Eurolanche

Avs Staying Strong

Patrick Bordeleau resigned with the Avalanche today for 3 more years. His contract is a 1 million a year for the 3 which is a good bargain for a big boy who can crush opponents.  At 6 foot 6 and 225 he is a hulk of a man on skates. He led the Avs in hit this year 116. He is the kind of player you need when it comes to protecting young talented guys like Duchene and Landy.

I know a lot of fans are not big on this move. I can understand that feeling. It is not the move Avs fan want to see right now. They want to see a bunch of guys off the team. As well they want to see some bigger better names brought in. This isn’t the days of the pre salary cap. It isn’t as easy to just drop and ditch guys anymore. As well you certainly cannot just buy championships. Look at the Bruins right now and how they steam roll the Pens in the first two games. The Pens are this high scoring talent machine. But when they come up against a big hitting team with a scoring touch they don’t look so great. I know everyone wants their favorite team to be loaded with household names like the Pens.  But what you really need is a well-built team like the Bruins.

Now obviously Bordy isn’t a big hitting scoring guy like a Lucic. I am not delusional yet. What he does do is open up room for a guy like McLeod to play a lot more hockey and a lot less gooning. In 48 games this year he had 8 goals 4 assists for 12 points with Bordy running around. The season before where he had to be in charge of Avs protection he had 6 goals 5 assists for 11 points. The big difference is that was in 75 games.