Jordan Leopold is ready.
“Again,” the Avalanche defenseman said, smiling after Thursday’s practice at Family Sports Center.
After recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery and playing only five games in early December before suffering a groin muscle injury, Leopold is scheduled to be back in the Colorado lineup tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes at the Pepsi Center.
“Oh-six was a bad year for me,” Leopold said. “It’s ’07 now, and I hope to make a difference.”
When the Avalanche acquired Leopold from Calgary for Alex Tanguay, the hope was that he could be more multidimensional with the Avalanche than he was with the Flames, where he played under coach Darryl Sutter’s close-to-the-vest system. Leopold, a former Hobey Baker Award winner from the University of Minnesota, hoped for that, too, but he said he still was feeling his way when he went out of the lineup again in December.
“Five games, I was honestly simply trying to get the basic part of my game back in order,” he said. “It had been a long time since I had played a game – last May, I think. That fifth game, I was just starting to get a rhythm and get back into it. These first few games, I think it’s important that I do the little things right, and I hope to add on to that as I go.”
Leopold’s return will give the Avalanche six defensemen on the active roster – Leopold plus Brett Clark, Karlis Skrastins, Ossi Vaananen, Ken Klee, and Kurt Sauer. Kyle Cumiskey was returned to Albany last week, and John-Michael Liles (broken foot) and Patrice Brisebois (back) are out. Liles skated with the team for the first 15 minutes of practice Thursday and is on the verge of doing more on-ice work, but Brisebois hasn’t been back in practice yet.
With Liles out for at least a while longer, the Avs have been missing an offensive threat from the blue line, but Leopold said he can’t be too concerned with trying to fill that void.
“I wouldn’t even say that’s an issue right now,” he said. “I have to take care of myself first, get my feet wet and take it one step at a time.”
“I think he’s well aware of how we want him to play,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “Our defense (is) all encouraged to get involved in the attack and support. I think getting back in it, you want to keep it as simple as you can. There’s still a lot offense in his game, and we should be comfortable with that.”
