Why didn't Selanne and Kariya work out in Colorado?

[Esq]

Even taking stock of Kariya missing about 30 games due to injury, the 2003-04 season is a complete aberration for two players playing at or close to their prime.

What happened?

Click to read more...

 

[Oan]

Selanne had no legs that season.

 

[Evergreen]

Selanne had no legs that season.

That's not really much of an answer. What does it even mean? Why did he have "no legs"?

 

[Arthuros]

Why?

The Sharks chopped them off.

 

[Ducksforcup]

Why?

His knees were basically done.

During the lockout, he undertook surgery and rehabbed the knee for the entire year. Upon his return to the NHL, he was ready and willing to go.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

Why?

Because of injuries. He knee was shot. If it wasn't for the lockout and Selanne's decision to get surgery, he would have retired.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

His knees were basically done.

During the lockout, he undertook surgery and rehabbed the knee for the entire year. Upon his return to the NHL, he was ready and willing to go.

Selanne looked old and done during his season in Colorado. The lockout season saved his career. Would've been really fun to see post-lockout Kariya and Selanne on the Avs, both of them just weren't healthy at all.

 

[sandercohan78*]

Pretty sure they were both too banged up, lockout and taking a year off really seemed to get Selanne going again.

 

[Laineux]

Selänne's skating was gone because of his knee injury.

 

[Matti_A]

I blame Tony Granato.

I remember Colorado's first game of the 2003-04 season, Selänne set up Kariya right away and you could tell they had instant chemistry.

Didn't take long before Kariya got injured and after his return Granato the genius rarely let the two play on the same line again.

Selänne was at times demoted to the checking line playing alongside guys like Worrell and Hinote.

 

[Make]

Like mentioned, Selänne's knees were in really bad shape which took away his speed and also shooting ability. I remember an interview after the lockout where he said he couldn't even shoot the puck like he used to because of the pain in his knees. If not for the lockout and the surgery he would have been done in 2004. Doctors were basically telling him to quit. Luckily enough he found a specialist and the surgery worked.

He was also misused by the coach, but I'm not sure he would have deserved much more icetime. He wasn't the same player we saw after the lockout. I guess with better coaching he could have been more useful but still not even close to the post knee surgery level.

 

[Michael Farkas]

I seem to recall Kariya getting hurt (maybe a broken wrist?) and then he came back and broke his wrist again the next game...of course, remembering injuries from a decade ago is tough, but that's my vague recollection...

And yeah, Selanne was finished...well, until we learned that he is actually the Finnish Phoenix...

Too bad, the Avs really built quite a group there even without Roy...and it went kaput...

 

[Voight]

Selanne was on the verge of retiring at that point with his knees being so damn bad.

 

[Big Phil]

We all know Selanne's reasons. The post lockout Selanne brought him back to the 1992-'00 version that we all remembered. Or at least an older version of that guy.

Kariya, I really don't know. Think about this, he was all but a lock in the summer of 2003 to be on the 2004 World Cup team. He'd have been automatically pencilled in even though he had lost a step or two by then he was still a 2nd team all-star in 2003. Then that awful season in 2004, Gretzky keeps him off the 2004 team and Kariya isn't even on the radar for the 2006 Olympics and all of the sudden you just had a past-his-prime perimeter player.

 

[sr edler]

Selänne wasn't a world beater in San Jose either, during the two previous seasons. He scored at a 33-year old Damphousse pace there. I don't know about his knees there, but the system stifled him there to a degree and he couldn't roam free as carelessly as he was used to do.

This situation is also known as the "Jagr in Washington-syndrome" = Offensive superstar with suspect defense gets stifled in a tight system.

 

[Terry Yake]

injuries are the main reason

selanne had started to slow down in san jose and his knees really were all but done during that season in colorado. like others have already said, it took a whole year of rehab and recovery for him to get back into the form we saw in his return to anaheim.

kariya just couldn't stay healthy and probably came back too early without proper recovery time

 

[Finnpin]

Teemu's knee(s) was in so bad condition that the Finnish doctor who operated it, said it will last only few years but he did a great job and it's still going strong.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

We all know Selanne's reasons. The post lockout Selanne brought him back to the 1992-'00 version that we all remembered. Or at least an older version of that guy.

Kariya, I really don't know.

as i recall, other than a big first game where the avs destroyed a very dismal hawks team, at even strength the highly anticipated 1-2 punch of kariya - sakic - selanne and tanguay - forsberg - hejduk didn't look all that great in the few games before kariya got hurt. and kariya himsekf didn't look like his usual game changing self either. and the pp

looking back, i wonder whether on top of his string of injuries residual pcs from the stevens hit in the finals just months earlier also affected him that year. maybe the '05 lockout saved both selanne's and kariya's careers.

 

[MS]

Also just not enough pucks and icetime to go around.

Colorado had 4 other legit 1st-line forwards in Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, and Tanguay who were playing better.

When you're getting 16 minutes + 2nd unit PP time instead of 20 minutes + 1st unit PP time, it makes a huge difference in production.

Kariya and Selanne were both on a low ebb that year, but if they'd been in a situation where they were go-to guys getting major minutes, their production wouldn't have been quite so poor.

 

[Randy Marsh]

Also, why did Kariya sign such a low contract that year?

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Also, why did Kariya sign such a low contract that year?

Under the rules, if he signed for below league average, he'd be a true UFA the rest of his career. (At the time there were classes of UFAs, some of which had future strings).

 

[Brodeur]

Also, why did Kariya sign such a low contract that year?

Under the rules, if he signed for below league average, he'd be a true UFA the rest of his career. (At the time there were classes of UFAs, some of which had future strings).

Kariya wouldn't have necessarily been UFA for the rest of his career, but it was about being a UFA after that season.

The CBA (which expired September 2004) had a designation called Group V free agency. Typical Group III free agency was for players who were 31+ years old. Group V was for veterans with 10 years of pro hockey who made less than the average salary that year.

So it was possible for a guy who was 28/29 to become UFA. Martin Lapointe and Philippe Boucher are the two guys who come to mind who were able to become Group V free agents.

Kariya took the lesser deal in order to help Colorado fit in Selanne's contract. But Kariya, 29 at the end of 2003-04, also could elect Group V free agency after the season. Had he signed a richer deal, the Avs could have kept his rights beyond the season. So this helped keep Kariya's options open as nobody quite knew what to expect with the forthcoming CBA.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2004-06-30-nhl-beating-free-agency_x.htm

The Colorado Avalanche made a qualifying offer to Paul Kariya ($1.32 million), but he's expected to exercise his rights to become a Group V unrestricted free agent, a 10-year veteran making less than the league average salary.

Kariya, who wasn't qualified last year by Anaheim, took a pay cut from $10 million to guarantee himself Group V rights and to join the Avalanche in a package deal with friend Teemu Selanne.

Theoretically Kariya could have signed with somebody during the summer of 2004, but many players/teams opted to wait until the new CBA was hammered out.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Selanne was falling off a cliff at the time due to wear and tear.
Kariya was hurt/injured all year
Tony Granato was woefully unprepared to lead/coach that superteam

 

[WarriorofTime]

A missed season was a good thing for Selanne. Allowed him to get surgery, recover and rejuvenated him for his third act. Had he tried to play through a 2004-05 season (which I'm guessing he would have since he played in the World Cup of Hockey in September of '04), he might have ended up retiring after.

 

[DRW895]

Selanne was poor playoff performer