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Johnson plans to play Saturday |
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Rick Sadowski
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Erik Johnson took part in a full contact practice Wednesday and said he plans to play Saturday when the Avalanche meet Buffalo at the Pepsi Center.
The 6-feet-4, 225-pound defenseman has been sidelined since he sustained a broken fibula Dec. 3 when he blocked a Tyler Seguin shot in a 3-0 loss to Dallas.
"I feel good, I'm going to play on Saturday," Johnson said. "I'm going to get a couple more skates in, see that it all goes well, go off (injured reserve) and play Saturday at home."
Johnson traveled with the Avalanche for Thursday's game in Nashville, but he won't play. Coach Jared Bednar said Johnson would get in a "couple" more skates to ensure he's ready to play against the Sabres.
The Avalanche were in the midst of a 1-4-0 slide when Johnson was injured. They've gone 7-26-2 without him and are 16-39-3 overall, the worst record in the NHL.
"I wish that coming back we would be in a better playoff position so the games meant something," said Johnson, who has one goal and 10 assists in 23 games. "I guess in this instance I could make sure things felt perfect. The coaches were great, the training staff was great making sure I was 110 percent.
"I wish we were in a different situation right now, but every time you put on the Avalanche jersey you have a big sense of pride. Any time you step on the ice in the NHL it means something. No matter what situation you're in as a team, you have to go out and play hard."
Johnson said he never considered sitting out the rest of the season despite the Avalanche's record.
"Let me tell you, there's no worse feeling than being out of the lineup and watching your team struggle," he said. "That was probably the hardest part for me, not being able to do anything to help the guys. You feel for the fans and your coaches and teammates; there's no lack of effort, it's just kind of the way the season has been going."
If Johnson plays Saturday, his return will come five days after defenseman Nikita Zadorov sustained a season-ending broken ankle in practice.
"It's a nice boost, especially now when you lose Zadorov," Bednar said. "We all know the role (Johnson) plays on our team. He's been out for a significant length of time, so he'll probably get eased in a little bit. He's a guy that can handle a lot of ice time, so as his leg starts feeling better and he gets his timing back and gets in some games, we can use him for a lot of minutes."
Johnson said the injury won't deter him from continuing to block shots.
"It tells me I need to have more pads around my skates, too, if I’m going to be blocking shots," he said. "I think I was blocking a lot at that time. I’ll still block them, but at the end of the day, that’s what the goalies get paid for, right?
"You sacrifice your body for the good of the team. If a 100-mph slap shot breaks my leg, I think that's just bad luck. I'm not worried about that at all."
Johnson said he didn't "assume the worst right away" after absorbing Seguin's shot.
"I just thought, ‘Get up and try and finish your shift,' " he said. "I was able to get the puck out of the zone on the penalty kill, but I knew something was wrong. I had some weird sensations and when I got back to the training room, they asked me to put some weight on it and there was some clicking going on.
"It just didn’t feel right and we got the X-ray and it was pretty obvious right away it was broken. Luckily, I didn’t have to have surgery or anything, and it was a pretty straightforward rehab process.”
Forward Rene Bourque (concussion) practiced again with a non-contact jersey and didn't make the trip to Nashville. There's still no timetable for his return.
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