Avalanche report: Foote nears milestone

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 10, 2008 at 8:11 p.m.

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Foote will be the 14th active defenseman to reach the mark.

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Now 37 and in his 17th NHL season, Adam Foote has reason to be proud of a career that saw him develop into an elite, hard-nosed defenseman and win two Stanley Cups and an Olympic gold medal.

Yet, when initially asked the significance of playing in 1,000 regular-season games - he'll reach the milestone Sunday when the Avalanche visits Edmonton - Foote shrugged and said it didn't mean all that much.

"I guess when you're close, you want to hit it, but honestly, I should have probably hit it a few years ago," he said Friday after practice, adding that he's still bothered that lockouts wiped out nearly half the 1994-95 season and all of the 2004- 05 campaign.

"I've been fortunate to be on some teams that have won a lot. Maybe that's why I didn't think about it that much. We were winning games, we won a Cup. When you win that Stanley Cup, I guess you don't think about too many other things.

"If you look at it as a personal goal, I guess it's a pretty good one to attain."

Foote will become the 14th active defenseman to reach the milestone and the 40th active player overall. By playing in his 813th game in a Quebec or Colorado uniform Sunday, he'll also tie Michel Goulet for second place in franchise history.

Foote, drafted in 1989, made his NHL debut with the Nordiques on Oct. 19, 1991, against Detroit.

"My first camp, they had a pingpong table, a pool table and a beer fridge in the dressing room," he said. "Now you see the (exercise) bikes and the weights. I think with the way the money is - the way the salaries have gone up so much - guys are more serious."

The secret to Foote's longevity:

"Probably listening to Patrick Roy's advice when I was about 30 - good discipline, stay in shape, take care of your body," Foote said.

No crisis of confidence

Like any goalie intent on keeping his sanity, Peter Budaj doesn't dwell on poor or mediocre performances, and he wasn't brooding the day after a season- opening 5-4 loss to Boston on Thursday.

"I felt good, even though maybe it didn't look good because they scored five goals on 20 shots," he said. "If we would win 4-3 or 6-5, I would be happy. That would have meant I helped us win a hockey game. Unfortunately, I didn't.

"It was a tough start for us, but there's an old saying: It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Coach Tony Granato said his faith in Budaj hasn't waned.

"He's a very solid goaltender, he's a very confident goaltender and he's going to make a lot of big saves for us during the year," Granato said. "He'll be fine."

Night to remember

Granato attended the ceremony Friday night at Magness Arena, where his sister Cammi was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame along with Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter.

"It's exciting for me that my little sister is going in with the class she is and to be honored as the first woman to go in," he said.

"Obviously, if you win (Thursday) it makes it a little more enjoyable, but having Cammi and the other three inductees all being here is very exciting for me and, obviously, a tremendous honor for Cammi, Brian, Mike and Brett."

He said it

"For the most part, we played the high-tempo game that we wanted to play. When you get (39) shots and four goals, you find places in the game where you think you could have scored more. We did skate well and moved the puck well. We did some good things."

Darcy Tucker, Avalanche forward.

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