Now that he is about to return to the Avalanche lineup at some point in the five-game road trip that begins tonight at Detroit, Tyler Arnason is able to poke fun at himself — and the circumstances that sidelined him for about four weeks.
“I was too stupid to realize, I guess, that it was broken,” the Avalanche center said after Monday’s practice at the Family Sports Center.
“It” is Arnason’s left wrist, and he suffered the fracture against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 7 at the Pepsi Center.
“A guy lifted a puck and I blocked it,” Arnason said. “I just shot it out, and I didn’t think anything of it. I played two more games and I just taped the wrist.”
After those games, against St. Louis on Dec. 9 and Columbus on Dec. 12, he found the wrist increasingly troublesome, and finally realized it was a problem when he couldn’t grip and lift his stick. He hasn’t played since, missing the Avalanche’s past 11 games.
“That was the first time I’d ever missed a game to injury,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I didn’t realize something wasn’t working.”
In Arnason’s previous four full NHL seasons, he played in all 82 games for Chicago in 2002-03 and 2003-04, a total of 79 with the Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators in 2004-05, and all 82 with Colorado last season. He played in the Avalanche’s first 30 games this season.
The Avalanche placed him on the injury list Dec. 16 and he underwent minor surgery.
“All they had to do was take a little bone out,” he said. “They didn’t have to do any ligaments or seal anything up. They just took the bone out. It hasn’t been too bad, and it feels pretty good.”
Colorado originally said he wasn’t expected back until mid-January, but his recovery has been swift enough to even make him a slight possibility to play against the Red Wings.
“I’m going to say he’s likely to play in Washington (on Wednesday),” Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. “Hopefully, from there, he’s full time.”
Arnason — a second-generation Colorado hockey player because his father, Chuck, was a member of the NHL Rockies — has struggled at times this season, with only three goals and seven assists.
The trip begins the second half of the season for the 22-16-3 Avs, who are in the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot with their 47 points. A year ago, they were 21-18-2 at the halfway point, for 44 points. They rallied to finish with 95 but missed the postseason. Given its high-profile injuries, Colorado might be hard-pressed to match that 51-point second half of a season ago. Increased production from Arnason, who is in the first year of a two-year, $3.35 million deal, would help considerably.
If he doesn’t play tonight, the Avs might dress eight defensemen — as they did against the Islanders on Saturday — and use Kyle Cumiskey and Johnny Boychuk at wing.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
COLORADO AT DETROIT
5:30 p.m. tonight, VS, KKFN 950 AM
Spotlight on Tomas Holmstrom: Out lately with a bad knee, Holmstrom will likely return to the lineup tonight. Holmstrom has evolved into one of the NHL’s best players, and not just in front of the net. He has developed more of a scoring touch besides tipping pucks and has improved his skating and stickhandling.
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: Jose Theodore will get the start in net tonight. He is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over the New York Islanders. Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said his plan for the rest of the trip — even for Wednesday night’s game at Washington — is up in the air. Quenneville said Theodore “is coming off a really strong game (against the Islanders), and I thought he played really well against Los Angeles the other day, too. He’s got some momentum here, and let’s give him an opportunity.” . . . The Avs were 1-1 at Detroit last season, losing 3-1 on Jan. 28 and winning 4-3 in overtime on March 4. The latter was the second stop of what turned out to be a 5-0 road trip.
Red Wings: Even with some recent injuries, nothing is slowing down the Red Wings, especially goalie Chris Osgood. Enjoying a resurrection of his career, Osgood is 19-2-1 this season, and his victory Sunday over Chicago was his 355th — tying him with Rogie Vachon for 15th on the all-time NHL list. “I grew up watching Grant Fuhr play in Edmonton, and he was always preaching: ‘Just win games, win games,’ ” Osgood told the Detroit Free Press. “For me, it means a lot. I want to keep climbing up and see if I can get into the top 10 and see how high I can get from there.” . . . Forward Kirk Maltby is expected to return tonight from a back injury.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
