By Larry Wigge | NHL.com columnist

He's tall and angular, bending at the hips with his back arched so that he can look even bigger and more ominous in goal -- even when he goes down in his butterfly style.

Though he has the same logo with an Avalanche winding downhill around an 'A' and looks eerily similar to another goaltender who proudly wore the same sweater, David Aebischer isn't Patrick Roy.

But Roy's understudy for the past three seasons isn't bad.

It's safe to say that no one will ever change the game the way Roy did, with his innovative style of play, the way he challenged shooters -- almost dared them to try to shoot between his pads and just as quickly took that target away from them. We now see almost every goaltender go down in a butterfly style to shut off the entire bottom portion of the net -- and that, plus a whole slew of great French Canadian goalies in the NHL, underscore Roy's elite presence in the game for the past 19 seasons.

Clearly, Roy's retirement in late May with a record 551 regular-season wins, 151 Stanley Cup Playoff victories and four Stanley Cups -- two in Montreal and two in Colorado -- was hockey's top story in 2003. Colorado fans only hope that David Aebischer's debut as starting goalie for the Avalanche can come close to Roy's in 1996, when he left Montreal for Denver in the team's first season in the Mile High City and led the Avs to a Stanley Cup.

The scene was set for a big season when the Avalanche signed high-profile free agents Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne to join an already star-filled offense with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay. But it all generally comes down to how good a team is in goal, doesn't it? And, so far, so good, with Aebischer in the nets.

In fact, consider this:

With less than seven seconds left in overtime in a game at St. Louis late last week, Keith Tkachuk picked up a loose puck behind the Colorado defense. Only Aebischer stood between Tkachuk and an overtime win. The tall Swiss goalie stood his ground and got his right shoulder on Tkachuk's shot to save a 3-3 tie.

"After I got turned around and looked in goal, I thought for a minute it was Patrick," Tkachuk said later.

It wasn't, of course. But the result -- a clutch save -- was reminiscent of Roy.

Even though he comes into this week with just three losses in his last 17 games in goal (9-3-5), Aebischer knows he can't be Patrick Roy. He knows replacing a legend is a no-win situation. He knows that others around the League are predicting that Avs General Manager Pierre Lacroix will have to go out an make a trade for a veteran goaltender like Sean Burke, Curtis Joseph or Olie Kolzig to improve the team's chances of making a run at another Stanley Cup.

What is obviously clear is David cannot revert back to the form that resulted in a 7-12-0 record last season.

"I have something to prove to myself and to this organization," Aebischer said softly after that tie in St. Louis. "I'm not Patrick Roy, but I was lucky enough to be able to play behind him, listen to his every thought on the game. Hear him talk goaltending for the last three years. I absorbed a lot.

"Most of all, I was able to watch his every move and learn about the mental toughness he had to face the pressure of trying to establish records, win Stanley Cups and be the best goaltender ever."

The 25-year-old Aebischer came into St. Louis with a 14-6-4 record this season, a 2.07 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. For the record, the 14 victories represents nearly half of the 32 wins he had in his 60 previous NHL decisions in goal.

"The job is all about confidence," says Blues goaltender Chris Osgood. "You don't replace a legend like Patrick. You just try to do your best."

Especially in this position where that red light shines so brightly behind you that everyone in the rink thinks you made the mistake -- never mind a blown coverage made somewhere in front of you.

Some compare this job to the pressure on an air traffic controller. The ride is smooth as long as you do your job. But make a mistake ... and everyone crashes around you.

But Aebischer says he's up to the challenge of being Colorado's No. 1 goalie.

"I'm leaner. I'm quicker. I'm more confident," Aebischer says. "Patrick always told me that it was important to be quicker. In his last couple of years, he worked real hard in the offseason to be in better shape than the previous year."

Aebischer continued to mountain bike a lot to get stronger, but he also watched his carbohydrate intake to be leaner and reduce his body-fat level. He also spent a lot of time with Swiss goalie coach Bruno Knutti, working on improving his butterfly style. He played a lot of badminton to improve his hand-eye coordination. He worked hard in the weight room, strengthening his lower body and trying to improve his flexibility.

Aebischer paused for a moment, before continuing with the lessons he learned from Roy ...

"I'm not the golfer that Patrick is (Roy is a single-digit handicapper, while Aebischer is a 22), but I heard him talk a lot about facing the pressure of the job in terms of golf -- and how it's all about consistency," Aebischer says. "He used to picture the first period like the first six holes. The second period the next six holes ... and so on. That way, If you make a mistake -- a bogey -- you have lots of time left to be better."

In other words, it's 18 holes -- or three periods -- not just one shot that makes the performance a good one for a goaltender.

"Abby's answered a lot of questions for the guys," says captain Joe Sakic. "The work he did in the offseason is obvious. It has obviously helped him take his game to a different level."

On opening night, Aebischer made 31 saves and backstopped the Avalanche to a 5-0 victory over Chicago to cheers of "Ab-bie, Ab-bie, Ab-bie."

"It's been a big change this year," Aebischer admits. "I don't stay on the ice as long in practice, unless I have something I need to work on. I try to keep my mind busy ... with things away from the ice. Now that I'm the starter, I don't need to be worrying about games between games. Patrick taught me that. Once a game is over, it's over. He didn't take it home with him."

The weight of the world is clearly on his shoulders and Aebischer sees in his mind's eyes the No. 33 nameplate over his new stall in the Avs locker room at home in the Pepsi Center, but he obviously isn't letting the pressure get to him. And while everyone else in the league is waiting for Aebischer to crash and burn, the tall Swiss goalie is working harder than ever in practice.

"When you see guys like Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg and Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne and Milan Hejduk bearing down on you in practice, you get a sense of what facing the best players in the National Hockey League is like -- and I've used that to help me in games," Aebischer says with a wink. "It's always hard to picture exactly how things will work out, but so far I'm pleased. I think I have given the team a chance to win on most nights."

For those defensemen who play directly in front of Aebischer, after doing the same in front of Roy, there is a definite difference. But then ...

"As far as the way they play, they are very, very similar," says defenseman Rob Blake. "Were there changes? Sure. Patrick used to love to get out and handle the puck. David doesn't do that, so we have to get back more and move the puck up the ice ourselves a little more. But as far as challenging and stopping the first shot, I like it's safe to say that in that locker room we feel that David's as good as anyone in the League."

With Patrick Roy ... you knew what you had, right?

"And I think those were the questions we were asking coming into the season," says Blake. "But after 30-some games, I think he's answered those questions. We know if the opposition is going to beat him, it's going to have to be a good shot -- and you can't imagine the kind of confidence that instills in everyone who plays in front of him.

"We know there are a lot of people around the League looking at our situation ... without Patrick. We know David is probably under the microscope as much as anyone in the League because of the circumstances. But I think he proved to all of us a couple of weeks ago when we had consecutive games in Vancouver and in Calgary, two of our division rivals and he absolutely stood on his head.

"We know he's not Patrick Roy -- and he knows he's not Patrick Roy. But as long as he gives us a chance to win every night, we're OK with that."

Pierre Lacroix doesn't live with his cellphone up to his ear, especially when it comes to making his team a Stanley Cup contender. A year ago he put Tony Granato behind his bench to replace Bob Hartley, even though Granato had never coached before in his life. And even though Aebischer has but 35 minutes in NHL playoff mopup experience in the postseason, Lacroix says his Roy replacement plan isn't in panic mode.

"We began this journey at least five years ago. We knew the legend would retire ... when that would happen, we didn't know," Lacroix says. "We're a proud organization and we knew Patrick wouldn't play forever, so we drafted David (in 1997), Philippe Sauve (in '98), Peter Budaj (in 2001) and Tyler Weiman (in '02).

"All of that said, it's obviously a long process when you are dealing with a player with the presence and production of a Patrick Roy -- and when you consider the five years of pro hockey and three years behind Patrick that David has and three years at the American Hockey League level for Phil Sauve, you can see this was not something we waited to put into place last summer after Patrick Roy retired."

Lacroix talks about the business investment the Avalanche made as a company, the team's five-year plan to have a replacement in place when Roy finally made that shocking announcement that he would no longer be challenging shots in goal in Denver.

"I know there are a lot of critics out there that say we can't win a Stanley Cup with a goalie who has never won in the playoffs," Lacroix says. "So far, no one can say that the numbers are not there, that David Aebischer hasn't given us a chance to win nearly every night. What I like about David most is: He knows he has to be himself. He knows that you don't replace Patrick Roy, that he has to be David Aebischer. You have to start somewhere."

All of which clearly sounds like Lacroix is ready to roll the dice and go with Aebischer all the way.

You know something: I remember in 1986 that there weren't a lot of people behind a young Montreal rookie named Patrick Roy, when he went into the playoffs with no playoff experience ... and he won a Stanley Cup for the Canadiens.

If anyone has any other thoughts on the subject, I guess we can say: Let them write to Dear Aebbie.