José Theodore's Agent Talked With Wild GM

There was an article in the Minneapolis St.Paul Star-Tribune Monday about the José situation. Here's the article on their site, but I'll copy and paste below.

If the Wild is interested in bringing in free agent Jose Theodore to replace injured Josh Harding, the longtime NHL goaltender would be interested in coming, his agent said Monday night.

Don Meehan, whose firm also represents Harding, said he spoke with Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher on Sunday about Theodore.

"When Chuck called to tell me Harding would be out for the season, Chuck said to me, 'Look, I've got to make a move.' And I said, 'Keep me in the loop. Jose Theodore is available,'" Meehan said. "He said, 'That's certainly an interesting possibility.'

"I told Chuck to keep me in mind. I think they'll probably get their staff together and assess where they go from here, but I'd say, 'It's a consideration for them, yes, and Jose would be intrigued by Minnesota.'"

Theodore, who was the NHL's 2002 winner of the Hart (MVP) and Vezina (best goaltender) trophies, is training every day as he waits for an opportunity. Meehan said Theodore, 34, hasn't ruled out playing in Europe.

In 13 seasons with Montreal, Colorado and Washington, Theodore is 245-221-52 with a 2.68 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. He was 30-7-7 last season with the Capitals.

For Theodore to come to Minnesota, he likely would have to accept a salary around $1 million as the Wild creeps close to the $59.4 million salary cap. Meehan said he would want to first see if the Wild officially expresses interest before discussing salary with Theodore.

Fletcher is keeping his options open and admits he has received several calls from teams looking to trade a No. 2 or No. 3 goaltender.

Tidbits from around the Net about José/Wild Possibilities

There are quite a few bits on the net today about the Minnesota Wild goalie situation now that established back-up, Josh Harding, has gone down with an injury. Here are a few:
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Another injury opening can be found in Minnesota, where Wild goalie Josh Harding is likely done for the season with a knee injury. Michael Russo wrote in The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “As of now, the injury elevates Houston Aeros goalie Anton Khudobin, the bubbly goalie from from Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, to backup duties,” and he quoted Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher saying. “Anton Khudobin has passed every test we’ve given him so far.” That was before the Wild skated into Montreal last night and lost 4-3 to the Canadiens, surrendering three goals in a two minute span of the second period to well-known Habs snipers Ryan White, Dustin Boyd and Brendon Nash. Russo blogs today, “I’d think the team will make a goalie pickup,” and suggests Jose Theodore. The Oilers and Blues also seem to have a surplus of goalies.
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From Russo's Rants--I'd think the team will make a goalie pickup. The two schools of thought: Get somebody to back up Niklas Backstrom and send Anton Khudobin down to Houston, or bring in a quality No. 3 to work with Matt Hackett in Houston and keep Khudobin up here.
But either way, I think the Wild adds a goalie because Hackett needs to play and play a lot in Houston, so you don't want to be caught in a position where he's the guy up here for a long period.
I still think Jose Theodore makes the most sense if he'd play for around $1 million. Problem again though is the Wild, like all teams, has a budget, is already going to spend close to $58 million in real money on just its NHL roster and Harding's contract isn't insured, meaning he gets his full salary from the team, not 80 percent from an insurance company.
We'll see soon. There are a lot of goalies available. If it's Theodore though, I'd think it happens soon because you'd want him in Finland.
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08:21 AM ET 09.27

With Josh Harding's season likely over, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged that a decision is coming soon on whether Anton Khudobin will open the season with the Wild, or with Houston of the AHL. "It could just simply be, 'Let's go with what we have,'" Fletcher said before Sunday night's loss, which dropped the team to 0-3-1 in the preseason. "Thursday we get on the plane and Anton's either coming or going because once we get there it's pretty hard to airlift a guy in." Harding's injury has forced the Wild to contemplate whether they have to go outside the organization for a suitable backup goalie, such as Jose Theodore or Vesa Toskala. "We're going to have some meetings tomorrow [Monday] and obviously Theodore's available, Toskala's available," Fletcher said.

Minneapolis Star Tribune
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- Hockey Night in Canada noted Saturday night that rumours suggest the Minnesota Wild may be close to signing former Hab Jose Theodore as a replacement for Josh Harding, who has been lost for the season to a knee injury.
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Of course, nothing official yet. I really don't know what I think about it all. I want him to play somewhere, so I guess it would be good. I read some pretty mean comments in the comments section of one of the articles though. People are just mean. Haters gonna hate, I guess.

Minnesota Wild?

José's name is being thrown around in association with the Minnesota Wild right now. Their backup goalie, Josh Harding, went down Friday night with a season-ending injury. Niklas Backstrom is their #1 goalie, but Harding was hoping to challenge him this season. Here's the blurb I found:

With Josh Harding likely out for the season with a serious knee injury, a source told ESPN.com on Saturday that the Minnesota Wild are looking at unrestricted free-agent netminder José Theodore as a possible replacement for the backup netminder. It doesn't mean the Wild will end up signing him, but a source confirmed they were looking at the veteran Theodore.

The NHL Without José?

Last night I was on nhl.com looking at scores around the league...and it just hit me full force. José is not playing. He's not with a team. And as much as I hated that, I wondered how he must feel right now. I mean, he knows how this league works. He's certainly been around long enough and seen this happen to many other players before him. But it is still a total suck. I hate it! I want him signed ASAP!!!

Come on, NHL teams!! This is a great guy, a great goalie! A great presence on and off the ice for your team. A stable veteran player to help you out. Give him a chance to show you he's still got it!!

Hang in there, José! You've still got a loyal fanbase out here, and we admire you! And we'll support you no matter where you are or what you are doing.

José Who I Am interview

I meant to include this one in my last post, but couldn't find it at the time. So I'll just put it in a new post now. Looks like it was taped at the same time as the Rockstar one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY3bjgq0p5I

A few of my favorite José interviews

Here are a few of my favorite interviews with José. I really like this first one because of his "sweaty hair look."
It seems this first one has some problems loading, so I'll also include the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPWhy4lsOos



This was when his garage got a makeover. I love when he jokes about having a chandelier come down from the ceiling.



Another one at his house in D.C...


This is not great quality, since it's recorded off of the TV, but it's still a nice one.


And one more for now...José answers some questions about what he likes.

2003 Heritage Classic

A little history lesson today (the Cowboys are playing the Bears and I don't have a good feeling about the game, so I have to try to distract myself in some way so I don't get too upset.)

If you do an image search for José, you're probably going to get at least one result from the 2003 Heritage Classic game. José is one of the most memorable players from that game, because it was so cold that he wore a toque over his mask. (For those in the U.S. who don't know what a "toque" is, it's a stocking cap. ;o) So this is what you see many times:

The Heritage Classic was played between the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 22, 2003. It was the first NHL game to be played outdoors as part of regular season play. The event took place in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in front of a crowd of 57,167, despite temperatures of close to −18 °C (-1 F) , −30 °C (−22 °F) with wind chill. It was held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Edmonton Oilers joining the NHL in 1979 and the 20th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup win in 1984. Montreal won the game 4-3.

“I remember that my mom always said, ‘Put a toque on — you’re going to catch a cold.’ … So I decided to make sure she’s not going to say anything when I go back home, so I put a toque on.”

And here's an interview where he talked about the game. Shows some very cold footage.

Sporting News Article about José

There was an article on Sportingnews.com today about José and his continuing free agency.

Unrestricted free agent goalie Jose Theodore is still without a contract but according to his agent Don Meehan, Theodore won’t be joining the growing group of players accepting veteran tryout invitations around the league.

“No, I don’t think he has to try out for anybody,” Meehan told Sporting News.

It’s been a tough summer free-agent market for veterans and even tougher for goalies. The starting goalie jobs filled up quickly and plenty of goaltenders hit the market at the same time.

The timing wasn’t great for a goalie who struggled in the playoffs, but it’s also hard to ignore the success Theodore had during the regular season. In 47 games, Theodore went 30-7-7 with a .911 save percentage for the Capitals.

He’s clearly the best available goalie on the market, something Meehan thinks will eventually lead to a job.

“We will be patient as far as the NHL is concerned. Either someone will get injured or some teams will be dissatisfied with their goaltending,” Meehan said. “If something came along in Europe that was very unique, he’d consider it now.”

Theodore is in the process of selling his house in Washington and will be back in Montreal at the beginning of next week where he’ll continue to maintain his conditioning program.

Video of Some Good José Action

This is one of the YouTube videos out there of José and some of his awesome saves while playing for Montreal. It's odd, I never really cared for this Dire Straits song when it was popular, but I don't mind it in the video. The song fits nicely when José is first skating out on the ice near the beginning.
A goalie of this caliber should be signed by a team, dammit!!! Come on!

Happy Birthday, José!!!!

Today is José's 34th birthday!!!

I brought doughnuts into work to celebrate José Day. I'm wearing my José T-shirt, and I will be hanging my 2 new José posters in the work room upstairs as soon as I get a minute. I will post photos later...

Here's hoping Theo gets an NHL contract for his birthday! That would be sweet.

Could it Be Nashville?

On and off this summer I've read Nashville and José being mentioned in the same articles, and today was no different. From The Hockey Writers today:

http://thehockeywriters.com/the-replacements-building-a-team-of-free-agents/

With only a week until training camps open around the NHL, many players still find themselves searching for employment. Unlike previous years, this summer’s leftovers feature a wide selection of capable veterans and promising prospects.
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Jose Theodore had zero regulation losses from January 13 through the end of the regular season in Washington last year. The Capitals had three young goalies waiting in the wings to take his spot, but Theodore is still capable of at least filling a veteran backup role. With no goalies in the Nashville system possessing NHL experience, Jose Theodore would be a great fit behind Pekka Rinne.

*****

I would be very excited if Nashville signed him. Seriously excited. Heck, I could even road trip to Nashville!! Please, please, please...

Will José be in the NHL this Season?

I can't quite express my disappointment with all the NHL teams...no one has signed José for this coming season. It's believed by many that he is one of the best, if not the best, free agent left at this time. It seems that there was a glut of goalies becoming free agents this summer, and it did not bode well for Theo. If there had only been a couple, I think he would've been scooped up quickly.

He had 30 victories and only seven regulation losses for the Capitals last season. But they didn't make it past the first round of the playoffs. And unfortunately it seems goalies get the brunt of the blame for that. Here's the thing, according to one writer:  "Lots of goalies don't perform well in the playoffs, not just Theodore. It'd be a real shame if some "stigma" ultimately ends the career of a goalie who has fought off all the demons he faced earlier in his career to become a competent player again."

It was on Twitter on Friday that "The GM of the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk confirmed that he had talks with Jose Theodore, but Theodore didn’t want to go to Russia."

I, for one, am glad that José won't be going to the KHL. I still hold out hope that someone in the NHL will realize he still has good years in him, that he'd be a great asset to their team. He's a class act player/guy that would bring a wonderful presence, on and off the ice.

When José spoke to the media in September of last year about the upcoming season with Washington, a reporter brought up his age (he will be 34 this coming Monday.) And José admitted, very good-naturedly, that he's "on the back 9 now." He knows he's in the last years of his playing career, but I (and many others) still feel he has some good years ahead of him. He needs a team to believe in him and give him a chance, and he can take care of the rest.

The guy has overcome so many difficulties in his personal life through his career, and he's become a stronger person for it. I can only hope that this summer has made him stronger yet.

José still has many, many fans out there, and I hope we all get a chance to watch him play in the NHL this season.

Nous soutenons et vous aime, José.

(That's supposed to say "We support and love you, José." If Google translator let me down and it says something totally off the wall and wrong, please let me know. ;o)

More Photos I Found Today

I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

José's Tattoos

The Washington Capitals did a video about some of their players' tattoos. José was one of them, and he seemed to have the most for sure. And they seem really important to him.

I took screen captures of the video. And it was nice of them to caption each thing he said, so you can follow along and see what he was saying.

Another Photo (and video) from 2008 Avs Better Halves Brunch and Fashion Show

Here is video from the fashion show (his part begins at about the 7:30 mark.)

These are so cute! This photo was taken by lappygirl.

Same show as this photo from previous post:

Some "New" Photos I Found On Tumblr

I finally figured out how to search tumblr, and I searched all things José last night. I ran across some awesome photos that I'd never seen anywhere else before...and I shall share them here. Enjoy!

I will start with the most adorable photo. This was posted on flyingfinnishking's tumblr. This was from the 2008 Avs Better Halves Brunch and Fashion Show with players and kids from a children's hospital.

Then this was also on flyingfinnishking's tumblr.

This one just cracks me up. This would've been around early 2005, because I'm pretty sure that's when he had the braces.This came from paulgaustadisasuperhero's tumblr.

From cheyennezombie's tumblr.

And lastly from mercuryilluision's tumblr. Autograph signing while with Caps.

Photos of José While Playing in Major Juniors

First of all, a big thank-you to primeaugurl25 for allowing me to post these photos. She took these photos herself years ago and was kind enough to grant me permission to post them. Thanks!

José played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 1992-1996. He played for the St. Jean Lynx from the '92-'93 season until traded to the Hull Olympiques during the '94-'95 season. He played for Hull through the '95-'96 season. After that season he began playing for the Montreal Canadiens.

First St. Jean photos (he would've been 16 when he started with them):

And here with the Hull Olympiques (he would've been about 18 when starting there):

Photo of José from the October 2002 issue of GQ

Way back in 2002, José showed up in the pages of GQ, after he had won the Hart and Vezina Trophies. I got a copy of the issue from eBay, so I scanned the photo today. Great, great photo.

I made a José blog over on tumblr

I try to keep this blog on the "classy" side. ;o) So instead I made a blog over on tumblr that is going to be just photos of José. Feel free to head over there and check it out.

It's called Fuck Yeah José Théodore (sorry for the vulgarity, but tumblr is a little different.) And here's the address: http://www.fuckyeahjosetheodore.tumblr.com/

Most of the photos will make appearances here too, but there might be comments over there that I try to keep to a minimum here. Hahaha!

I'm still tweaking how I want the tumblr to look, so it might have some changes here and there...