Ok, I'm off the Tony Granato fan wagon.
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From the Rocky Mountain News:
Tony Granato wasn't in a holiday mood Monday when the Colorado Avalanche practiced for the final time before embarking on a three-day break for Christmas.
Unhappy with his team's five-game winless streak (0-2-3) and displeased with the performances he has been getting from some players, the Avalanche coach kept seven of them on the ice for additional drills.
Granato later said he wasn't punishing anyone.
"We have a few days off, so (we had) a little skate," he said.
But Granato clearly wasn't happy with defenseman Martin Skoula and forward Jim Cummins, who were among the seven skaters (not counting injured Paul Kariya) who were kept on the ice after the team had completed several laps at the end of regular practice.
Skoula was benched Saturday for most of the Avalanche's 3-3 tie against Los Angeles. His giveaway in the opening minute of the game led to a goal by the Kings' Eric Belanger, and Skoula played only 3 minutes, 24 seconds overall.
Cummins set a franchise record Saturday by amassing 47 minutes in penalties, even though his total ice time was only 1 minute, 4 seconds. His attempt at fighting Kip Brennan late in the second period resulted in a 7-minute Kings power play on which Martin Straka scored to give the Kings a 3-2 lead.
Cummins, reacting to a hit by Brennan on Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles, was assessed a minor penalty for instigating, a major penalty for fighting and a double game misconduct. Cummins and Brennan fought twice earlier in the game, but this time, Brennan moved away.
"Certainly when you take a 7-minute penalty, that's unacceptable, especially at a key point in the game," Granato said. "He knows that, you know that and I know that. And that's it."
Skoula, whose inconsistent play has baffled coaches and infuriated fans for five years, logged 42 seconds of ice time in the first period against the Kings, 2:42 in the second and none in the third.
"He didn't have a strong start to the game," Granato said. "That's why he watched most of it. We certainly would like to see more consistency out of him. When it's not there and he's got to sit and watch for the majority of the game, hopefully, the next game he responds the right way.
"You're going to have highs, you're going to have lows, you're going to have things you don't like done to you. It's what you're made of, how you respond, what you do with it."
Liles, Jordan Krestanovich, Chris McAllister, Cody McCormick and Peter Worrell also spent extra time shooting pucks at goalie Phil Sauve, then did some more skating before leaving the ice.
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I was a supporter of Granato, but now he's proving as lazy and inconsistent as Hartley. I realize I'm an underdog supporter of Skoula, but I'm sick of Colorado's coaching staff constantly taking the easy way out when it comes to a winless streak and blaming one defenseman. I guess you can't blame Aebischer anymore, so let's drag out the old scapegoats.
A game is not won or loss by ONE defensive mistake. The whole team is performing poorly, especially in the offensive department--but do you work on that? I know that sometimes the pucks just won't go in the net, but I would expect Konowalchuk, Selanne, Hinote, Hejduk and every other forward who has been largely invisible lately to be getting some extra ice time too.
I haven't been watching the Avs as faithfully lately, so I could be way off base with some of my offensive criticism. But I am really unimpressed when a coach's response to a five game winless streak is to bench Skoula, bag skate some recalls from Hershey and try to impress us all with his "smackdown." (But he's not punishing anyone!) And when his tough talk is the same rhetoric that the hungover Denver sports fans call into 950 The Fan with, I feel like sending him some golf balls for the postseason.
