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Cole practices, close to returning; Timmins assigned to AHL Eagles |
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Rick Sadowski
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A couple of surprises Monday at practice:
Defenseman Ian Cole has been cleared for contact and he took part in drills. The original prognosis was he wouldn’t be available until December after undergoing surgery on both hips after last season.
We were told Cole will talk after practice Wednesday. The Avalanche are off Tuesday.
Defenseman Conor Timmins, meanwhile, practiced but was assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. He made the opening-night roster after sitting out last season to recover from post-concussion issues and played in the first two games, but the Avalanche want him logging major minutes in the AHL, which wasn’t going to happen in Denver.
Coach Jared Bednar said they would “probably” call up a defensemen. They are down to six after sending Timmins to the Eagles, and Mark Barberio was a healthy scratch in the first two games.
Center Nazem Kadri has a sore foot and didn’t practice. He was hit by a Cale Makar shot during a second-period power play Saturday in the Avalanche’s 4-2 win against Minnesota.
Forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky, J.T. Compher and Joonas Donskoi also were given maintenance days.
“We’re a little bit dinged up, nothing that I anticipate is going to be long term,” Bednar said. “They all should be ready to play next game against Boston (on Thursday at the Pepsi Center).”
Bednar said it’s a “possibility” that Cole could play soon. For now, he remains on the injured list.
“He’s cleared for contact, he’s joining our team, so we’ll just watch him now, continue to watch his progress at practice now that he’s (practicing) 5-on-5 and allowed to compete in full participation,” Bednar said. “We’ll make a judgment on when he’s going to play.
“All I know is he’s been working extremely hard. He's had a focus since Day one that he was going to be back early, he’s put in the work. I mean, that’s a guy that wants to get back in the lineup and wants to play, so it’s all his doing. He’s been doing everything and more that the trainers have allowed him to do, that the doctors have allowed him to do on the timeline.
“Sometimes that helps you get back quicker, and I believe that’s the case here. He’s gone back to see the doc, he’s been cleared for physical play. We’ll just see how the next few days go and keep an eye on him and keep evaluating as the next week or so goes.”
Timmins, 21, was the Avalanche’s second-round pick (No. 32) in the 2017 NHL draft. He averaged 10:24 in ice time, lowest on the team, through the first two games while on the third pair with Ryan Graves. He played 9:59 in his NHL debut against Calgary in the season opener and 10:50 Saturday against Minnesota when he was plus-2.
“No. 1, we know the time he’s missed,” Bednar said. “He’s been here, he starts on our roster because of what he did in training camp. The games are getting faster and faster and we feel that to get him the right amount of minutes in the right situations is really important. It’s also an understanding where he’s leaving camp that everything’s positive on our outlook on his game.
“Getting into game situations and being able to read the play quicker and quicker, I think the more reps he gets the more the game’s going to slow down for him, and the more we’re going to see his skill and intelligence shine through.”
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