Jose Theodore, slated to be the backup goalie for the Avalanche to start the regular season, will start in Saturday night’s season opener for the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters to complete his rehabilitation assignment, the Avalanche announced today.
He will return to Colorado on Sunday. He has been out of action after having offseason knee surgery in August.
“Jose is in the final stages of his rehabilitation work, and both our hockey staff and he agreed that actual game action would be the way to complete this process,” Avs general manager Francois Giguere said.
The Lake Erie Monsters will kick off their inaugural season against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland after signing a long-term affiliation agreement with the Avalanche. The new Cleveland franchise was operated as the Utah Grizzlies before their AHL franchise rights were purchased by a group led by Dan Gilbert, owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, in May 2006.
Theodore, a former Hart and Vezina trophy winner, appeared in 33 games last season for the Avs and had a 13-15 record with a 3.26 goals-against average. He was obtained in a 2006 trade deadline deal with the Montreal Canadiens for goalie David Aebischer.
