Rebuilding process progressing better than expected for surprising Avalanche
At times, they see him as an extension of the coaching staff.
Maybe that's because at age 38, Adam Foote is nearly old enough to be on it. Or it could be that the Colorado Avalanche captain has been around for 18 seasons, which is as long as a couple of the players on this fresh-faced team have been alive. But with that, a couple of Stanley Cup rings and an Olympic gold medal, Foote certainly has the credentials to offer coach-like words of wisdom in the dressing room.
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| 'Maybe we're in a better position than people thought we'd be ... we've made a lot of good changes,' Foote says. (Getty Images) |
Colorado had already salvaged a point by scoring twice in the final minute of regulation, but Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson was bowled over in overtime by Florida defenseman Keith Ballard and forced from the game. (Anderson is listed as day-to-day with a neck injury.) And Ballard had already been beaten up in highlight reels everywhere since the beginning of the week for hitting his own goalie with his stick.
Foote piled on anyway and it forced the Avs to finish the overtime short-handed. But for rookie coach Joe Sacco, there was a message in there that served a higher purpose.
"He was sticking up for our goalie and we don't mind that, we want that from our players," Sacco said. "It's an extension of what we're trying to do and how we're trying to grow as a team.
"In that room with such a young team, you need good, strong internal leadership and Adam has certainly risen to that challenge. He's been a very useful leader for us."
These days, along with about 20 minutes of ice time, that involves a lot of what Foote calls "tire pumping" to help a group of players that keeps getting told they are playing above their heads on an even keel.
Colorado was supposed to be in a rebuilding year after missing the playoffs and saying goodbye to several veterans, including the retired Joe Sakic. Instead the Avs have been one of the league's biggest surprises, coming out of nowhere to finish the first month of the season leading the Northwest Division with a 10-2-2 record.
But the Avs dampened the youthful enthusiasm by going 5-6-3 in November, including only three wins in their last 11 games so Foote has been working the glass half-full thing harder than ever.
"When you're this young, you better just to dwell on the positives," said Foote.
On the bright side, there have been some positives of late, most notably the play of rookie Matt Duchene. The 18-year-old taken third overall last June responded to having his time cut last week by scoring five times in the next three games, which has picked up the slack created by injuries to the Avs two top scorers, Milan Hejduk and David Jones. But Anderson, the free-agent workhorse whose goaltending was the key to the Avs success in the first month, has seen his numbers become more pedestrian of late largely because the Avs have been outshot badly in nearly every game.
It could be taken as a sign the Avs have already peaked, right?
"I don't think so," Foote said. "Maybe we're in a better position than people thought we'd be, but I think our team was a lot better than our record showed last year and we've made a lot of good changes. Andy is playing well, that's where it starts, but the big thing is that guys care about each other here. We have a really good group."
It's much like the one Foote broke in with for Colorado's forerunners, the Quebec Nordiques. In 1991-92, Foote joined a team with Sakic, Mats Sundin and Owen Nolan in the early stages of their careers, which was just one year before they turned the corner and qualified for the playoffs. No one is talking about any of the current Avs talent in the same breath with those names just yet, but Foote draws comparisons with this Avs team as they find winning tougher, but still manages to pick up points even in games where they've been outplayed.
"[Quebec] started at the bottom of the barrel too, but we were just playing and having fun," he said. "You have that here and guys who are young, mature, responsible playing with a lot of confidence. That shows on the ice."
And for at least the time being, it translates into a winning team that continues to be a surprise by staying in the playoff race.
"The media wrote a bunch of stuff about we're going to be young and rebuilding, but it doesn't matter who you have," Anderson said. "If you play the right way and as a team, you can beat any team with a ton of talent and we've done that this year so far."
