Mark Knudson’s Three Strikes Blog: Strike One
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Broncos QB’s? What about Avalanche goalies?
STRIKE ONE: Wanna regular, go-to topic on local sports talk shows? You can’t go wrong opening up a discussion about Denver Broncos quarterbacks. We can talk about that forever.
What never seems to get brought up is a very VERY similar situation over at the Pepsi Center, where the Colorado Avalanche, owners of nine division titles, two conference titles, two Presidents Cups and two Stanley Cups, can’t seem to draft and develop a standout goal tender. Like…ever.
Consider this:
Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway was acquired by the Broncos in a trade from Baltimore in 1983. He led Denver to five Super Bowls and a pair of Lombardi Trophies. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning was signed (by Elway) as a free agent. He led Denver to a pair of Super Bowls and a victory in Super Bowl 50. They account for all three of the Broncos titles.
So…Who was the best QB ever drafted by the Broncos? It’s a short list, and that debate rages on.
Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy was acquired by the Avalanche in a trade with Montreal in 1995, just months after the franchise relocated to Denver. He became the backbone of Colorado’s only two Stanley Cup champion teams and later coached the team, winning the NHL Coach of the Year award in 2014. He’s been voted one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players ever.
So…Who was the best goaltender ever drafted by the Avs? …Crickets.
It’s funny ‘cause it’s true. The Avs history of drafting net minders is as abysmal as the Broncos history of drafting QB’s, but no one ever talks about it.
Since they moved to Denver prior to the 1995- ‘96 season, the Avalanche organization has selected 25 goalies in the NHL draft. Exactly eight have made an appearance in an NHL crease, and three of them – Tyler Weiman (one game) Samu Aittokallio (two games) and Spencer Martin (three games) – just stopped by for a cup of Tim Horton’s finest blend.
The best careers in net among Avs draft picks belong to Peter Budaj, a second-round pick in 2001, who’s gone 158-132 during his 13 (and still going) year NHL career with a 2.69 goals against average; Mark Denis – Colorado’s very first NHL draft pick – who played in 349 games during the Roy era, but who was 67 games under .500 for his career, and David Aebischer, a sixth-round pick in 1997 who won 106 games (also mostly in a back-up role to Roy) with a nice 2.52 goals against average. More recently, Calvin Pickard, a second-round selection in 2010 has won 28 games (losing 44) for four different NHL clubs in the first five years of a career that’s on-going.
That’s about it. Not a single All-Star appearance among them.
If you don’t follow the Avs that closely, here are some comparisons you might relate to:
You could say that Denis is the Avs version of Jay Cutler (with a much nicer personality.) He had a decent 13-year career, but was 67 games under .500. Sixty-Seven. Ouch.
Aebischer is Colorado’s Gary Kubiak. He was steady when called upon (and has his name on the Stanley Cup) backing up a superstar. He won 32 more games than he lost, and had a nice 2.52 goals against average. Decent.
Pickard (28-44, 2.78) is the Avs version of Brock Osweiler. He’s had some notable success, but in the end has never been the standout he was drafted to be. He’s still bouncing around the game, having been claimed off waivers by the Arizona Coyotes this season.
And Budaj most closely resembles the career of Tommy Maddox. Both had double digit year careers, bounced around several leagues but never became stars like they were drafted to be. Maddox got a Super Bowl ring as a back-up in Pittsburgh and was a standout in the XFL. Budaj has played for five NHL teams along with numerous minor league clubs, having won more 26 more games than he’s lost…so far.
Does this start to make sense, Bronco fans?
Like the Broncos, the Avalanche has turned to the free agent and trade market to try to find stand out goal tending. Among the best of that lot were José Théodore, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and Semyon Varlamov.
A Broncos comparison? Théodore was on the downhill side of a nice career when he became the Avs goalie after a trade in 2006. Big name at the time, not much left in the tank sadly. Kyle Orton, Maybe? Same for Giguere. Perhaps a Gus Frerotte or Jake Plummer?
Varlamov is the current man in net for the Avs, having held down the gig regularly (aside from a myriad of injuries and lot of games missed) since. He’s considered one of the league’s upper tier of goalies, but far from best. Sort of like a Case Keenum or a Joe Flacco, huh?
Maybe this makes it easier to understand why the Avs haven’t won anything of note since Roy retired 15 years ago.
Wanna comment or argue? Hit me on Twitter @ MarkKnudson41. Coming Wednesday…How the West can be won.
