Foote or Not -- Time To Bury The Avalanche

Much has been made of the scheduled Adam Foote appearance at Nationwide tonight, and an equal amount made of the fact that he will not be here tonight. Sure, he is a sniveling, cowardly traitor without the cojones to admit/explain his actions, but that is not important anymore.

Would we really want to be paying $3 million per year for 4 points, -7 and more time on the IR than Klesla? Didn't we get a nice draft pick for Adam's treachery? Haven't we thumped the Avs like a drum in their own building, twice? The answers are No, Yes and Yes, respectively, for those who are either newcomers or are just emerging from an alcoholic blackout.

What we do need to concern ourselves with tonight is an Avalanche team that has one three in a row, and is showing signs of overcoming their own injury problems. Wolski has been hot, and was one of the 3 Stars for NHL Network. Raycroft has assumed the starting goalie duties, and has a sub-3 GAA and a .900+ Save %. He has not lost on a Tuesday this year, and Mason allegedly has not won on a Tuesday. (I have not had time to verify this latest purported statistic). Smyth is always a pain, and Leopold is showing signs of life.

Keys tonight are the same as every game right now, as we move our way back toward health:

--Stay out of the box
--Tight defense and a strong forecheck
--Aggressiveness in the offensive zone
--Create space and put pucks on net
--Create lanes for Mason to see, and don't let Avs in the blue paint.

The Avalance will be wanting to get into our kitchen after two losses at home, and defending their tenuous hold on playoff positioning. I don't think so . . . Go Jackets!