Laperriere, Foote Out vs. Nashville
Veterans Will Not Make the Trip to Face Predators
Monday, 01.05.2009 / 2:18 PM
/ Features
By Craig Stancher
The Avalanche will be without a pair of veterans when the club faces Nashville tomorrow, as defenseman Adam Foote and forward Ian Laperriere will not make the trip to Tennessee.
Foote suffered a tricep injury during Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild. The blueliner played briefly in the second period before leaving the game. He did not take part in practice Monday and is out indefinitely.
The Avalanche also played the third period of last night’s game without the services of Laperriere. The winger, who has been playing center of late, skated for just 9:03 before leaving the contest with a back injury.
“Adam has a tricep injury and he’s going to be reevaluated in the next few days,” said Avalanche head coach Tony Granato. “Ian should be day-to-day. He’s got a stiff back but won’t make the trip.”
Ben Guite is expected to jump back into the lineup tomorrow and replace Laperriere after being a healthy scratch against the Wild, while Daniel Tjarnqvist will likely take Foote's spot on the blue line.
Stewart Fine
In a bit of lighter news, Avalanche rookie Chris Stewart should be fine to play tomorrow after also being injured Sunday night. Stewart appeared to take a shot off his skate late in the third period and needed assistance getting off the ice.
He did, however, return to the game a few shifts later and tested out the foot briefly this morning.
“Stewey should be okay. He put his skate on for a little bit,” said Granato. “He’s obviously got a bruised foot from last night. Rather than have him skate through it today, he skated for a little bit, felt okay and should be ready tomorrow.”
Opportunities Arise
David Jones knows as well as anyone that the one silver lining that comes along with the team’s current injury situation is that Colorado’s youngsters receive an opportunity to earn more playing time. In fact, Jones himself admits he probably wouldn’t have cracked the NHL roster last season if it weren’t for the rash of injuries the Avs suffered.
“Last year, at the beginning of the season I didn’t think there was any chance I’d be with this team when you looked at the lineup on paper,” said Jones. “Unfortunately for the team, there were some injuries and I was able to step up and play.”
Jones was recalled three times last year and played in Colorado’s final 18 regular season games after his final recall on Feb. 15. Being through the experience of losing a handful of veterans a season ago, Jones knows that it’s time for young players like himself, T.J. Hensick and Chris Stewart to prove just how valuable they can be.
“We have a bunch of guys going down again, so the guys that are healthy need to step up and pull together,” added Jones. “But you can’t try to do more than your job. Even though there are guys out of the lineup, the coaches just expect me to play my game. All you can really do is work hard. When guys try to stretch things out and do things they don’t normally do, that’s when we get into trouble. We just have to play our games and everything will fall into place.”
Nashville Next
The Avs will take on the Predators tomorrow for the fourth and final time this season. Colorado holds a 2-1-0 advantage in the season series, with the most recent matchup being a 5-1 Avalanche win on Dec. 29 at Pepsi Center.
Tuesday’s game will be held at the Sommet Center in Nashville, where the Predators earned a 3-2 win over the Avs on Dec. 4. Colorado has won both matchups this season at Pepsi Center.
Andrew Raycroft will get the starting nod in goal for the Avalanche.
Foote suffered a tricep injury during Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild. The blueliner played briefly in the second period before leaving the game. He did not take part in practice Monday and is out indefinitely.
The Avalanche also played the third period of last night’s game without the services of Laperriere. The winger, who has been playing center of late, skated for just 9:03 before leaving the contest with a back injury.
“Adam has a tricep injury and he’s going to be reevaluated in the next few days,” said Avalanche head coach Tony Granato. “Ian should be day-to-day. He’s got a stiff back but won’t make the trip.”
Ben Guite is expected to jump back into the lineup tomorrow and replace Laperriere after being a healthy scratch against the Wild, while Daniel Tjarnqvist will likely take Foote's spot on the blue line.
Stewart Fine
In a bit of lighter news, Avalanche rookie Chris Stewart should be fine to play tomorrow after also being injured Sunday night. Stewart appeared to take a shot off his skate late in the third period and needed assistance getting off the ice.
He did, however, return to the game a few shifts later and tested out the foot briefly this morning.
“Stewey should be okay. He put his skate on for a little bit,” said Granato. “He’s obviously got a bruised foot from last night. Rather than have him skate through it today, he skated for a little bit, felt okay and should be ready tomorrow.”
Opportunities Arise
David Jones knows as well as anyone that the one silver lining that comes along with the team’s current injury situation is that Colorado’s youngsters receive an opportunity to earn more playing time. In fact, Jones himself admits he probably wouldn’t have cracked the NHL roster last season if it weren’t for the rash of injuries the Avs suffered.
“Last year, at the beginning of the season I didn’t think there was any chance I’d be with this team when you looked at the lineup on paper,” said Jones. “Unfortunately for the team, there were some injuries and I was able to step up and play.”
Jones was recalled three times last year and played in Colorado’s final 18 regular season games after his final recall on Feb. 15. Being through the experience of losing a handful of veterans a season ago, Jones knows that it’s time for young players like himself, T.J. Hensick and Chris Stewart to prove just how valuable they can be.
“We have a bunch of guys going down again, so the guys that are healthy need to step up and pull together,” added Jones. “But you can’t try to do more than your job. Even though there are guys out of the lineup, the coaches just expect me to play my game. All you can really do is work hard. When guys try to stretch things out and do things they don’t normally do, that’s when we get into trouble. We just have to play our games and everything will fall into place.”
Nashville Next
The Avs will take on the Predators tomorrow for the fourth and final time this season. Colorado holds a 2-1-0 advantage in the season series, with the most recent matchup being a 5-1 Avalanche win on Dec. 29 at Pepsi Center.
Tuesday’s game will be held at the Sommet Center in Nashville, where the Predators earned a 3-2 win over the Avs on Dec. 4. Colorado has won both matchups this season at Pepsi Center.
Andrew Raycroft will get the starting nod in goal for the Avalanche.
