Chicago – Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski and Jeff Finger are used to being checked, but tonight in Chicago they will get perhaps the biggest check of their lives.
Tonight is the Avs’ rookie dinner, where the three will take the rest of the team (players only) out to a meal on their dime at a Chicago restaurant.
It is a tradition for NHL teams, and the bills can be steep. John-Michael Liles, however, escaped the big check his rookie season of 2003-04.
“The schedule was kind of tight that year,” Liles said. “We’ll take it easy on them.”
Fight line
Scott Parker’s first shift of the season for the Avs resulted in a fight in the faceoff circle – between Mark Rycroft and Chicago’s Danny Richmond.
Rycroft dropped the gloves for his second fight of the season, after lining up with Parker and Ben Guite.
Parker will wear No. 29. He wore 27 in his previous stay with the Avalanche, but the number is currently used by Ossi Vaananen.
Clark to Worlds?
Team Canada 2007 World Championship general manager Steve Yzerman could consider Avs defender Brett Clark.
The tournament will be held April 27-May 13 in Moscow, meaning many of Canada’s top defensive stars still could be involved in NHL playoffs. Clark entered Thursday with seven goals and 34 points in 64 games. He assisted on Colorado’s first goal against Chicago, by Brad Richardson.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Clark said. “We still want to be in the playoffs.”
Footnotes
Avs forward Marek Svatos (groin) did not play, and is listed as day to day. … Rookie defenseman Kyle Cumiskey was sent back to Albany (N.Y.) of the American Hockey League.
