Decision to stay away right one for Forsberg

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Feb 19, 2008 | by DAVID RAMSEY Sports columnist

DENVER - Thanks, Peter Forsberg.

He could have taken advantage of a desperate team -- say, the Colorado Avalanche -- that suffered from a bad case of nostalgia.

Forsberg passed on the easy money, showing the character that helped make him one of the NHL's more thrilling players. He's keeping his gimpy right foot home in Sweden, along with his aching 34-year-old body.

Avalanche right wing Ian Laperriere is torn by Forsberg's decision. He wanted Forsberg to return, but only to Colorado.

"I'm sad he's not coming here," Laperriere said, "but at least he's not going anywhere."

Sure, the Avalanche could use Forsberg, but the version it needs is long gone. The team needs Forsberg, circa 2002. It needs the matchless player who carried the franchise to two Stanley Cup titles.

But I'm not sure even vintage versions of Forsberg and Patrick Roy could have rescued the Avalanche on Monday night.

The Detroit Red Wings slapped around the Avalanche 4-0 on a strange night at Pepsi Center.

At times, it seemed as if the Red Wings were rampaging along in downtown Detroit. After each goal, a couple thousand fans wearing red and white stomped and shouted while Avalanche fans mumbled to themselves.

From 1996 to 2002, this rivalry was the best in hockey and one of the best in all sport. But those sizzling grudge matches, like a lot of good things about the Avalanche, are long gone.

The Red Wings, skating along as the NHL's best team, worry about their fresh rivalry with the Anaheim Ducks. The Avalanche, hobbled by injuries, is stuck in the middle of the pack.

A week ago, Avalanche players actively campaigned for Forsberg's return. Defenseman John-Michael Liles said Forsberg's health didn't matter. A one-legged Forsberg, Liles said, could be as effective as most players with two sound legs.

Liles is wrong, of course. I remember a trip to Washington, D.C.. in the spring of 2002 to watch a one-legged Michael Jordan, hobbled because of a sore knee.

It was a depressing sight. Jordan, former emperor of basketball, couldn't drag his damaged body past even the most mediocre of the kids who covered him.

Forsberg, to his credit, has too much pride to stumble as a shadow of his former self.

The Avalanche, losers of four straight, is beyond any quick fix. As next Tuesday's trade deadline approaches, general manager Francois Giguere should look to the future and avoid the temptation to make a risky splash.

He might be able to unload left wing Andrew Brunette or overpaid goaltender Jose Theodore, and an array of choice, high-priced talent -- Buffalo's Brian Campbell, Atlanta's Marian Hossa -- could be available.

Giguere needs to take the patient, slow approach and seek draft picks or youthful talent on the rise. Anaheim's Bobby Ryan, only 20 but full of promise, would look terrific in a Colorado uniform.

Give Forsberg credit. He's not stuck in the past. He embraces today's reality.

He offers a great example to his former employers in Colorado.

Columnist David Ramsey can be

reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com.

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