Anderson answer for post-Roy woes
By Tim Wharnsby, CBC Sports
Craig Anderson hasn’t made the Colorado Avalanche faithful forget about the heroics of hall of famer Patrick Roy, but the new netminder has eased the pain.
After Roy closed his career in 2003, David Aebischer, Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj took turns trying, but failed to adequately replace the four-time Stanley Cup champion.
The 28-year-old Anderson is only 11 games into his tenure with the Avalanche — but so far, so good. He has not only won a place in the hearts of the local hockey fans and his teammates, he has played himself into the United States Olympic team picture.
“A lot of it has to do with opportunity, but some of it also has to do with being prepared for getting that opportunity every night,” said Anderson when asked to explain his success in the first four weeks of the NHL season.
“I’m here because of the way I pushed [Tomas] Vokoun for ice time. Everything you get in this league is because you’ve earned it.”
This is Anderson’s first season as an NHL starter, a position he easily won from Budaj in training camp.
