Peter Floyd wrote:There have been several reference int he Finnish press recently about Teemu's form not being too good..injury problems ...and the strong suggestion that he needs to sort himself out if he want to put a hand on the Stanley Cup..One headline put it simply..Teemu .. on Nyt tai ei koskaan...It is Now or Never..is it never?
Yes Teemu has been in a slump recently, but it's not all his fault. Despite what some people think, I believe that Tony Granato isn't such a great coach. I know that the Avalanche have a good record right now, but I've listened to every game this season... and they have been so lucky to have won some of these games. Plus he (Granato) has so much talent to coach that it makes him seem better, even the rookies have been playing pretty well for the Avs. But Granato has done nothing at all to help Teemu get out of this slump he is in... and it is a coaches job to do what he needs to in order to get some one scoring again.
I say, play Teemu with Kariya for one... they have a great history together and have played only a few minutes in each game together. Two, maybe play them with Peter Forsberg. Forsberg makes every player around him better. Three, give him the same amount of ice time he would be getting if he were scoring. I'm sure nothing breaks a hockey players confidence like when his ice time is cut in half... from one game to the next.
Well what has Granato done, for those of you might ask...
Play Teemu on the third and fourth lines with the grinders rather then scorers. Cut his ice time down to 9 minutes a game at times! He doesn't play Teemu on the special teams, even though the majority of his goals this season came on the them. He doesn't play him with Kariya, but for a second.. oh wait I mean 2 seconds. In one of the last games he had the nerve to put Kariya, Sakic, and Selänne out with literally seconds left in the period... and I believe that was the only time they were on the ice together... accept during a line change.
And he has said to the media multiple times, "It's his job to score, no matter who his line mates are, and if he can't do that then he has to at least to the little things to help us win." Sounds to me like he is saying that Teemu isn't doing his job, in any area. But that's not true, Teemu has been great defensively all season. He hasn't turned the puck oever any more then the next guy, and he has been the one to get in and dig it out when no one else wants to. His mistakes never lead to goal against, which is more then I can say about a lot of guys.
Sorry about the rant, this is a sensitive topic. I've just been hearing so many people have nothing but negative things to say about Teemu, and I'm sick of it. I'm glad I got that all out, I feel relieved.
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)