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HEAD COACH
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Bob Hartley
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ROSTER
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C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Stephane Yelle, Chris Drury,
Serge Aubin. LW - Valeri Kamensky, Rene Corbet, Milan Hejduk, Shean
Donovan, Warren Rychel. RW - Claude Lemieux, Adam Deadmarsh, Shjon
Podein, Jeff Odgers, Scott Parker, Christian Matte. D - Sylvain
Lefebvre, Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Jon Klemm, Aaron Miller, Eric
Messier, Wade Belak, Greg deVries, Cam Russell, Mike Gaul. G -
Patrick Roy, Craig Billington.
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INJURIES
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Stephane Yelle, c (wrist, day-to-day); Eric Messier, d
(eye, late January); Joe Sakic, c (shoulder, day-to-day); Alexei
Gusarov, d (finger, mid-December); Shjon Podein, rw (fractured leg,
mid-February); Jon Klemm, d (knee, early March); Warren Rychel, lw
(hand, indefinite).
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TRANSACTIONS
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Recalled Christian Matte, rw, from Hershey (AHL).
Assigned Dan Smith, d, to Hershey. Recalled Serge Aubin, c, from
Hershey. Recalled Mike Gaul, d, from Hershey.
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GAME RESULTS
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12/08 at Islanders W 2-1
12/09 at Rangers W 2-1
12/12 at New Jersey L 5-3
12/14 St. Louis T 0-0
12/17 at Vancouver L 2-1
12/19 at San Jose L 2-1
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STANDINGS
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Northwest Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
Colorado 31 14 14 3 31 75 78
Edmonton 32 14 15 3 31 88 84
Calgary 31 12 16 3 27 87 90
Vancouver 30 11 15 4 26 84 90
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TEAM NEWS
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by Greg D'Avis, Colorado Correspondent
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Ah, the holidays; the snow ... the bite in the air ... the giving
feeling in the air ... and the Avs stinking it up.
After putting together their best run of the year, and finally
climbing above .500, the Avalanche promptly went in the tank,
losing to the mighty Canucks and Sharks. Oh boy.
And, just when it seemed like the injured list was slimming down,
the boys went out and hurt themselves in new and exciting ways.
After a successful road trip, with a sweep in New York and a loss
(but a good loss!) to New Jersey, the Avs played in quite possibly
the most boring hockey game ever, a 0-0 tie with the Blues. Quite a
statement, but I stand by it. Everyone said, "Oh, boy, Roy and Fuhr
were great," and sure they were, but it's not like they had
competition. Pee-wee players go to the net more. By the end of this
one, I was rooting for fights.
Which came aplenty in the next game, as the Avalanche sent their
legion of tough guys out to get pounded by Vancouver's legion of
tougher guys. Scott Parker held his own against some enormous
Canuck, but Warren Rychel's gone for a while with a broken hand
after fighting Murray Baron, and Jeff Odgers was distinctly
overmatched against Donald Brashear. In between, there was a hockey
game, but Garth Snow was as close to spectacular as a Canuck goalie
can be, a goofy shot went in off Greg deVries' skate, and the Avs
lost when they should have won.
As it was next game -- no one should EVER lose to the Sharks. Yet
they did, in another ugly, ugly game. Eric Messier came back for
this one to give the power play a much-needed boost, and promptly
took a stick in the eye. He's out for another two months. Which
leads us to:
Injuries
In addition to Rychel and Messier, the Avs got a scare when Joe
Sakic went down with a bad shoulder against Vancouver. He should be
back quick, though.
Meanwhile, Adam Foote returned, to shore up the battered defense.
Alexei Gusarov and Stephane Yelle should also appear soon. Of
course, none of that addresses...
Power Play Problems
Simply put, it stinks. Sandis Ozolinsh (remember him?) was rumored
to be on his way back, but talks have broken off again. Messier was
supposed to help, but he's hurtin'. All this leaves the Avalanche
with deVries and Cam Russell on the point quite a bit -- a sobering
thought. Maybe help can be had from ...
Recent Call-Ups
To take the place of Sakic and Messier, the Avalanche recalled
center Serge Aubin and defenseman Mike Gaul from Hershey. The
ever-helpful Colorado media guide neglects to mention that these
fellows exist, so I don't know anything, except by the names they
both appear to be Francophones.
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