Midseason Grade: C

Final Grade: B-

Joined Team: Signed as a free agent, July 12, 2006.

MHH Nicknames: Guillotine, BenFu

Lines:

• 4th (26)
• 3rd (14)
• 2nd (9)

Positions:

• C (50)
  

Linemates:

LW:

• McLeod (18)
• Tucker (12)
• Laperriere (11)
• McCormick (5)
• Durno (2)
• Wolski (1)
• Willsie (1)

RW:

• Laperriere (21)
• McCormick (13)
• Tucker (7)
• Willsie (2)
• Hensick (2)
• Svatos (1)
• Dupuis (1)
• Hendricks (1)
• Stewart (1)

Ice Time:*

• TOT 12:43 (12th)
• EV 10:12 (12th)
• PK 2:21 (4th)
• PP :09 (15th)

*Rank is based on total minutes, not average per game.

Best Month: October (3 points in 5 games)

Career Highlights: Believe it or not, someone on the Avalanche set a career high for plus minus last year. And yes, that someone is Guite, with a +2.

Report: Ben Guite had another solid season centering the 4th line. While he struggled at points (and was an occasional healthy scratch), he still mostly delivered as he had in the past.

Guite is your basic, hard-working 4th liner. He isn't blessed with a great deal of size, speed or skill, but he works hard, throws the body around, kills penalties, grows manly mustaches and scores the ocassional goal here and there. After dipping to 48% faceoff efficiency the previous year, Guite rebounded to 51.5% in 08-09.

I think his play declined slightly last year (hence the drop from a B to a B-) but he still contributed quite a bit.

Fun Fact: Guite shares a birthday with another famous mustache: Bryan Trottier.

The Ben Guite Drinking Game:  Drink when Guite is thrown out of the faceoff circle  Drunk potential: High

What I Said Last Year: "Although I'd like to see him improve in the faceoff circle, I think Guite is an excellent guy to have on our 4^th line. And the fancy ‘stache he sports on occasion kicks all kinds of ass."

2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $475K ($475K)

2009-2010 Status: UFA

Outlook for 2009: Who really knows what's going to happen with the team this summer. Guite is an unrestricted free agent, but I can't imagine there's going to be huge bidding war for his services. He's a fan favorite in Denver; along with Lappy and Sakic, he's a free agent most folks would like to see return. I think there's a good chance of that happening.

Next Up: Daniel Tjarnqvist