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2008 Final Grade:C+
2007 Grade: B-
Links:
{{arnason}} (hockey-reference page)
2008 ITCS (aka highly unofficial) Arnason Game Log
Season Stats: 70gp 10g 21a 31pt -1
Minutes: 1,068.1 (6th), EV 12:46, PP 2:27, PK :02, ATOI 15:15
1st Half: 30gp 3g 7a 10pt -1
2nd Half: 40gp 7g 14a 21pt E
Playoffs: 10gp 2g 3a 5pt -2
Best Month: January (9gp 2g 6a 8pt +5)
Positions: C (70)
Lines: 3rd (46), 2nd (23), 4th (1)
Linemates: Arnason season log
LW: Wolski (25), Smyth (11), McLeod (9), Smith (8), Hlinka (6), Brunette (3), Laperriere (3), Forsberg (2), Cumiskey (1), Guite (1), Richardson (1)
RW: Svatos (31), Laperriere (11), Jones (10), Brunette (5), McCormick (4), Hejduk (3), Hensick (2), Hlinka (2), McLeod (2)
Season: Arnason's 10 goals and 31 points were his lowest totals since his 21 game rookie season
Report: When preparing these, I usually check back to last year's write-up to see what's changed. Interestingly, of the 4 comments, 3 were quite favorable to Arnie (including one from our friend Joe) and my grade was rather complimentary as well. Something tells me there won't be quite the same outpouring of support this year. Arnason was his usual inconsistent, emotionally detached self this year, except with a little less production. Arnason had points in back-to-back games just 3 times this season. For two years running he's averaged over 2 minutes a game on the powerplay, and he has all of 21 pp points. He's had acceptable output at even strength (22 points this year), but someone really needs to stop using him with the man advantage. It just isn't working. Obviously, physical play is not a part of his game; he has 8 hits in 2 seasons in Denver. 709 NHL players had more than that this season alone. For crying out loud, little Kyle Cumiskey had 7 in 38 games. Arnason did improve in the faceoff circle, from 43.8% to 47.3%. I thought he looked good down the stretch and in the Minnesota series and he's a bit underrated for his ability to draw penalties. His line had a lot to do with the Wild's game 4 meltdown, although that just adds to the frustration; we know the guy can play - the issue is that he rarely seems to be interested in doing so. I think what annoys me the most is that Joel Quenneville was notoriously hard on so many of his players, but seemed to give Arnie a free pass. Arnason has yet to be healthy scratch in his two years with the Avs. By my count, 14 other forwards have been a healthy scratch at least once during Arnie's tenure (Wolski, McCormick, Richardson, Rycroft, Laaksonen, Guite, Svatos, Parros, Turgeon, Parker, Hlinka, Smith, Hensick and Jones). And only three times since coming aboard has Arnason seen less than 10 minutes of ice time in a game - his 3rd game as an Avalanche (9:59), game 77 of this past season (9:06) and in game 6 against the Wild (9:49). If anyone needs an occasional wake-up call to, um, rekindle the fire, it's Arnason. For whatever reason, Quenneville just let Arnason be Arnason.
Fast Fact: Arnason spent time on a line with every forward other than Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny and Scott Parker (and if you aren't mouthing "one of these things is not like the other" right now, you have more restraint than I do).
2007-2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $1,600,000 ($1,675,000)
2008-2009 Status: Arnason is signed through the end of the upcoming season.
Outlook: I know the current sentiment in the Avosphere is a desire to dump Arnason as quickly as possible, but I think he can be a very useful player to us. He can be dangerous at even strength, enough to provide some much-needed 3rd line pop. But, he needs to be a lot more consistent with his game. Do I expect miracles? No, some occasional disappearing acts are to be expected. But 49 scoreless games out of 70 played are just way too many. I think with a little better motivation from the coaching staff, Arnason could give the Avalanche a solid return this year on their $1.6 million. But not on the powerplay, please. That's just a waste of everyone's time.