Such is the case for Adrian Dater a reporter for The Denver Post who's "covered the Colorado Avalanche before they were even called the Avalanche, starting with the team's move from Quebec to Denver in 1995," according to his bio on the newspaper's website. Dater knows a thing or two about the Avs, and he's seen them at their absolute peak, with two Stanley Cups in that time.
After the Avs lost on Monday, though, for their seventh defeat in 10 games, Dater had seen enough, tearing into just about everyone associated with the team — and even former Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft, just for good measure.
"Well, that was three hours you and I will never get back," Dater said to open his story. "What a terrible hockey game tonight at the Pepsi Center, in front of the lowest crowd of the season (12,015). Just awful.
"I mean, give me a break: there is no way Andrew Raycroft should have been allowed to come in here tonight and stop 35 shots, but that's what happened. The guy was 0-5 on the season with an .899 save percentage, but he, like so many other backups in the league in the last three years, came in here and looked like Terry Sawchuk."
The Avalanche started the season 5-1, but they've since gone 5-12-1. Dater also said he sees a lack of accountability from the young Avalanche roster.
"I don't detect nearly enough anger in the Avs' dressing room after nights like tonight," Dater wrote. "The Avs of today just casually take off their gear and quietly walk to their back-room sanctuary, keeping their heads down to avoid having to talk to the media. This team just seems like it doesn't care enough, doesn't want it bad enough, and that's the real indictment of it."
Dater singled out Matt Duchene for calling a win over Edmonton a "huge" win, and he gave his explanation why Paul Stastny was not given the captaincy.
"He was terrible tonight. One shot on net, no points, 43-percent on faceoffs," Dater wrote. "He was slow all night, got outworked on loose pucks along the boards and generally as noticeable as a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a 10-foot snowbank. There is probably a reason why the Avalanche didn't give him the captaincy, despite being the team's highest-paid player and one of its more tenured players. Because he’s not leading by example. Period, end of story."
Dater didn't spare the team's upper management either, saying they're too inaccessible and have "retreated into the bunker lately, hoping not to be seen by the dastardly one or two people that actually cover this team anymore. "
Interestingly, coach Joe Sacco didn't find himself in Dater's crosshairs, but given the tone of the rest of the story, it seems like it might just be a matter of time.
For fans of the Avs, there may not be exciting hockey in the future, but there at least promises to be some entertaining rip jobs in the newspaper. That counts for something, right?
