The Avalanche received some good news following Friday’s practice at Family Sports Center, as it was revealed that forward David Jones will return to the lineup for Saturday’s afternoon tilt against the Anaheim Ducks.

Jones injured his shoulder during the second period of Colorado’s Jan. 26 game against Phoenix. The winger was coming onto the ice for a line change during a stoppage in play when he fell and suffered the injury. Because of the NHL All-Star Break and the Avalanche’s postponed game in St. Louis on Feb. 1, Jones will have missed only one game due to the injury.

“I felt bad that the guys had to go all the way to St. Louis and turn around, but I was pretty happy myself about not missing a game,” said Jones. “Even though it was something you don’t want to happen, it was actually good timing. We had those extra five days for the break, so instead of missing two or three games I just missed the one.”

While Jones’ shoulder injury has healed sufficiently enough for him to return to action Ryan O’Reilly’s has not. The center, who has been sidelined since Jan. 14, practiced today wearing an orange non-contact jersey and will not be available for Saturday’s contest.

Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco also announced following practice that Peter Budaj will start in goal against the Ducks.

Forsberg Update
Friday morning marked the fourth full practice that Peter Forsberg has gone through with the Avalanche. The forward began practicing with the Avs during the morning skate prior to the team’s Jan. 22 game against Boston, and he has now been on the ice with Colorado’s players a total of eight times (four of those being morning skates).

As has been his routine, Forsberg hit the ice approximately half an hour before practice officially began. This morning, he was joined by injured forward Peter Mueller, who was skating for the third consecutive day as he recovers from a concussion.

After the ice was resurfaced, Forsberg joined Colorado’s players in a full practice.

“It’s starting to feel better, actually,” Forsberg said in reference to his foot. “If we’re near a decision, then we’re very near a decision here soon. Not yet, but we’ll see soon. It’s been great to get at least a couple practices in and start feeling better. We’ll see how it goes the next couple days here.”

Forsberg also fielded questions about his last media availability session two days ago, during which many outlets reported that his body language and general demeanor suggested some frustration. The forward said that he was “more up today,” but still wasn’t ready to make a final decision on a possible return.

“It was not a good practice (on Wednesday), but I had six days by myself and it was like starting over again when the guys came back,” said Forsberg. “It’s better when I get to practice a couple times, get into the pace, get into the quickness of those guys. What can I say? We’ll see here in the next couple of days, but I’m feeling better though.”