If not for Jiggy, Avs backup likely would have been Theodore

Getty Images One thing that came out of my visit to the Florida Panthers practice this morning at the Pepsi Center: if Jean-Sebastien Giguere hadn’t signed with the Avs last summer, the Avs were looking at going back to Jose Theodore as a backup to Semyon Varlamov. “I almost came back here,” Theodore said. Leaving any judgments out from my end, it’s worked out well for both sides. Jiggy has resurrected his career in the Avs’ net, and Theodore is having a good season with the Panthers (though he did let in a couple of bad goals to cost his team the win Wednesday night). The other news concerning the Avs today: Brandon Yip was claimed off waivers by Nashville. I was a little surprised, but Yip’s salary ($725,000) and unrestricted free agent status at the end of the season made him a reasonable gamble for the Preds. Yip just seemed to turn into a different player after his first solid rookie season here. He wasn’t as physical, was a liability d...