I was hoping that by the time I wrote this article that Peter Forseberg (A.K.A. The Other Great One) would be wearing red and blue again. He has hinted to Swedish media that he would like to return to Colorado, but has not received an offer from our end. It’s a tough call for a GM; older player who has had injury problems for the latter half of his career, and who is currently recovering from surgery but would still command a decent paycheck. Here’s why I would take the risk if I were Francois Giguere:
1.) Forseberg may not be able to score forty goals a season anymore, but he can certainly be responsible for forty plus assists (as he was last year with the Predators.) Peter is still one of the best puck handlers to have played the game, and any line that he is on will see increased puck movement and flow across neutral ice and in the offensive zone. His presence on the ice and his vision both with and without the puck are matched by only a select few players.
2.) While he has lost much of the offensive physicality that earned him a reputation as one of the toughest players to defend in the NHL, he is still a tenacious forechecker and a strong defensive forward. While injury and wear on his body have slowed him down considerably from his peak condition of six years ago, he is still a gritty player whose determination cannot be questioned (except maybe by doughy, pizza faced bloggers who haven’t stepped foot on an ice rink in twenty years… shut up Dan, my face is as smooth as a baby’s butt.)
3.) Simply this; we are geared up to make a run at the cup and Peter Forseberg is a proven winner and a clutch player of the highest caliber. We are loaded up at center, but he has played right wing in the past and two of our current centers are capable of the same switch. We do not need the Peter the Great that was once a brute force taking defensemen from the blue line to the crease (although I bet he could still move a body or two,) and it would be foolish not to receive a strong and capable veteran presence back home to help Super Joe take down one more championship.
Defenseman Scott Hannan was a great pickup. He is a fantastic one-on-one defender that can shut down the best forwards in the league. The thought of Ryan Smith and Joe Sakic on the ice at the same time gives me honest to goodness goosebumps. Throw in the fact that we signed Smith like we want him here for the rest of his career (especially important for after Sakic’s inevitable retirement,) and you’ve got one very happy narrator. Even if Giguere doesn’t land a Forseberg deal, he still gets a gold star sticker for an incredible offseason. Then there are forwards Eric Healey and Matt Hussey along with goaltender Tyler Weiman. We resigned Mark Rycroft, who I believe is going to have the best year of his career, and scored free agent bruisers Jeff Jillson (224 lbs.) and Dale Purinton (237 lbs.) to shore up the defensive corps. These two will constitute our two heaviest defenders and bring our average defensive weight up to 212 lbs. Tell me we’re not loading up to beat the tar out of the likes of the Ducks and the Sharks. Submit teams named after animals poorly suited for life on the ice! The Ice Men Cometh!
