Friday, January 21, 2011

Hello Again!

It’s been a while since I’ve written for numerous reasons: real life was busy with a lot of things going on and I’ve had some technological issues as well. The good news is I’m back! As always, there’s no guarantees as to how often I can post (who knows, maybe this computer will die on me tomorrow!), but I’ll try to update at least once a week.

A lot has gone on with the Avs since my last posting, so there’s no way I can cover it all. When I last wrote, Chris Stewart had just recently broken his hand in the fight against Kyle Brodziak of the Minnesota Wild. Now he has returned to the lineup as of January 14th and has recorded one point, an assist in the 5-1 loss to Nashville on January 20th. Kyle Quincey was injured on December 11th in the game vs. the Washington Capitals and shortly thereafter it was announced that he was out for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury requiring surgery.

Defenseman Kyle Cumiskey, who has not played a game since October 30th when he got what was initially deemed to be a minor concussion, finally returned to the lineup against Nashville on January 20th. He had been previously cleared to play, but was sticking to practice only as he needed to get back up to speed with his conditioning. He was a -2 on the night, but the whole team did not play spectacularly well and we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that it’s just a bit of rust from not having played in nearly 3 months.

TJ Galiardi was a healthy scratch for the January 14th game against the Minnesota Wild and then played against the Vancouver Canucks on January 18th. Following the Canucks game, Galiardi was demoted to Lake Erie in a move that came as a pretty big surprise to most. Due to the unfortunate loss of Tomas Fleischmann for the season due to pulmonary emboli, Galiardi has been recalled to the Avs and will be available to play against the Bruins. There was much speculation as to why Galiardi was demoted, but clearly Sacco was trying to send the message that he needs to play better. In his one game with the Lake Erie Monsters, Galiardi had an assist. Hopefully, he will play much better now that he’s getting to come back to the Avs.

Ryan O’Reilly has been lost for approximately 2 weeks with a shoulder injury after a scary incident in which he lost an edge and fell awkwardly headfirst into the boards on January 14th against the Minnesota Wild. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher, always a scary sight for teammates and fans alike, and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. After it was determined that O’Reilly did not suffer a head or spinal injury, he was able to return to Denver with the team. Given the initial scary appearance of the injury, it was a relief to all that O’Reilly would only be out temporarily. He skated on January 21st prior to practice in a non-contact jersey for the first time since his injury.

Peter Mueller, who was not even seen at practices or games for a time due to his post-concussion symptoms, has lately been seen around the team again. He has been seen leaving the Pepsi Center after games and was even spotted peaking out of the locker room during a recent practice. Whether or not he’s anywhere close to attempting to practice with the team in the near future remains to be seen, but I’d take it as a positive sign that he’s hanging around the team again.

In probably the most talked about news of all, it was announced that starting with the pre-game skate on January 22nd, Peter Forsberg would be practicing with the Avs. There are no guarantees whatsoever that he will be able to re-join the team, but this is rather a test to see whether or not he can compete at the NHL level. If nothing else Forsberg’s presence could be beneficial for the team as the young players can get tips and advice from him.
Given all the horrible luck the Avs have had with injuries this year, it really probably couldn’t hurt to have Forsberg in the lineup if he were able to play. Even if he’s not 100% at the level he used to be, he can still be a very skilled hockey player. If it’s determined that he won’t be physically up to the NHL level, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing either. Maybe he would finally throw in the towel and decide to retire. It’s not that anyone necessarily wants to see the end of Forsberg’s career, especially in what will be such a frustrating manner, but it would end the constant speculation that he might try for another return to the NHL.

The going has felt like a bit of a roller coaster for Avs fans lately with players returning from injury only to lose more players. They’ve been winning games and seemingly losing quite a few as well, but they’re still hanging in the very tight playoff picture in the Western Conference. As of January 21st, the Avs are clinging to the 8th spot with 54 points, even with Chicago and only 4 points behind 4th place Nashville. Unfortunately, San Jose and Minnesota are right on their tail with 53 points each and St. Louis is not far behind with 51 points. Even 12th and 13th place Los Angeles and Columbus have 49 points. The Western Conference playoff picture will likely not be solidified until the last day of the regular season.

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