Eurolanche

Postgame thoughts: Wild

I started to write this comment while watching the 3rd period of the Wild game. It was that clear of a win. So the Avs are hot again, scoring insane, forcing turnovers, getting MVP-like numbers from Varlamov. All is fine in Denver, hope is in the air and so on, except for that stupid Duchene injury, that we still no nothing about in regards to how serious it is.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about.

I saw the other day the new "American Pie" movie. The guys in the movie were remembering the good old days of high school, them being the class of '99. What was happening in the real world in the summer of '99? A young Milan Hejduk was finishing his first season as an Av, after coming over from the Czech Republic. It's been quite a while since then, the fictitious boys from "American Pie" are married and have kids and the Duke is basically unrecognizable. His play and Sacco's style of coaching demoted him to the fourth line. Tell any Avs fan a few years ago that the last great one from that 2001 Stanley Cup team will play on the 4th line and they'll laugh their behind off. Or that in a 7-1 game he won't score. So is it time to say goodbye to Hejduk? I'm not suggesting that. It would be in bad taste for a nobody like me to say something like that about a huge player like the Duke. But trying to put myself in his shoes, do I want to go out while I'm still a decent player or do I try to postpone the inevitable for as long as I can, risking to make a fool of myself or, worse, to not be signed by the team?

Now, if he played injured this year, as he's done before, and he thinks he'll be healthy next season, more power to him and let's have him back as long as he wants. But what if he was healthy? After all, age doesn't spare anyone and I know that pretty well. The Duke is only 6 months older than me and I have enough pains in my bones, ligaments and so on, even though my physical activities, strenuous as they may be, are nothing compared to what a professional athlete goes through.

So is this the last year of Hejduk in the NHL? That remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, the memories he'll leave us with, whenever he decides to do it, are priceless.

Robert Ciubotaru writes his personal opinions and commentaries on the latest Colorado Avalanche news exclusively for the Eurolanche Fanclub website.