Dallas – Avalanche winger Marek Svatos has scored only two goals since Dec. 1, and his struggles continued Sunday against the Dallas Stars. He went without a point in the Avs’ 7-5 loss, looked lost in the Colorado end of the ice, and managed to be a minus-2 in only 5:52 of ice time.
“He’s having a tough stretch right now,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. “We need a contribution in all areas from him. When you’re not scoring, you have to do other things well and the scoring will come back.”
Last season, Svatos missed the final 20 games after suffering a shoulder injury against the Stars in Dallas, yet his 32 goals held up to tie Joe Sakic for the team lead. This season, the 24-year-old Slovak has only 11 goals and 14 assists.
Charity
Country music artist Garth Brooks dropped the ceremonial first puck, commemorating the first time all players on both teams in a game had pledged to make donations to the Littleton-based Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation.
The foundation also has relationships with players in Major League Baseball and the NFL, and athletes pledge to contribute based on any statistical standard they choose.
“This is what we’ve been hoping for, this day right here,” Brooks said before the game. “We were hoping it would happen in baseball, since we started there (in 1999), but it’s happened in hockey. … Our goal is for this not to be extraordinary, but common.”
Brooks said Avalanche captain Joe Sakic had been involved “since Day One. … He writes a huge check every year.” Brooks also noted that defenseman Ken Klee’s contributions go back many seasons, or before he joined the Avalanche for 2006-07.
For hockey, the foundation’s player pledge form suggestions include $300 per goal and $400 per goalie win on an ongoing basis, payable at the end of the season, but participants can write in their own category – even penalty minutes – and specify different amounts. The foundation tells athletes it “distributes 100 percent of these monies to nonprofit organizations that effectively serve and benefit children with an emphasis on health, education and inner-city needs.”
Brooks said that “hockey, per player, gives more than any other sport. … I’d say philanthropic, but I can’t spell it or use it in a sentence. You know what I mean. A very giving person.”
