Posted by Avalanche Report 12/19 by Bruce Wilkie
INJURIES
Milan Hejduk is returning to the lineup after missing two games with a knee injury. Initial reports said that he might require arthroscopic surgery, but rest seems to have done the trick.
David Jones, who was having a great year before his knee injury, was scheduled to have season-ending surgery late last week.
Marek Svatos continues to be listed as day.-to-day.
Kyle Cumiskey is listed as out until late December.
Ruslan Salei recently had back surgery and is listed as out until early January.
EXPLAIN THIS
The Avs played better on their recent 5 game road trip, 3-1-1, than they’ve played on their 5 game home stand, 2-2 with one game remaining.
THE KIDS ARE ALLRIGHT
The Avalanche have 4 players among the NHL’s Top 20 rookie scorers:
3rd – Matt Duchene 9 goals and 11 assists – 20 points
8th – Ryan O’Reilly 4 goals and 13 assists – 17 points
12th – T. J. Galiardi 4 goals and 8 assists – 12 points.
18th – Ryan Wilson 2 goals and 7 assists – 9 points
No other team has three players among the Top 20. Buffalo, Dallas and the New York Rangers each have 2.
This bodes well for the future of the Avalanche. Of the teams’ top 10 scorers 8 are 25 or under. The Avs have only 5 players on their roster who are over 30. The contracts of four of those players, Brett Clark, Adam Foote, Ruslan Salei and Darcy Tucker, representing nearly $12 million in cap room, expire at the end of this season.
Goalies Craig Anderson and Peter Budaj are 28 and 27 respectively. Third string/Lake Erie Monster goalie Tyler Weiman is 25.
NHL JUSTICE
During Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals Avalanche forward David Koci was given a five minute boarding major and a game misconduct for what was considered a dirty hit on All Star defenseman Mike Green. Koci didn’t slow down as he checked Green hard into the boards behind the Caps net and Green’s head was slammed face first into the boards. Green had to be helped from the ice and missed the rest of the game. The play resulted in a cut that required several stitches. Caps coach Bruce Boudreau was livid after the game and said that he hoped that the NHL would “throw the book” at Koci.
Most observers were positive that Koci would receive a suspension, especially in light of the recent punishments doled out to Alexander Ovechkin and others. Yet when the league made their decision, their was a fine for Koci, but no suspension.
COMING UP
After Saturday’s home game with Columbus, the Avs make a one game road trip to Minnesota on Monday, then return to host Anaheim Tuesday. They have 3 days off for Christmas before returning to play, hosting Dallas on the 26th.
DOWN THE ROAD
The Avs end 2009 with back-to-back road games. They visit Ottawa on the 30th and Detroit on the 31st. That trip ends in Columbus on January 2nd.
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