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Knee injury will sideline Wilson two weeks; Parenteau, Downie switch lines |
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Rick Sadowski
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Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said Tuesday that defenseman Ryan Wilson sustained a knee injury Sunday in the Burgundy and White Game at the Air Force Academy and is expected to be sidelined for about two weeks. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "He should be back after that."
Roy also changed a couple of line combinations for Tuesday's practice sessions. The 46 players remaining on the preseason roster have been split into two groups, and each group practiced for an hour and 15 minutes.
Right wing PA Parenteau, who had been skating with left wing Ryan O'Reilly and center Matt Duchene, replaced Steve Downie on the line with left wing Jamie McGinn and rookie center Nathan MacKinnon. Downie practiced with O'Reilly and Duchene.
"We'd like to give it a shot with this in preseason games," Roy said. "I think it would be great for Nathan to have a guy like Parenteau on his right side, and I think Downie's going to bring a lot of grit to Duchene and O'Reilly. I think Duchene and O'Reilly love to have the puck and PA loves to have the puck as well. I think at some point someone's going to have to go and get that puck.
"I think it's a good mix. I think Nathan will play with McGinn, and that will give them a very good line. PA is an experienced guy and I'm sure he will help Nathan a lot."
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Semyon Varlamov will start in goal Wednesday night when the Avalanche opens preseason play against the Anaheim Ducks at the Pepsi Center.
NHL teams are required to dress at least 10 legitimate NHL players for these games, though visiting teams tend to be pretty liberal when it comes to who they consider to be an experienced NHL player.
Anyway, based on the members of the first Avalanche group to practice Tuesday, the following veterans are expected to play against the Ducks: Varlamov, Stefan Elliott, Jan Hejda, Erik Johnson, Gabriel Landeskog, Jamie McGinn, Cody McLeod, John Mitchell, PA Parenteau, Paul Stastny and Alex Tanguay.
MacKinnon, the first overall pick in the NHL draft, will make his Pepsi Center debut as well as second-round pick Chris Bigras, the 18-year-old defenseman who has been so impressive and will get a long look in camp.
The Avalanche announced Tuesday that Bigras has signed his three-year, entry-level contract, but that doesn't guarantee him a regular-season roster spot in Denver.
"Chris is a young and talented prospect with a bright future,” Avalanche executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic said in a statement. “We are excited to have him under contract and look forward to seeing him in the upcoming preseason games.”
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You can be sure that Roy will receive an extremely warm reception from Avalanche fans Wednesday night when he takes his place behind the bench.
Roy, always focused on details, said he's curious to see what kind of adjustments he'll need to make regarding the pace of the NHL game after coaching the Quebec Remparts in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
"It's probably a lot faster," he said. "But I feel comfortable, and I'm sure I'm going to feel more and more comfortable. It's a good thing for me to have these six exhibition games. At the same time, to be honest with you, I'm more eager to make sure that the team is ready for our fans for our home opener (Oct. 2 against the Ducks, also the regular-season opener). I want to make sure that we're going to be ready for that game.
"Honestly, I'm more eager to see the team getting better. Everything we've been doing is to prepare us as a team for that game."
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Roy's return to the Pepsi Center and the new state-of-the-art video/scoreboard and sound system are certain to draw plenty of interest. The board features four screens -- two that are 48 feet long and 27 feet high facing the center seating areas, and two that are 25 feet wide and 21 feet high facing the end areas.
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