Kanata, Ontario – When Patrick Roy returned to Montreal for his first game as a visitor with the Avalanche in 1997 his return news conference was carried live on daytime local television. That will not happen when Jose Theodore makes his first appearance Saturday in Montreal as an former Hab, but it will be the prime-time event in the city nonetheless.
Theodore is coming back to town feeling good about himself after Thursday’s 2-1 Colorado victory over Ottawa.
“My focus was on tonight’s game, and now I’m going to take the next couple days to relax a little bit. Obviously, it’s going to be a big game Saturday,” Theodore said. Asked if he’ll have lots of butterflies, Theodore said, “I don’t know, it’s the first time I’ve been back. I’ll tell you after the game.”
Theodore likely will face the goalie he was traded for last season – David Aebischer.
Avs veteran defenseman Patrice Brisebois also will play his first game against his old team, after 12 years in Montreal.
“It’s going to be a fun night,” Brisebois said. “I want to enjoy the moment and play a good game for my team.”
Arnason snipes at Sens
Avalanche center Tyler Arnason, who played 19 games with Ottawa last season, took a bit of a verbal shot at his former team at Thursday’s morning skate.
Arnason was not given an offer by the Senators in the offseason, and took a one-year, $900,000 deal with Colorado.
“They kind of said that I wasn’t a player,” Arnason said. “And I wanted to come back and prove that I was.”
Arnason did that against Ottawa; He was a force in the first two periods, hitting the post with one shot off the rush and getting seven shots overall after 40 minutes. He finished with eight.
Footnote
Defenseman Ossi Vaananen was back in the Avs’ lineup after being a healthy scratch in Toronto. Kurt Sauer and George Parros sat out for the Avs against Ottawa.
