With the exception of
Cory Sarich, who remains sidelined with a back ailment, it looks like the Avalanche defense corps will be intact for Thursday night's opening playoff game against Minnesota at the Pepsi Center.
Jan Hejda, who left Sunday's game in Anaheim because of what the Avalanche said was an upper-body injury, practiced Wednesday and said he expects to play in Game 1 against the Wild.
"Right now we're planning on that," said Hejda, who would be paired with his usual partner,
Erik Johnson. "I didn’t skate for three days, so I felt a little gasping on the ice, but at the end I started feeling good."
Hejda logged an average of 22:19 in ice time this season, second on the team behind Johnson's 23:00. Hejda had six goals, 11 assists and a plus-8 plus/minus rating in 78 games.
"It was clear in my mind that he was going to play," coach
Patrick Roy said.
Hejda wasn't so certain after he was injured against the Ducks.
"My first feeling on the ice wasn’t good, but then it’s like every other time (he was injured)," Hejda said. "The first 15 seconds is worse and then the pain is going out. I’m pretty happy with the result. When we got back from the trip and we had the day off the next day, I started feeling better. (Tuesday) we decided to take a day off because of that, so I had a workout. Today I was feeling good to go on the ice."
Roy is eager to get this series started while acknowledging it will be different for him as a coach.
"I am very excited about it," he said. "For me, the eight years I played in Denver we had playoff runs and this year is no different. Missing those last 10 years make me realize, yeah, it was tougher to make the playoffs than when I was here. It’s a good opportunity for our group. I’m very excited about it. I’m also excited to see what kind of adjustments we’re going to have to make. I’m ready for it. I look forward to this challenge.
"Am I nervous? I say no. I’m more anxious to see the puck drop. When you’re well prepared you’re not nervous, you’re anxious. You want to go out there and see that puck drop, see that first shift and see if we can generate something off of it. I’m sure our fans are going to be thrilled. I expect our fans to give us a standing ovation when we jump on the ice and be on their feet at the start of the game. This is a great moment. This is a great time for us."
*****
Here's the feature story I wrote on
Semyon Varlamov that is on NHL.com, a site that has plenty of information on all of the playoff series.
Also,
Joe Sakic spoke extensively Wednesday about the team's progress in his first season as executive vice president of hockey operations.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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