Just when you thought the Theodore saga couldn’t get any stupider, this from the Denver Post:
Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore will miss at least some of the team’s upcoming training camp after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Wednesday.
Wait, now? NOW? The guy is getting a ton of cash, is going to be a cheering section for Peter Budaj, and he waits until now to have knee surgery?
“Before it became a problem in the season, he had a minor scope to clean things up, and it went fine,” Avalanche media relations director Jean Martineau said.
Does that mean they knew this was coming? Did it just crop up? This has all the earmarks of the Jordan Leopold situation last year. Will it last as long? Is the Great Cap Himself going to make himself more useless than before?
Theodore, 30, missed one game in the 2004-05 season with a knee injury, but otherwise has not had knee problems in his career. His most serious injury was a broken heel bone that caused him to miss significant time in the 2005-06 season.
Slipping on the ice on his driveway. I just like bringing that up.
Theodore enters the final year of a contract that will pay him $6 million, making him the Avalanche’s third-highest-paid player. But he was expected to be the backup goalie to Peter Budaj. If Theodore misses much of training camp, it could open an opportunity for prospects Michael Wall, Trevor Cann and Tyler Weiman.
None of whom are ready for prime time. All of the Avs goalies need some seasoning in the minors, even Wall (who has the greatest goalie name ever), who was traded to the Avs for Brad May (talk about an upgrade!). I wouldn’t call any of this a good thing, unless one of the AHL goalies turn on the heat really quickly. I’m not the biggest Theodore fan, but you go with what you have, and it isn’t like we have a choice in the matter. Then again, it isn’t like we have one now.