When the Colorado Avalanche opens its season it not only will be dealing with loss of offensive firepower because of Peter Forsberg signing with the Philadelphia Flyers, it also will be without another top NHL scoring threat.
The team announced today that right wing Milan Hejduk, the NHL’s leading goal scorer in 2002-03, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his right knee and will be sidelined for four to five weeks. The Avs will open their season two weeks from tomorrow at Edmonton on Oct. 5.
“It’s early in the preseason and it was the ideal time for Milan to get this taken care of,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said in a statement released by the team. “He’ll be fully recovered in a few weeks and ready to embark on a long regular season.”
Hejduk had not skated since Friday’s Burgundy-White intrasquad game. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on the knee during the NHL lockout after injuring it playing for Pardubice of the Czech League.
“After further examination, the procedure was necessary in order to eliminate the pain he was experiencing in his knee,” Avalanche trainer Matt Sokolowski said in a team release. “The procedure went really well and a full recovery is expected.”
