs needed one.

But it also happens to be true that the team's weakest links since Jose Theodore's resurgence in goal have been the power play and the blue line. And if you were looking to address those areas with players available at the trade deadline, you could not do better than Forsberg and Foote, whether or not they had ever played here before.

In fact, the sentimental journey removes much of the risk of bringing in veterans who must adjust to a new system and new locker room culture. The Avs have some experience with this.

Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne have been great NHL players, but they weren't great players in their single season as mercenaries for the Avs. Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan, this season's big free-agent additions, went through lengthy adjustment periods.

"In this day and age, I think the chemistry of a team is so important," Giguere said. "We're getting guys that we know what we're getting."

The most encouraging sign for the Avs is that Forsberg, Foote and defenseman Ruslan Salei, acquired from Florida, are not the only reinforcements. Stastny has been back from injury just four games. Sakic has been back only three. Smyth returned just before Stastny. That's quite an injection of talent down the stretch of a playoff race.

"We kept our head above water for so long without our big guys," said forward Ian Laperriere. "They give us the tools now to go further. It's a great feeling. There's a great buzz around the locker room."

Even before Forsberg steps on the ice, Foote has made his presence felt in two road wins that pulled the Avs back in touch with the playoff bracket.

"I think we're a much tougher team to play against," Giguere said. "I think both Ruslan and Adam bring a dimension that when the skilled forwards from the other teams come into our end, they know it won't be a picnic. It's going to be a tougher place to be."

This is a tacit admission that the Avs defense down low has scared no one. Foote and Salei should make their end a less hospitable place. Forsberg, Sakic and Stastny should put some muscle in what has been a pathetic power play. In short, the burden is on the reconstituted Avs to make this more than a trip down memory lane.

"We want to make the playoffs in the worst way," said coach Joel Quenneville. "Our next goal is to finish as high as we can. We were four points out of it going into the trading deadline and it wasn't a pretty picture. We really enhanced the way it looks coming out of the last two games. Both games could have gone either way. That's how tight it is.

"We expect that challenge going forward. The same battle we've had to date is probably going to be remaining in place right to the end of the season. I don't want to make any promises, but our goal is to make the playoffs. If we end up on the top of our division, that's a bonus, but right now the priority's getting in."

Recapturing past glories was not the idea here. Filling glaring needs was the idea. The question now is whether these guys have enough left to make it more than a two-tissue reunion. Sakic is still trying to recover his explosiveness after being out half the season. Forsberg hasn't played at this level in nearly a year. It is no slam dunk. But it should be fun to watch them try.

kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com

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