Forsberg feels need to redeem
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Sports Columnist
Thursday, September 26, 2002 - Is it too much to expect the most talented player in the world to be the MVP of the NHL?
With all due respect to Jaromir Jagr of Washington and Sergei Fedorov of Detroit, no man can make more magic on skates than Colorado center Peter Forsberg.
The trick is keeping Forsberg on his skates. His is a fragile genius. He has missed an average of 41 regular-season games, exactly half his available ice time, during the past three years.
And Forsberg feels guilty about it.
His Hall of Fame talent has been obscured by bandages for far too long. At age 29, his reputation has been hurt. With Foppa, it's never his fault, but it's always something. A bum shoulder. A ruptured spleen. Aching feet. A broken pinkie. Hip pointer. Ouch.
"I feel like I need to come back this year and redeem myself," Forsberg said.
If the Avalanche is to have any chance to win the Stanley Cup, Forsberg must prove himself reliable enough and strong enough to carry the team. All season long.
Forsberg and the Avalanche share a common, unwanted trait. For all their brilliance, the team and its best player should have produced more hardware.
The only history Colorado should be pursuing is status as a dynasty to rival the achievements of Oilers, Islanders and Canadiens past, rather than being a club satisfied with merely winning its division. How do the Avs want to go down in history, as the Atlanta Braves of hockey?
While he has appeared in the All-Star Game four times, Forsberg should have a mantel full of Hart trophies. There can be no discussion of his career without mention of how his body constantly betrays his greatness.
The fatigue caused by chronic pain makes cowards of us all. After losing his spleen, Forsberg said, "I started thinking: Is it really worth it, being out there playing hockey?" And those nagging doubts festered to the point where he abandoned his teammates last autumn and retreated to his home in Sweden. What required the most healing was his psyche.
"You ask any of my teammates, I was not a happy camper. Especially when I couldn't skate," Forsberg said. "The year before I took off, it was tough. I was miserable. It hurt every day. And I couldn't get anything going. It was a struggle. I didn't feel old. But every time I got on the ice, it hurt. That was a bad feeling."
But there is something different you immediately notice about Forsberg during this Avalanche training camp. He wears a smile rather than a grimace. "I'm happy to be out there on the ice again. And I think it shows," Forsberg said. "I'm a happy guy. Nothing hurts, and it's fun to be there."
Rather than being hellbent on proving he's no soft Swede by skating with a demolition-derby attitude, Forsberg needs to assert himself physically by putting the puck in the net 50 times for the first time in his NHL career. Make goals, not war.
From his no-look passes to the wraparound scores, Forsberg is well worth his $9.5 million salary. But it would be impossible to show how he has actually earned the money in recent years.
The chunk of change that Forsberg takes home forces general manager Pierre Lacroix to cut corners elsewhere. This is a team that apparently can't spend the dough to keep more than three proven defenders to stand up at the blue line.
So Forsberg must do more. Colorado was a decidedly mediocre offensive team last season. Ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals, the Avs were shut out in their last two games.
The importance of home ice in the playoffs is as painfully obvious as the memories of that stinging 7-0 loss to Detroit. In a conference where every rival has improved, the race for the No. 1 seed will be unrelenting. The Avs can ill afford to lose Forsberg to injury for any extended period of time.
Check the birth dates of goalie Patrick Roy (age 36), center Joe Sakic (33) and defenseman Rob Blake (32). The greatness of this Avalanche team is beginning to show a hint of gray. Colorado is running out of time to become a dynasty. If anything good could come from his pain of the past three years, it is the desperation Forsberg now feels.
"I still love to play hockey. That's what I want to do. I'm going to play as long as I can," Forsberg said. "Every year, you play to win the Cup. And as long as I have a chance to win the Cup, I'll play."
If Forsberg wants to go down as one of the greatest players in NHL history, he has no more time to waste.
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