Special to Hockey in Colorado

I'd like to continue the Special to Hockey in Colorado with a piece on the "goaltending controversy" of the Colorado Avalanche by my partner in crime, Megan.

His Hair is Full of Secrets.. No.. Talent by MeganDU


Lets start this article with a bang, 5.5 million dollars. That’s how much money Jose Theodore (or as we fondly refer to him, Propecia Joe) makes for planting his ass on the bench game after game for the Colorado Avalanche. Fair, I THINK NOT! Lets just make a few comparisons. Luongo a 2007 ALL STAR, who actually has talent ...cringe..That was painful to say, makes a cool six million dollars, Fat Ass Marty Turco (seriously his ass is huge, it should have its own area code) makes the same 6 million dollars. Here is the real kicker Brodeur, a very talented goalie makes only 5.2 million dollars, and the best hockey player that the world has ever seen Glenn Fisher makes nothing.

All of these players come to work every game, have the talent and are not making what Propecia Joe (henceforth referred to as PJ) does FOR DOING NOTHING. Correction he does do a few invaluable things for the team. He graciously gives water to Budaj when he is feeling a little parched, operates as a very generous towel boy, participates in the 'between period festivities' including skating around the arena in his cheerleading uniform to hype up the crowd, and is the best damn beer guy this hockey fan has ever seen, but seriously 5.5 million dollars.

Take a moment to think about what you could do with 5.5 million dollars ... go ahead I'll wait. Done?? Lets continue ...
Lets be honest, the trade for PJ that sent away the beautiful but bumbling Aebischer did not pan out the way the Colorado Avalanche had hoped, and the franchise is still reeling from that decision. In the beginning it seemed that we had a quality goal tending system in place, PJ running the show and Budaj backing him up, and looking hot doing it!

Towards the beginning of the season PJ was right in line with Brodeur and Luongo when it comes to stats and was looking pretty good, this is where it all fell apart ... PJ started letting everything past him and I found myself more than once yelling at the television screen "I could have stopped that, if I was blind, and only had one leg..." Not to mention he was spotted with Paris Hilton. On a side note.... seriously Pj, Paris Hilton ...I bet he got diseases from her that haven't even been named yet. 
Then JQ, who I personally consider the worst coach for a goalie, took him out of net and began the 'era of Budaj.' Budaj has actually been playing pretty well in net. He is not as solid of a goaltender as I would hope, but not everyone is Glenn Fisher, and I think we as Coloradoans were a little spoiled with the stellar play of Patrick Roy. Budaj works hard and the team seems to just be playing better in front of him than they did PJ.

I have been hearing many different excuses as to why PJ is not performing to his top ability, lets address a few of them now. Eham .. let me get out my best whiney voice ..."Theodore was never really given a chance." Not true, he didn't cut in Montreal so he came here, he isn't cutting it here so he is not playing right now. Professional hockey is a cutthroat business and you have to work hard to play, right now Budaj is the man doing that. Another excuse I am hearing is that he has had a few good seasons and that goalies get better with age, in 2002 he won the MVP, and has taken his team to the finals more than once. That’s great but until he is playing better he needs to not be in the net making my Avs lose.

Here is my personal explanation as to why he is not performing at the same level that he was just a few months ago. His hair. That’s right his hair, it holds his talent, and lets face it lately his hair just has not been as pretty of a man mane as it was when he first came here. PJ let the hair grow out and give it another try next year, till then I am excited to see Budaj grow and lead the team. He seems to still be finding his groove and place but I don't doubt that he will do a good job for us, he is not consistent but the talent is there. My solution, do anything and everything we have to do to get Glenn Fisher to remain in Colorado and lead the team next year to a Stanley Cup!!! Too far?