Embracing Mediocrity - Giguere Speaks

by Bob in Boulder on Feb 17, 2009 10:20 AM MST

In an article by Terry Frei in today's Post. To quote one of my favorite bands, the Talking Heads, he seems to be "talking a lot, but not saying anything." Except that he seems annoyingly happy/satisfied with the status quo, which is pretty damn sucky right now.

Among the most annoying of quotes, when assessing the season so far:

"The first half of the season, we kept ourselves in the position where I thought we were fine."

So, we were fine hanging in and out of the playoffs, hovering around the mythical .500 mark and defininitely in the lower half of the league? That is "meeting expectations" these days?

He also seems willing to give our goaltenders more time, our coach more time, and still stands by his "difficult to make moves" stance. In other words, aim low, reach new lows. Frankly, I'm not surprised by anything, but very disappointed he still has a job.

MileHighHockey.com is a fan community, allowing members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Colorado Avalanche and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editors of MileHighHockey.com.

Tweet Comment 27 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

i was also frustrated with his attitude about the team. Someone needs to send him the Mike Shanahan book of quotes and highlight the “our goal is to win the Super Bowl, every year” part.

the response to Frei asking him if signing Tucker was a mistake was an eye-roller too. we can’t look in the past, we must look forward? wtf is that crap, of course we look at past performance.

despite his outward attitude, the proof is in the pudding though. his dealings the next month with the trade deadline and in the offseason this year will define his tenure…and whether I continue to support him. which we all know is paramount. :)

by thedoctor on Feb 17, 2009 10:28 AM MST reply actions

For the love of all things decent

Fire this asshole. Please.

I don't believe in Peter Budaj.

by BraxtanFILM on Feb 17, 2009 12:18 PM MST reply actions

I’d rather a have a gm who make decisive but wrong decisions than someone who doesn’t seem to care.

I'm Mr. Positive

by An Unmitigated Disaster on Feb 17, 2009 4:42 PM MST reply actions

sounds like the rational one of my friends used to tell me why he voted for bush. good call.

by mfured20 on Feb 18, 2009 11:57 PM MST up reply actions

i didnt mean for that to come off like it did… i just mean that bad decisions are still BAD decisions. if they end up taking the team in the wrong direction, they end up being the same crappy call. to me, uninspired, unchanging management is as bad as someone who trades away, say, statsny for arnason… neither helps the team. and if neither HELPS the team, then i would prefer the one that doesnt do any HARM to the team by trading away our draft picks or prospects…. I would go with the gutless bastard until we find someone who makes good decisions.

“First, do no harm…”

by mfured20 on Feb 19, 2009 12:09 AM MST up reply actions

Pretty much agree, If the choice is between no move and a stupid, hurtful to the team move then no move wins every time.

The Savage has spoken. Let it be done

"Two roads divurged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference"
R. Frost

by Savage33 on Feb 19, 2009 12:25 AM MST up reply actions

“We still have a third of the year to go, and we’ll do our evaluations when the time is right,” Giguere said.

My tempered response would be, “WHEN YOU’RE IN F’ING LAST PLACE, WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO MAKE F’ING EVALUTATIONS!?!!”

That statement there is why the avs are in last place. No ability to change on the fly.

I'm Mr. Positive

by An Unmitigated Disaster on Feb 17, 2009 4:48 PM MST reply actions

See the full quote

In the context that he’s talking about goal-tending.

We still have a third of the year to go, and we’ll do our evaluations when the time is right," Giguere said. “So far, the team as a whole has been inconsistent, and I think that applies to our goalies, as well as our penalty killers and defense. I don’t think there’s been one area making us be in the difficult position we’re in right now.”

While I agree that evaluations need to be done, maybe Giguere realizes that there is no one-two move solution to this team. There are problems all over this team and he can’t change one area (goal-tending) to solve the problem. Maybe he’s unsure where to start, maybe he has no clue, and maybe he realizes he can’t make enough moves to turn this ship around this season. While it would be nice that 1-2 moves could fix this mess, I don’t think that’s a real option.

I could be completely of base, but that’s the way I read it…..

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

Now and then we had the hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be PIRATES.
-Mark Twain-

by Americanario on Feb 17, 2009 5:23 PM MST up reply actions

i don’t want to spoil a potential fanpost, but after running some numbers I’m not seeing much room next year for additional moves. people will continue to be unhappy with FG, i expect, especially if he doesn’t sell off some.

by thedoctor on Feb 17, 2009 5:37 PM MST up reply actions

Thought about that too

Essentially Stats will take Sakic’s cap space, and we still have a roster loaded with way too many overpaid/underperforming defensemen. Which is why I really, really, really hope they can unload Clark at the deadline. Heck, I’d be more than willing to unload Hannan as well. And if at all possible make someone eat Tucker in that deal. Please.

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Feb 17, 2009 5:41 PM MST up reply actions

2 moves, you say

1 Trade for a goalie
2. Appoint a coach who’s more than a really really nice guy

I still think the talent is theoretically on the ice to be better than this, they’re just directionless.

(Oh, and fire Giguere whilst we’re pulling the trigger on moves.)

by eltharion_doa on Feb 20, 2009 10:44 AM MST up reply actions

I am not a fan of Budaj, and I am not a fan of Raycroft. But the goaltending is not the BIGGEST change that needs to be made on this team. Until the staff behind the bench (ALL OF THEM) are gone, this team will go nowhere.

Granato has no system on offense. His PP system still relies on the three guys down low, and not the point guys. His defense is CONSTANTLY lost

I see a lot about Hannan not performing the way he did in the playoffs against the Avs (Forsberg in particular). Have you noticed that it’s not just Hannan, but every big hitter that comes to the Avs…stops hitting? The constant in that is also behind the bench.

Again, until Granato is “re-evaluated” there is not much you can do to change the on ice product…I don’t care who the players are

by chiavsfan on Feb 18, 2009 7:58 AM MST reply actions

goaltending is not the BIGGEST change that needs to be made on this team.

The focus on the goaltending this year has been a product of the media (Dater). Unfortunately, all of that attention has distracted from the real problems of this team. I really think if we had had an elite goaltender in this year it would have been better. Not because I think the team would have played any better, but because it would have shifted the focus where it belonged: on the team’s lousy performance this year, both offensively and defensively.

Avs. Sticking it to the Red Wings

by hockeymom on Feb 18, 2009 9:45 AM MST up reply actions

No, goaltending has been a real and legitimate problem. But THE problem is still behind the bench

by chiavsfan on Feb 18, 2009 9:57 AM MST up reply actions

I agree it has

along with just about everything else.

Avs. Sticking it to the Red Wings

by hockeymom on Feb 18, 2009 10:13 AM MST up reply actions

New Theme for the season.

Colorado Avalanche: We don’t embrace mediocrity, we dry hump the shit out of it.

Repeated here for the masses.

Colorado Avalanche: Gellin' and Propellin'!!!

by Mike @ MHH on Feb 18, 2009 9:08 AM MST reply actions

Frei has a followup posted

http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2009/02/17/giguere-follow/

interesting read. he’s basically saying without saying his editors made FG’s comments more “in denial” than they actually were.

by thedoctor on Feb 18, 2009 10:26 AM MST reply actions

Thanks

for alerting us to Frei’s post. Very interesting and thoughtful analysis of a lot of issues facing the Avs right now.

I’m not sure if Frei implies anything regarding his editors, but definitely acknowledges that the original story, as written, reflects only what FG was willing to say for the record and does not tell the full story of what is going on as far as the current thoughts of FG & Avs ownership. Frei discusses a lot of additional factors likely to be on the minds of the Avs management personnel that were not mentioned in the story. I also like how Frei hints at a lot by reminding readers how these articles are written.

by Pookie on Feb 18, 2009 11:26 AM MST up reply actions

FG at work trying to fix the Avs?

As is, he isn’t doing anything. He hasn’t done anything positive since last year’s trade deadline. However, let’s say he does get active. Unfortunately, we may eventually equate his effort and subsequent results to this class movie scene:

MHH: Shagging Dater one contributor at a time.

by Bob in Boulder on Feb 18, 2009 12:33 PM MST up reply actions

I stand by my rant above. Goaltending has been this team’s problem. If they had consistent goaltending (rather than consistently bad goaltending—zing). I don’t think it would be a stretch to think they would have won at least 5 more games, which puts them at 65 points and 5th place in the conference ( I think I remember seeing that the avs had been in the most one goal games this year). And sure we’d be bitching and moaning about the D and the lack of a checking center and such, but look at the standings, other than Detroit or San Jose, who doesn’t have holes to fill in their roster?

I'm Mr. Positive

by An Unmitigated Disaster on Feb 18, 2009 1:18 PM MST reply actions

I don’t think it would be a stretch to think they would have won at least 5 more games, which puts them at 65

That could have also happened if this so-called “up tempo” hockey team which they were touted to be, had scored at least one more goal, and that’s not including the 6 games where they were shut out! So much for up-tempo offense.

Here is a quote from Lappy in a Rocky Mountain News article:

"The thing with Peter is, some nights he’ll be playing great and we’ll lose a game; he won’t get any recognition," says veteran winger Ian Laperriere, who has been pressed into service at center.

"Some nights, we’ll be playing OK and he’ll let one soft goal in, like every goalie will do. It seems to be bad timing for him. If you let those soft goals in a win, nobody would talk about it.

"Maybe he’s got some stuff to do, but we’ve got to play better in front of him. Some nights, he’s there by himself — he’s got two, three, four, five shots in a row without us doing anything."

Here is the link:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/feb/06/krieger-budajs-man-or-must-avs-cast-wider-net/

This is EXACTLY how I feel about this team this year, including the coaches. EVERYBODY has stuff to work on.

Of all the Avs players, staff, etc., Lappy’s opinion is the one I value the most, because he tells it like it is!

Avs. Sticking it to the Red Wings

by hockeymom on Feb 18, 2009 2:19 PM MST reply actions

Sorry

Forgot to hit the reply button to “Unmitigated Disaster.”

Avs. Sticking it to the Red Wings

by hockeymom on Feb 18, 2009 2:21 PM MST up reply actions

it’s ok I got it. I started out the year thinking that budaj could more readily duplicate his streak to end the year two seasons ago than threeorfour could last year. Even when the avs won 5 games after their losing streak starting the season, he wasn’t playing well, and I’m just not sure that he get on that roll again, when he couldn’t I would have thought management would have seen it, but by that quote, they don’t or don’t want to, or don’t want to admit to it right now. And frankly if he or Razor can get on a streak right now it’s probably too little too late.

I do think you have to be solid in net before you can be solid anywhere else.

I'm Mr. Positive

by An Unmitigated Disaster on Feb 18, 2009 6:38 PM MST up reply actions