Okay, let's see if I have this 100% correct.
The Avalanche last year rolled out one of their grittiest teams since, well, ever. Guys like Ben Guite, Ian Laperriere, Cody McLeod and Cody McCormick had opposing teams reaching for the Bengay after games. All four of those guys are coming back. Had the Avalanche stopped there, I would have been more than satsified with our level of toughness.
A week ago, the Avs announced they'd be bringing back Scott Parker. You know, just in case there's a freak injury to all four of the players in the previous paragraph. Okay, can't have too much insurance. Good job.
Today, the Avalanche finally admited to signing Per Ledin from Sweden. Ledin is made of gold and, get this, is known to be gritty. And then, the coup de grace (which is French for "things that piss me off"): the signing of Darcy Tucker.
Wha...?
Taking Parker out of the equation (please), do we really have a need for 6 guys in this mold? I'm all for toughness and intimidation (okay, agitation), but isn't this going a little overboard? You still need to score goals, right? I guess I could something like Guite, Lappy and Tucker as a very intriguing 3rd line, with Ledin and the Codys on the 4th line. But my fear is that we're going to see trippy shit like McLeod on the 2nd line with Arnason or Tucker and Lappy riding shotgun with Wolski.
Finding a balance between grit and skill is not always easy. I know it's still early, but it seems like that scale is tipped too much in the wrong direction right now. And the oddest part is, it seems like Giguere is signing Quenneville-type players. Did he not get his own memo?