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Olympians reaction; Guenin extension; Giguere on criticism; injury updates |
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Rick Sadowski
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Not exactly a slow news day out of Avalanche camp Tuesday:
Three more players earned Olympic spots: center Matt Duchene (Canada), left wing Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden) and goalie Semyon Varlamov (Russia) will be heading to Sochi, joining center Paul Stastny (USA), who was named last week.
Defenseman Nate Guenin has signed a two-year, $1.6 million contract extension through 2015-16. It was announced today, but he said he signed it Monday.
Encouraging news on the injury front: coach Patrick Roy said he expects rookie Nathan MacKinnon (ankle) to play Wednesday night against Ottawa at the Pepsi Center; right wing Ryan O'Reilly (shoulder) is day to day and might play, but forward David Van Der Gulik was recalled from Lake Erie in the AHL in case either MacKinnon or O'Reilly can't play; and Roy said right wing Alex Tanguay told him after skating for the second day in a row Tuesday that he was "very happy about how he felt and wants to push even more, which is good news."
MacKinnon and O'Reilly didn't practice Tuesday and Tanguay didn't skate with the team.
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Roy called out goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has lost four consecutive starts, after Monday's 4-3 loss to Calgary. "He hasn’t played well in the past four or five games and he should stand up and say I’m not playing up to what I should," Roy said then. "He needs to be better and we need to have him playing better. Period."
Roy wanted to move on Tuesday.
"I'm not going to go back on this," he said. "My job after games is to analyze games, and to our fans I'll always be -- you know me -- I'll always be truthful in my comments and that's all I have to say."
Giguere said he wasn't aware of what Roy said Monday.
"I did not see Patrick's comments," he said. "I don't read the paper and I don't pay attention to when things happen like that. We're not immune from criticism -- everybody in this business -- and Patrick will be the first one to face criticism when things don't go well, too. That's the way the business goes, right?
"You have to be able to take it like a man and move on from these things. I don't know what he says and I'll never know because I'll never read it, but at the end of the day it's up to me to play better and when I do play to try and give the team a better chance to win."
Giguere won his first seven decisions and has allowed 17 goals in his past four starts, which included giving up seven goals on 24 shots in two periods Dec. 27 in the Avalanche's 7-2 loss in Chicago.
"I'm not playing as sharp as I was at the beginning of the year," he said. "I had a real strong start to the season and I was feeling very confident. Somehow it got away from me. These things happen in the course of a career. It's not something that I'm going to lose sleep over or panic about. I'm going to work harder in practice, that's all."
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It was an exciting day for new Olympians Duchene, Landeskog and Varlamov (along with Guenin, whose contract extension gives him some coveted security).
* Duchene, who leads the Avalanche in scoring with 16 goals and 22 assists in 39 games, on earning a spot on Canada's team:
"It's a special morning," he said. "Other than getting drafted by the Avalanche, it's the biggest thrill of my career and it feels awesome. I'm just so honored and so humbled to be picked by that hockey team."
Duchene said he couldn't get the TSN feed on his computer to watch the announcement. He took his dog outside and had a phone message from Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli, an assistant GM with Team Canada, when he got back.
"He gave me the good news," he said. "It hasn't really sunk in yet. I'll take some time over the course of the day to really celebrate and have some fun. (Wednesday) I'll get ready for the game against Ottawa. You could make two Team Canada's and your supposed 'B' team could be your 'A' team. Canadian depth is so great. You definitely want to be one of those guys that makes the cut. "
* Landeskog, who won the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year in 2011-12, is the Avalanche's second-leading scorer with 12 goals and 19 assists in 41 games. He said he received an e-mail last week informing him of his selection to Team Sweden.
"Of course I was very happy," he said. "I called my Dad right away and my girlfriend and my closest friends. I'm definitely happy, but my focus all year has been on the Colorado Avalanche and our challenge here, and it definitely will be until (the Olympics begin).
"I'm still so young that everything that's happened to me in the past four or five years is crazy to me. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and create memories. I'm just trying to soak it all in. But now it's back to work. We have business we have to take care of."
* Varlamov has a 19-8-4 record with one shutout, a 2.35 goals-against average and .927 save percentage. He has a good chance to be Russia's starting goalie and is thrilled for the chance to play in his home country. He said he learned of his selection by "reading Russian news."
"It's great news for me," he said. "It has always been my dream to play in the Olympics and in the NHL, so it's huge. It's going to be so much fun to play back in Russia in front of your fans, in front of your family and friends. I can't wait. I'm so excited. I was nervous because you never know."
Will he feel any added pressure playing at home?
"We have pressure here as well," Varlamov said. "There's maybe going to be more pressure playing in Russia in front of your fans, in front of your Russian president, but it's going to be so much fun to play at home."
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Guenin has been one of the Avalanche's pleasant surprises after toiling in the minors for most of his first seven seasons as a pro. He played in a total of 32 NHL games with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Anaheim before signing a one-year contract with Colorado as a free agent last summer.
Guenin already has surpassed that total this year. He has four assists in 38 games while averaging 18:20 in ice time. He leads the team in blocked shots with 86.
"I've said all along all you ask for is an opportunity, and they gave me one," said Guenin, who thanked executive vice president of hockey operations Joe Sakic, Roy and the scouting staff for bringing him to Denver. "After that it's the player's job to make the most of it. It's an unbelievable feeling. If you told me this summer that I would play as many games as I have this year and sign an extension in January, I would probably have laughed at you.
"I felt all along that I could play here. It's just nice to see that come to fruition. After I signed (Monday) and was driving home, I had some flashbacks to the time I was in the minors and having a rough spell and wondering if I'm ever going to get up here. It's nice, but no way can I put my feet up and get comfortable. There's something special brewing here and I couldn't be more thrilled to be part of it."
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