The Avs hit the halfway mark last night, playing game 41 last night against the Wild. It was a great game, for both teams, ending 2-1 in a shootout. Manny Fernandez was great, as was Jose Theodore Peter Budaj, who had to stand on his head a couple of times. Theodore Budaj looked really good the night before, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. Yep that Theodore Budaj is looking pretty good right now.

So, obviously, I’m not happy with the Jose. Nope, never have been, never will be. I admit my bias up front, and can’t see that changing any time soon. Theodore is a bust. He has played some good games for the Avs, but they don’t happen enough. This is a case where the numbers do tell most of the story:

Here’s another part of the story. In Theodore’s last game, he was pulled from the net (Dec. 27th against Dallas). He let in 5 goals on 22 shots. Not a good night, but there is a lot more to the story.

• The Avs scored four goals against Marty Turco. If you get four against Marty Turco, you count yourself lucky. The offense did their job.
• Dallas was hit with an injury bug. Modano was out, along with Brenden Morrow, Eric Lindros (surprise, surprise) and Steve Ott. That depleted the Stars of a lot of talent, and $8.775 million in salary for the night (for a little perspective).
• The Avs were leading the game at two different points, holding a 2-1 lead and later, up to a 4-2 lead. Both leads slipped away.

Here’s the part of the story the numbers don’t tell. When the fifth and final goal of the night for Jose went in, the crowd booed him. They booed him off the ice. The money guy, the guy who was the big trade, the future of the team, was booed off the ice. And that may not be unusual where you are from, but here, it is. Here, going to a game is like going to a tea party. It’s quiet and polite. I’ve heard about the Ottawa Senators games, and they must be more exciting than here (more on that later). Budaj came in, and he got cheered. I was watching the game that night at SoBo 151 (the Czech hockey bar) and the place cheered when they pulled Theodore. When a goalie gets pulled, there should be silence from the home fans. Not this night, and deservedly so.

I had wondered if Pierre Lacroix and Francois Giguere would get the message from the fans. Apparently, they have. Peter Budaj has gotten the starts in the last five games. The first two came with losses against the St. Louis Blues, but Budaj played pretty evenly. The second loss was a 2-0 game. If you can’t score against St. Louis, don’t blame your goalie. Budaj has won his last three games, and last nights win against the Wild was quite a showing. Holding them to one goal in regulation play and one goal in the shootout, he has been rolling like never before. The complaints I had about him with his rebound control seem to have disappeared, and unlike his high priced cohort, he is getting better all the time.

So, back to the original question, what to do about Jose? If Jose is here next season, you can kiss that sellout streak goodbye (oops, too late). In fact, there are many factors involved, but I take a special pride and joy in the fact that the streak ended on Theodore’s watch rather than David Aebischer’s. The fans expect the poor performance from Jose. They know what’s coming. I don’t want to go to a game he starts in, because I don’t feel I’m going to get my money’s worth. The problem is, if Theodore isn’t here next season, it’s like Lacroix is admitting he made a mistake in bringing Theodore in (which he did). But the time for pride is long gone. Pure value for money, Theodore is a bust.

Buying out Theodore would result in getting back about 4 million in cap space for next season. With some of the other contracts that are ending, that gives the Avs some serious space to work with. Also, with the bonus money payed to Rob Blake and Joe Sakic this season counting against the cap (4.6 million), this would leave the team with a ton of cash to work with (I think the cap will go down nest year, considering the attendance issues reported around the league. That bonus money may come in very handy as padding). And there are going to be some available goaltenders next year. I never thought I would say this, but how about Marty Biron? If the Sabres don’t win a cup, he’s going to be gone, if he doesn’t get traded at the deadline.

Theodore is a bigger bust this year than any on the Avs roster. If you want to tell me you knew this would happen, go for it. So did I. Whoopie. It wasn’t a hard call. What surprised me is how good Budaj has been. Legitimate number 1? I don’t know about that yet, but he sure is better than Theodore.

Then again, who isn’t?

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