This Week In Avalanche Hockey - Nov. 12

The Colorado Avalanche opens a three-game Canadian road trip Wednesday night in Vancouver against the Canucks. The road trip, which is spread out over eight days, will also include stops in Edmonton (Saturday) and Calgary (Tuesday).

The Avs will return home to meet the Flames on Thursday, Nov. 20. Don’t miss your chance to see Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf in their first visit to Pepsi Center this season.

UPCOMING GAMES

VOTE NOW, VOTE OPEN
XM/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports is now underway. Cast your vote for Milan Hejduk, Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny. In a first for all major professional sports leagues, the NHL will provide real-time All-Star fan balloting results online at NHL.com. From Nov. 12 through Jan. 2, NHL fans will be able to vote as often as they like to select the starting lineups for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. Fans around the world can vote online via interactive English and French ballots at Vote.NHL.com. Those in the U.S. and Canada also will be able to cast their votes via text message using any wireless carrier. During the voting period, real-time results will be available exclusively on Vote.NHL.com/results. This marks the third consecutive year the All-Star Balloting process is entirely digital.

AVS TO PLAY 1,000th GAME
Saturday night’s contest in Edmonton will mark the 1,000th regular season game in Avalanche history (since 1995-96).  It will also be the 500th road contest since the club moved from Quebec. The Avalanche hosted its 500th regular season home game last Saturday against Nashville, recording a 1-0 victory. Below is a look at the Avalanche's overall, home and road records since 1995-96.

                   GP     W        L        T       OL     Pts%
Total         998    537    316    101    44    .611
Home       500    287    139    55      19    .648
Away         498    250    177    46      25    .573

AVS AIMING TO BREAK LUONGO’S SHUTOUT STREAK
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo enters Wednesday’s game against the Avalanche with a scoreless streak of 201:18 after posting three consecutive shutouts last week. As impressive as that feat is, Luongo is only halfway towards the all-time NHL mark of six consecutive shutouts set by Alec Connell with the original Ottawa Senators in 1927-28. The modern-day record is five, done by Brian Boucher with Phoenix in 2003-04.

Colorado’s Peter Budaj is coming off his first shutout of the season, stopping all 26 shots he faced in a 1-0 victory over the Predators on Saturday night. Budaj enters Wednesday’s game with a shutout streak of 90:04, his longest of the season so far. By the way, the Avalanche record for consecutive shutouts is three, set by Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy in 2001-02.

TOYS FOR TOTS HOLIDAY DRIVE
Join the US Marines and help thousands of needy children by participating in the Toys for Tots holiday toy drive. Simply drop off a toy at any collection barrel on your way into Pepsi Center before the Thursday, Nov. 20 Avalanche game against the Calgary Flames. Click here for more information on Toys for Tots or to make a donation.

HE SAID IT
 “I’ve been around a number of years now. I’ve been fortunate to have some longevity in the game. It’s a nice reward for a lot of years of hard work.”
- Avalanche forward Darcy Tucker on scoring his 200th NHL goal on Nov. 8 against Nashville. See more of Tucker’s postgame comments on Avalanche TV.

AVALANCHE ALL-ACCESS
The weekly Avalanche show on Altitude Sports & Entertainment features a behind-the-scenes look at Avalanche players and coaches. Watch this week’s “Cranium” battle between Paul Stastny, Cody McLeod, Tyler Arnason and David Jones. Catch “Avalanche All-Access” this Wednesday (Nov. 12) at 6:00 p.m.