With little more than a week remaining until opening night, final cuts to the Avalanche roster must be made.
Colorado has 29 players on its training camp roster entering tonight’s exhibition game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Pepsi Center and must make at least five cuts before the Oct. 5 opener at Edmonton. With Milan Hejduk injured, the actual roster number is 28. The league maximum is 23. Coach Joel Quenneville said no decision has been made on how many of the eight veteran defensemen the team will keep.
“We’ll evaluate things as time goes on,” Quenneville said.
A veteran, such as Bob Boughner, Curtis Leschyshyn or Kurt Sauer, may be the odd man out if the Avs keep only seven defensemen. All three will probably survive should they keep eight.
The Avs will see some injured players return to action against the Wings, including left wing Brad May, a former Vancouver Canuck, who will play before a Pepsi Center crowd for the first time.
Center Pierre Turgeon, out the past two exhibitions with a groin injury, also will play. Defenseman Patrice Brisebois (groin) isn’t ready to return.
David Aebischer will play the whole game in goal, Quenneville said. At practice Monday, Quenneville broke up the top defensive pairing of Rob Blake and John-Michael Liles, pairing Blake with Karlis Skrastins.
Quenneville kept the current top forward line intact – Joe Sakic centering wings Andrew Brunette and rookie Wojtek Wolski. Turgeon’s recent injury forced Quenneville to play Alex Tanguay at center, and Dan Hinote also has been spending time at center of late, a sign that nonroster invitee center Jason Krog may have a hard time surviving the cuts.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
