Audette to the minors: why not?
Jan 22, 2003 7:43:04 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Jan 22, 2003 7:43:04 GMT -5
François Gagnon
Le Soleil
Donald Audette hasn't done anything worthwhile for the Canadiens this year. Not a thing. Under Michel Therrien, he found himself in the stands 10 times. Ten! And in the 35 games that he played, he who was going to break the 30 goal barrier netted three measly markers to which he could add only nine puny assists. Pretty feeble!
Saturday, when Claude Julien came onto the scene, in the first game during which the players who had beheaded Michel Therrien could impress their new coach and make one forget a banal first half of the season, Audette was once again perched in the press gallery.
We expected that in his return to play on Monday in Florida, Audette would benefit from the occasion to put things right. That he would pepper Roberto Luongo with shots in order to earn a place, his place, on one of the first two lines. We were mistaken.
Employed on the fourth line controlled by Doug Gilmour and supplemented by Randy McKay, Audette had five shifts in the first period. He didn't do anything. Nothing. Or so little that one doesn't remember.
Despite everything, Audette benefitted from seven shifts in the second. What did he do? He took a shot... In the third, when the Canadiens needed a goal to get back in the game, Claude Julien decided to shorten his bench.
The result: Doug Gilmour, who played a strong game, found himself on the first line in the company of Saku Koivu. Ordinary up to that point, Marcel Hossa found himself on the third line, replacing Andreas Dackell, who had been bad.
Audette amid all this? He had two shifts. He played a whopping 91 seconds total. That gives you an idea of the impression he had left at the end of the first two periods. Will Audette play tonight? We don't know. But worst of all is that, without going out on a limb, one can say that his presence or his absence won't affect the game.
And he is the lead character in this drama. Because, nevertheless, Audette totaled 245 goals and 465 points in 630 games played before this season.
That's not peanuts! And when a coach can allow himself to leave 245 goals and 465 points in 630 games sitting on the bench or perched in the stands, there is a major problem to solve.
How to solve it? That is the million $ question. And Audette pockets three million this year and he'll pocket a little more next year. It's high time that someone tries to correct this problem. And if the solution is Hamilton? If he were demoted to the minors? Don't laugh! One thing is certain, that Audette wouldn't find it funny at all.
But it's difficult, very difficult, for any hockey player to produce while playing sporadically. They are machines. Machines which need to function in full operating mode to remain at the top of their form, at the top of their art.
A guy like Sylvain Blouin, a guy who is there for his fists -- he should remember that, instead of waiting for Stéphane Quintal and Randy McKay to throw down their gloves while he's on the ice -- can hardly be blamed for the poor quality of his play. Imagine then Audette's situation.
In these circumstances, rather than wasting his time on a fourth line or in the press gallery, Audette could benefit from a stay "down under", even if it means having his ego shaken. To do the only thing which justifies his presence in the NHL and the millions that he pockets: score goals.
A stay of this kind was used in Mariusz Czerkawski's case, even if he did not return from Hamilton transformed into Guy Lafleur. A stay of this kind was also used in the case of Alexandre Daigle -- we'll return to him in the near future --, who imitated Czerkawski by obtaining the title of player of the week in the American League. A stay of this kind should also be used in the case of Audette, in as much as he is not satisfied to complain about his lot and needs to prove that he is still able to score goals.
Wasting millions in the minors, you say? Perhaps. But as long as they're being wasted in the press gallery or on the fourth line in Montreal, why not waste them in Hamilton, where the setting could, perhaps, pay dividends?
translated from www.cyberpresse.ca/chroniqueurs/article/2,564,584,012003,186946.shtml
Le Soleil
Donald Audette hasn't done anything worthwhile for the Canadiens this year. Not a thing. Under Michel Therrien, he found himself in the stands 10 times. Ten! And in the 35 games that he played, he who was going to break the 30 goal barrier netted three measly markers to which he could add only nine puny assists. Pretty feeble!
Saturday, when Claude Julien came onto the scene, in the first game during which the players who had beheaded Michel Therrien could impress their new coach and make one forget a banal first half of the season, Audette was once again perched in the press gallery.
We expected that in his return to play on Monday in Florida, Audette would benefit from the occasion to put things right. That he would pepper Roberto Luongo with shots in order to earn a place, his place, on one of the first two lines. We were mistaken.
Employed on the fourth line controlled by Doug Gilmour and supplemented by Randy McKay, Audette had five shifts in the first period. He didn't do anything. Nothing. Or so little that one doesn't remember.
Despite everything, Audette benefitted from seven shifts in the second. What did he do? He took a shot... In the third, when the Canadiens needed a goal to get back in the game, Claude Julien decided to shorten his bench.
The result: Doug Gilmour, who played a strong game, found himself on the first line in the company of Saku Koivu. Ordinary up to that point, Marcel Hossa found himself on the third line, replacing Andreas Dackell, who had been bad.
Audette amid all this? He had two shifts. He played a whopping 91 seconds total. That gives you an idea of the impression he had left at the end of the first two periods. Will Audette play tonight? We don't know. But worst of all is that, without going out on a limb, one can say that his presence or his absence won't affect the game.
And he is the lead character in this drama. Because, nevertheless, Audette totaled 245 goals and 465 points in 630 games played before this season.
That's not peanuts! And when a coach can allow himself to leave 245 goals and 465 points in 630 games sitting on the bench or perched in the stands, there is a major problem to solve.
How to solve it? That is the million $ question. And Audette pockets three million this year and he'll pocket a little more next year. It's high time that someone tries to correct this problem. And if the solution is Hamilton? If he were demoted to the minors? Don't laugh! One thing is certain, that Audette wouldn't find it funny at all.
But it's difficult, very difficult, for any hockey player to produce while playing sporadically. They are machines. Machines which need to function in full operating mode to remain at the top of their form, at the top of their art.
A guy like Sylvain Blouin, a guy who is there for his fists -- he should remember that, instead of waiting for Stéphane Quintal and Randy McKay to throw down their gloves while he's on the ice -- can hardly be blamed for the poor quality of his play. Imagine then Audette's situation.
In these circumstances, rather than wasting his time on a fourth line or in the press gallery, Audette could benefit from a stay "down under", even if it means having his ego shaken. To do the only thing which justifies his presence in the NHL and the millions that he pockets: score goals.
A stay of this kind was used in Mariusz Czerkawski's case, even if he did not return from Hamilton transformed into Guy Lafleur. A stay of this kind was also used in the case of Alexandre Daigle -- we'll return to him in the near future --, who imitated Czerkawski by obtaining the title of player of the week in the American League. A stay of this kind should also be used in the case of Audette, in as much as he is not satisfied to complain about his lot and needs to prove that he is still able to score goals.
Wasting millions in the minors, you say? Perhaps. But as long as they're being wasted in the press gallery or on the fourth line in Montreal, why not waste them in Hamilton, where the setting could, perhaps, pay dividends?
translated from www.cyberpresse.ca/chroniqueurs/article/2,564,584,012003,186946.shtml