Having a great goalie is what gives every team a chance at winning. The Colorado Avalanche had that during the second half of the regular season and in the first round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. Against the difficult Red Wings they have lacked that important component. Jose Theodore have been battling the flue as of late and haven't been the same thus he hasn't been that lock you need in net.
Of course Theodore is not entirely to blame for the Avs being down 3-0 in the series. Instead, blame Joel Quenneville for not giving the other players that fair chance att winning, which they probably would get if Peter Budaj would start in net. Quenneville keeps saying that he wants Theodore to play because he got them there. True, Jose Theodore's incredible goaltending was a huge factor against the Wild, but that is not a good reason to play him when he's playing not so great. With all the injuries this Avs team has suffered they need him to be a difference maker.
Quenneville answered any goaltending questions with "this [Theodore] is a guy that they have to count on. You win with your best and you lose with your best.
What does that tell Peter Budaj, who has come on for Theodore twice in this series and been solid? In my opinion, you play with who is hot. Quenneville's decision to stick with his number one cost the Avs two games and put them in a near impossible situation. This is no time to avoid hurting someone's feelings and Theodore knows this, he's been in the league long enough to know it's about who is hot and who is not. Starting Budaj in Game 2 could have given the Avs a better shot at tying the series at 1-1.
In Game 3 Theodore had 31 saves so maybe he has gotten over his bad spell. Question is if it's too late for the Avs as a team to do the same. No team since the 1975 NY Islanders has erased a 3-0 deficit to advance from a playoff series.
I hate to say it, but this Colorado team does not look like a history-making team.
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