The Avalanche defense is overcrowded, and Kurt Sauer and Bob Boughner remain the odd men out.
Sauer was a healthy scratch for the sixth straight game against Vancouver on Saturday night, while Boughner sat out for his fifth straight, and eighth time in the past 10 games.
That’s not as much of a surprise as the identity of the man who, at least for now, has beaten them out – 28-year-old journeyman Brett Clark, who previously was considered organizational insurance and who even spent most of the two pre-lockout seasons at Hershey of the American Hockey League.
Clark, who had played 158 NHL games going into this season with Montreal, Atlanta and Colorado, has claimed a spot in the lineup largely because of his versatility; he also can play wing and take penalty-killing shifts up front. And he has been playing well on defense.
It helped that he was able to play for Hershey during the lockout and had a good season for the Bears.
“Last year, I could develop and work on some things I needed to work on,” Clark said after the Avalanche’s morning skate. “It was tough not to have any NHL (games last season), but playing was good for me. I wanted to go there and work hard. It helped a lot and so far, so good this year.”
Going into the season, Clark seemed a longshot to make the roster.
“There were a lot of numbers, and there still are a lot of numbers on defense,” he said. “All I can do is go play hard every night and hope to contribute. I wanted to put the pressure on them to make the decision, and it’s worked out.”
Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said Clark “has been great. He had a great camp, and we made the decision to open the season with eight defensemen because we thought he could play and contribute at our level.”
Footnotes
Avalanche forward Dan Hinote missed his sixth straight game with a back problem. …
Defenseman Bryan Allen didn’t play in either game of the back-to-back set for the Canucks because of a sore leg after he blocked a couple of shots Tuesday night at Minnesota.
