Goalie's play feels like flashback
In the shadow of
Patrick Roy's jersey hanging in the rafters, Avalanche goalie David Aebischer sprawled on the ice in front of the net, with the puck firmly in his possession, as the chant began rumbling throughout every corner of the arena."Abby, Abby, Abby!" shouted the crowd at the Pepsi Center.
It was the sweetest sound of Colorado's 3-1 victory against Dallas in the opening game of the 2004 playoffs.
In the first postseason start of his NHL career, Aebischer was unflappable, unbelievable, unbeatable.
Aebischer made it all look so easy Wednesday night, the easy mistake would be to underestimate the difficulty of his achievement.
"What Aebischer is doing is very hard. Oh, yeah, it's real hard. Especially getting in the net after somebody the stature of
Patrick Roy," said no less an authority than Scotty Bowman, the greatest hockey coach who ever lived. "This is not like replacing your average goalie. What Aebischer had to do is like being the next goalie after Ken Dryden in Montreal."It's following a legend."
For a Colorado team that entered the playoffs besieged with doubt, Game 1 against Dallas was reduced to only one relevant question.
Patrick who?
"Abby kept us in the game," Colorado superstar
Peter Forsberg said. "He made some unbelievable saves."Sure, Aebischer caught a break in making his postseason debut against Dallas, a team that can boast of Bill Guerin, Mike Modano and Sergei Zubov on its roster, yet seems to have nary an offensive Star when going on the road.
Some tourists cannot seem to remember a toothbrush. Every time the Stars arrive at a hotel, they always seem to have forgotten to pack a scoring touch. Take them out of the Big "D," and they've got no "O."
Dallas averaged a pathetic 1.85 goals per game on the road this season. Want an even more startling statistic? Away from home, the Stars are scoreless and hopeless in their most recent 39 power-play chances.
Aebischer was given time to get comfortable, required to stop 17 shots through two periods. That was a credit to Colorado defensemen
Adam Foote and Rob Blake, who seized on the conservative style of attack by the Stars, barely allowing anything resembling a scoring chance until the Avalanche established a comfortable three-goal lead late in the game."Obviously, Aebischer has never done this before. But you've got to start sometime," Bowman said. "He stopped four or five shots where the Stars had a chance. That got the crowd behind him. And that's exactly what a young goalie needs."
It is impossible to skate on the ice as a goalie in Colorado and not feel the presence of Roy's No. 33 in the rafters.
"It was a bit weird, the whole warm-up and all that stuff. It was a little bit different. I was probably more nervous than usual," Aebischer admitted. "But after the puck dropped, I don't know, it just went away, and I felt pretty good."
Let's not get carried away. Before these playoffs reach a conclusion, there will be a rough evening, a tight game or an ugly period when the Avalanche will miss Roy.
Toward the end of his brilliant career, the reflexes of the best pressure goalie of all time slowed, but the indomitable spirit in Roy's steely blue eyes never faded.
The good news? What impresses most about Aebischer is not his technique, but an arrogance that would do Roy proud.
And, if Game 1 was any indication, the No. 1 worry Colorado has in making another run at the Stanley Cup will definitely not be Aebischer.
Finishing with 37 saves after a barrage of late Dallas shots, Aebischer obtained what an inexperienced playoff goalie needs most. He collected positive memories and strong mental photographs that should serve him well when the inevitable soft goal and tough times find Aebischer in the pressure of the postseason.
"If a young goalie can avoid a bad stretch early, then the worst is behind him. If a goalie has three or four good games in a row, he has something to fall back on," said Bowman, who critiqued Aebischer's performance as an advance scout for the Detroit Red Wings. "Once a goalie gets his confidence, I don't think you ever change him in the playoffs unless your team is desperate."
The Avs won at home, as the crowd loudly paid homage to its hero the goalie.
Same as it ever was.
For one beautiful night in Denver, the Avs were winning and the house was rocking.
But the most beautiful noise of all was this. You could change all those old chants from "Roy" to "Abby" and not tell the difference.