Here's my interview story with
VP/GM Joe Sakic on NHL.com.
I'll be posting more of his comments in the coming days, along with those of coach
Patrick Roy and several players.
Among other things, Sakic wants to sign
Ryan O'Reilly to a contract extension before next season starts. It's included in the NHL.com story.
*****
Attending the final morning skate of the season is always weird, especially without any playoff games to look forward to.
I spoke with several injured players --
Erik Johnson, Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and
Jesse Winchester -- and will post their comments in the next few days. Really have to be concerned about Winchester, who missed the entire season with post-concussion symptoms after getting hurt in a preseason game and doesn't seem to be getting any better.
Also spoke with
Daniel Briere, who could very well be playing his final NHL game. The Avalanche aren't going to re-sign him and at age 37 he realizes this could be the end. One of the nicest people you will ever want to meet, in or out of sports.
Defenseman
Duncan Siemens will make his NHL debut Saturday against Chicago at the Pepsi Center. He replaces the injured
Brad Stuart (leg) and will be paired with
Tyson Barrie. Siemens will wear No. 16.
Here are the
game notes.
The Edmonton-born Siemens, 21, was the Avalanche's second first-round pick (11th overall, nine spots behind
Gabriel Landeskog) in the 2011 NHL draft. He's 6-feet-3 and 205 pounds. He had six assists and 57 penalty minutes in 51 games with Lake Erie in the AHL.
"I don't want him to put pressure on himself, I just want him to be him," Roy said. "I want to see what he learned this year in Lake Erie and I want him to enjoy this game."
Siemens, who was called up Friday, said it was "surreal" when he skated onto the ice in the morning.
"Very excited," he said. "It was a pretty cool feeling taking a look around and knowing that tonight was going to be the night that I've trained for since I was three years old. It's all about taking it in and trying to stay focused on what I have to do. It's a huge opportunity; everyone says you can only make one first impression, so it's important that I keep it simple, stick to my strengths, try not to do too much and be effective in the areas where I'm strong.
"If you're going to start, you might as well start against one of the league's best. A Canadian kid playing against an Original Six team is something pretty special. I'm looking forward to the challenge.
"The season's been a little bit of a rollercoaster. I had a strong camp, went down to the minors and things have been kind of up and down all year for myself as an individual and as a team. Players are going to go through that throughout the year and it's all about what you take from it and how you overcome it.
"My strengths are going to be a quick, physical guy. I can't try to handle the puck too much. I have to get the puck, make the first read and make the simple play with the puck and finish all my checks and try to be a pain out there."
*****
Blackhawks goalie
Scott Darling will start against the Avalanche, who need a win to become the seventh team in the Central Division with at least 90 points.
The Blackhawks have lost three games in a row, all by 2-1 scores.
"When the playoffs start this team gets excited and likes a challenge and looks forward to that time," Blackhawks coach
Joel Quenneville said. "You got to be careful about the on-off switch in just thinking that you're going to be fine, so let's make sure there's some pace to the game and some thought to it as well."
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Alex Tanguay
John Mitchell - Matt Duchene - Jarome Iginla
Cody McLeod - Marc-Andre Cliche - Joey Hishon
Jordan Caron - Freddie Hamilton - Daniel Briere
DEFENSE
Jan Hejda - Zach Redmond
Duncan Siemens - Tyson Barrie
Nick Holden - Nate Guenin
GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov
Reto Berra
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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