The rules: The Avalanche was scheduled to play the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center, but the NHL lockout left arenas across the league dark. In an attempt to lighten the mood created by this labor dispute, The Denver Post will provide a hockey fix with the help of some of the metro area’s video hockey-playing youth. Two players from the ages of 8 to 14 will play a video version of each scheduled Avalanche game until the NHL resumes play. The Post will provide a short report on the outcome of each Video Hockey League game. At the conclusion of the season, the winner of a random drawing will receive the Xbox system and hockey video game.
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Some nights in the Video Hockey League, the Avalanche has been so dominant, it almost has been a fantasy for new Colorado coach Joel Quenneville.
Other nights, it’s more like a nightmare.
On Tuesday night in the Xbox version of the Pepsi Center, the Edmonton Oilers steamrolled the Avalanche 13-6 as Colorado goaltender stopped only 29 of 42 shots.
Two Lakewood youths – Cameron Walter, 12, and Ethan Hufnagel, 10 – opened their three-game VHL week at the Xbox controls, playing a game in which the Avalanche fell behind 8-0 before finally waking up.
Petr Nedved had four goals and Radek Dvorak three for the Oilers. had two goals for the Avs, and , Chris Gratton, and also scored.
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CAMERON WALTER 
If this had been real, of course, Quenneville would have delivered a steaming postmortem. The Avs would have held a players-only postgame meeting, nudging them into the league lead in that department. And somebody would have said: “We didn’t have any jump, and we need to look in the mirror and finish our checks and take them one game at a time because you might run into a hot goaltender and get burned.”
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com .
How to join in
Video hockey players from the ages of 8 to 14 are invited to try their hand at playing a week’s worth of the Avalanche schedule. Please write VideoAvs, Sports Dept., The Denver Post, 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202 or e-mail videoavs@denverpost.com. Include your name, age, school and a contact phone number for your parents.
NHL LOCKOUT
Total days of lockout: 62
Total days of season missed: 35
Games lost Tuesday: Six
Total games missed: 224
Negotiations: No talks scheduled.
