A Numbers Game: #7

(This is a series that will run through the offseason that highlights the best, worst, and most irrelevant players to wear each number from 1 to whenever there isn’t enough players that wore a certain number to do this. So…here…we…go…)

Lucky number seven. A few players have worn #7 and brought it great honour. Others have worn number 7 and this will be the first time you’ve thought of them since they did. There is a definite winner, loser, and “we hardly knew ye” for this number so let’s get started. Oh, and 7 is the number of teams in the UHL that Tyler Arnason will contact for a tryout before realizing he isn’t the most skilled athlete.

The Best: Greg De Vries. By far. De Vries was one of those guys who didn`t score much, and it seemed he was around much more than 5 seasons. Although in his last three seasons he put up goal totals of 5, 8, and 6, which in the past few years would rival the team lead among defenders on the Avs. Pathetic. De Vries was one of the many low profile guys on a team full of superstars, but he was just as vital in every Avs win as guys like Sakic, Tanguay, Forsberg, and Foote.

The Worst: T.J. Hensick. One of the many players drafted by the Avs from 2003 to 2007 that just never panned out. Hensick reminded us a lot of Tyler Arnason in a sense that he could’ve been better, but lack of motivation and competitive nature made him look lazy and slow. The Avs gave him three years to prove himself and when he couldn’t, he was shipped to the Blues. He even started to look like Arnason during his last season:

                         

                               

Mr. Irrelevant: This guy hurts us. Big time. And there is no better Mr. Irrelevant for #7 than Johnny Boychuk. You may have heard of Boychuk, the big, tough, smart, physical anchor on defense for the Bruins. Veteran of 4 pointless games for the Avs in which two were played on the 4^th line wing, Boychuk was shipped out for Matt Hendricks. If you are a regular reader of ours, you will notice that this is about the 1003^rd time we’ve brought this up. Ouch.

Other #7’s

Curtis Leschyshyn – If we included Nordiques he would’ve been the best

Pascal Trepanier – wore 3 numbers for the Avs during 2 stints. More on him later

Darby Hendrickson – spy for the Wild

David Vander Gulik – Love DVG, needs more opportunities

John Mitchell – give Mitchell a few more years and a few more scars with the Avs and he’ll be the best #7

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #6

(This is a series that will run through the offseason that highlights the best, worst, and most irrelevant players to wear each number from 1 to whenever there isn’t enough players that wore a certain number to do this. So…here…we…go…)

#6 is an interesting number when it comes to the Avs. It wreaks of instability and features many players that were rentals, short term guys, or call ups. 6 is also the number of times Chris Pronger can blatantly break the rules before getting a little warning from the ref.

The Best: Erik Johnson. And he hasn’t even been that good. Yes he has been good compared to the other defensemen he’s been surrounded by over the past few years but on a league wide scale, step it up buddy. The only reason he is named the best is because of his competition’s inability to last with this team.

The Worst: Wade Belak. Belak was not very effective during his stay in Colorado and many nights he found himself playing forward on the 1^st line. Call it mis-coaching or lack of fit on a skilled hockey team, but either way, he earns this distinction because he was a minus player, and the rest of the 6’s never really played enough to be the worst, or played better. Imagine that. But on the bright side, Belak would blossom into a hard-nosed, rough and tough defenseman. He hardly ever scored, but it was tough to play against him.

Mr. Irrelevant: It could have been a number of guys. But the straight up winner is Derek Peltier who played a total of 3 games while wearing #6 (and 11 games wearing #50 but this isn’t 50’s turn is it?) and was a shadow. But he was mentioned on this website so, you know, I bet his career has been fulfilled. Hockey players dream of 2 things when they’re little. #1: winning the Stanley Cup. #2: being mentioned on Avaholics Unanimous. You’re welcome Peltier.

Other #6’s

Craig Wolanin – Played great in Quebec, won his only cup in ’96 with the Avs and retired.

Chris Dingman – useless at #6, pure dynamite at #11.

Rick Berry – That guy on TV now.

D.J. Smith –Fighter, non-offensive. Unless you make him angry.

Bob Boughner – tough guy, mean, but at the twilight of his career in Colorado.

Jeff Finger – signed that ridiculous deal with Toronto. Would’ve been a great player if he stayed 

here and didn’t get waived to the minors with TO.

Jonas Holos – Winner of the “Sacco misplayed you because he knows nothing about hockey” award.

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #5

(This is a series that will run through the offseason that highlights the best, worst, and most irrelevant players to wear each number from 1 to whenever there isn’t enough players that wore a certain number to do this. So…here…we…go…)

#5. Also known as the number of cups the Avs should have won between 1996 and 2003. But two? Yea we’ll settle with two. That’s the humble thing to do isn’t it Vancouver? This number was a tough one. Not because everyone who wore this number was a superstar, but because everyone who wore this number wasn’t very good or vital to the success of the Avs. There is only one player that should go down in history as one of the greatest Avs defenders, and he is….

The Best: Alexei Gusarov. Gusarov was Russian. Big shock isn’t it? And he was good. Tough along the boards, kept his feet moving, got pucks to the net, used the body, never gave up, and we have just given you the transcript for every NHL player interview since 1990. But that’s what Gusarov was. Everything you wanted in a stay at home defenseman. I bet if you asked Patrick Roy about Gusarov he would tell you that the Russian was one of his favorite players to play with. Now, let’s get derogatory!

The Worst: This was a tough one. Everyone else who wore #5 wasn’t a bad player. They were more irrelevant than anything else. But we have to go with someone and that someone is Todd Gill. Why? Because out of all the players that played more than 10 games, he was the one who did the least. 36 games, 4 assists, +3. Thanks for coming out Mr. Gill.

Mr. Irrelevant: Shawn Belle. Who? The guy who played 4 games at the very tail end of the 2010-11 season when all hope was lost and when Ryan Wilson was probably injured because he is Ryan Wilson.

Other #5’s:

David Liffiton (Runner up for Mr. Irrelevant but he actually scored and fought)

Brett Clark (Runner Up for the best)

Shane O’Brien (Winner of the “You Don’t Fit On This Team Or This Post” award). Also co-

winner of the “Oh jeez, good luck in Calgary we all really feel sorry for you but make sure to tell everyone how good Ryan O’Reilly is going to be” award. Very prestigious.

Side note: The word “jeez” didn’t get spell-checked. What is this world coming too?

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #4

#4. Also known as the number of games it took people to realize Jonathan Cheechoo wasn’t very good after his Maurice Richard winning, 56 goal season. 6 Players have worn #4 for the Avs and 3 of them were very good. Here is how they all stack up:

The Best: Yep, you guessed it. Nolan Pratt. Pratt was an anchor on defense for the Avs and proved vital in that one game where he played over 12 minutes and just kidding its Rob Blake. Blake was sent over for Adam Deadmarsh, as illustrated here, and was the final piece of the 2001 championship puzzle. How good did him, Bourque, and Foote look on the ice? If you answered “very good” then you are correct.

The Worst: Greg Zanon. No Zanon, not even your Duck Dynasty inspired beard or the fact that you sat down with us for a totally real, not made up interview can save you. You sucked. And you were the reason the Avs lost certain games. Just you. Only you. If Fez from That 70’s Show was here, he would say “good day” and you’d say “but Fez…” then he’d respond “I said good day!” and that would be the end of it. But he isn’t here. So just enjoy Russia for 3 weeks until you realize you haven’t gotten paid and come back to North America and work in an oil change shop.

Mr. Irrelevant: Going to have to go with Cam Russell on this one. 35 games played, 1 goal, 2 assists. You deserve this honour Cam Russell. But in the time he spent with Colorado he was a physical force who was tough to play against. He just didn’t fit with the team.

We’re going to take this time to give a shout out to Uwe Krupp, both for having the most deceiving first name pronunciation, (Oo-Vay) and for scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Avs in 1996. Lets watch!

Also a shout out to Jon Liles who will obviously be signed back with the Avs sometime in the future. We miss you!

So if you look at all the bold names, that’s everyone. Try not to fall off the edge of your seat waiting for the much anticipated #5 edition.

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #3

(This is a series that will run through the offseason that highlights the best, worst, and most irrelevant players to wear each number from 1 to whenever there isn’t enough players that wore a certain number to do this. So…here…we…go…)

#3. In hockey, the number three is a pretty good number. 3 goals in a game, a hat-trick. 3 fights in NHL 2003, a game misconduct. 3 goals on Ilya Bryzgalov, a mediocre 1^st period. 5 players have worn #3 for the Avs, here is what we think of them:

The Best: Aaron Miller. Why? If you’re too young to have watched Miller play for the Avs, then that’s a shame. He was not offensive in the slightest, but he was the definition of a shutdown defenseman in the dead puck era. Miller was physical, strong, and tough to deal with.

The Worst: Ryan O’Byrne, obviously. If you don’t know why, read our exclusive interview with him that can be found here.

Mr. Irrelevant: Lawrence Nycholat. Nycholat came to the Avs in the Ryan Wilson/Jordan Leopold trade as a toss in that never had a chance. He played 5 games for the Avs and went pointless with a  -2. With a record like that we’re surprised Sherman didn’t sign him.

Other #3’s: Karlis Skrastins (Runner up for the best), Pascal Trepanier.

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #2

#2. The number 2 is just as popular, if that’s what you want to call it, as #1 among Avs players. Only 4 players have worn #2 for the burgundy and blue, so let’s get started:

The Best: Sylvain Lefebvre, by FAR. Lefebvre was a solid anchor on the blueline for 4 seasons, and also was the 2^nd Avs player to wear the captain’s C in Avs history, for 18 games, while Sakic was injured in 1997-98.

The Worst: Bryan Muir. We don’t like putting Muir here but we have no choice. Don’t mistake this distinction as us calling Muir a bad player. He worked his tail off, was great in the room, and was solid, but the only other option was Ken Klee, and in his 1 season in Colorado, Klee was pretty darn good. WAY too many penalties though for Klee. As for Muir, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

Mr. Irrelevant: Wes O’Neill, who played 5 games or 2 seasons with the Avalanche. We would like to accept O’Neill’s “thank you” in advance for writing what is probably the 1^st mention of him in a hockey setting in 3 and a half years. You’re welcome Wes.

Also in the Series:

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A Numbers Game: #1

(This is a series that will run through the offseason that highlights the best, worst, and most irrelevant players to wear each number from 1 to whenever there isn’t enough players that wore a certain number to do this. So…here…we…go…)

#1: The loneliest number…why? Have you ever watched a goalie stand there while the play is in the other end?

The Best: Semyon Varlamov. He doesn’t have much competition. David Aebischer is the not so close 2^nd.

The Worst: Andrew Raycroft. Yea he only played 31 games here on a horrible team, but he was kind of the reason. He went 12-16 with a 3.14 GAA and a measly .892 SV%. Other possibles were the guy who we named Mr. Irrelevant.

Mr. Irrelevant: Craig Billington: The ONLY reason we put Bilington here is because he wasn’t the best, wasn’t the worst, and wasn’t David Aebischer. He wasn’t the worst because he did a pretty good job at backing up Roy in the late 90’s, and David Aebischer won a cup and played 5 seasons.


Also in the Series:

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