Dud No. 3 – Brad Stuart
Defenseman Brad Stuart can’t be blamed for the Colorado Avalanche’s disappointing result on Saturday at Pepsi Center, a 4-3 loss to previously winless Columbus. Nor can he shoulder the burden for the team’s overtime loss to Carolina on Wednesday, a 1-0 heartbreaker that marked Carolina’s first win in Denver since 1996 when the team was the Hartford Whalers. (The win, by the way, was just their second on the year – the ‘Canes have lost two more games since.)
No, Stuart is blameless in the losses because he was a scratch from both games. In fact, Stuart has been scratched from five of the Avs’ seven games this year. He missed Saturday night’s effort, in which Colorado surrendered two third-period goals and could not convert a 6-on-4 in the games final minutes, with a bad back. He is considered day-to-day.
That’s a good way to describe the Avs’ season so far. Colorado is now 2-4-1 on the year and 1-3-1 at home. The Avs begin a stretch of games Tuesday that will see them play 15 of their next 20 games on the road. Head coach Patrick Roy needs to find a way to get his club to seal victories, instead of coughing them up late. Even a healthy Stuart might not be enough at this point.
At 35, it’s clear Stuart has lost a step. He’s not the same player that helped lead Detroit to a Stanley Cup in 2008 and the Avs were counting on him to be much more than he has been in his year-plus with the club. The scariest part about Stuart’s situation? He’s under contract for another year beyond this one (both at $3.6 million).
