Catching up with former Avs: David Aebischer

David Aebischer was always one of my favorite players/people with the Avalanche. And I’m NOT just saying this because I used to make a small fortune off him.

Allow me to explain: A newspaper from Aebischer’s home town of Fribourg, Switzerland, used to hire me to write articles regularly about him. I’d write the stories in English, send them off to a wonderful editor at the paper named Patricia, and they would be translated into French. I think I got something like $250 a story, and the checks would be these odd-shaped pieces of paper, about the size of a baseball card. I pretty much always did one, sometimes two, a week.

I was sad to see him go in 2006, when he was traded by the Avs to Montreal! But more than the money, Abby was a quality guy to deal with, very smart and insightful about a lot of things, not just hockey.

So, it was a pleasure when I got on the phone Monday morning with Abby, from his home in Switzerland. A refresher: Aebischer played with the Avalanche for parts of five seasons, from 2000-06. He never had a saves percentage lower than .900 in his time with the Avs, with a high of .931 in 2001-02. He retired from pro hockey as a player in 2015. He is married and has two children, a daughter, 7 and a boy, 10.

Abby, great to talk to you. So, catch us up on what you’re up to these days?