CALGARY, Alberta — Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville on Thursday morning said that Peter Forsberg’s in-the-lineup, out-of-the-lineup status and the circus atmosphere that often accompanies it hasn’t become a distraction for his team.
“I don’t think so, no,” Quenneville said after the Avs’ morning skate at the Pengrowth Saddledome. “It’s nice to know you have that option when he is in the lineup. He gives you a real good weapon up front, a lot of options offensively you can get off his play.
“We knew going in that his health is part of it, and I think the guys respect the way things are playing out. It’s not like we’re unfamiliar with guys in and out of the lineup.”
Forsberg didn’t practice with the Avs on Wednesday in Calgary, didn’t participate in the morning skate Thursday and didn’t suit up for the fifth time in Colorado’s nine games since he first stepped into the lineup March 4 against Vancouver. He played three games, missed four in a row, and was on the ice for nearly 20 minutes Monday night in the road loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The Avs say he is continuing to be troubled by a groin problem. His notorious foot and ankle issues were what kept him out of the league this season, before he signed with Colorado on Feb. 25.
Quenneville called Forsberg’s status “day to day.”
Paul Stastny also didn’t take part in the morning skate; the Avs said he was continuing to recuperate from the flu. At the time, Quenneville said he expected Stastny to play against the Flames, but after taking the warm-up, Stastny wasn’t in the lineup after all.
Scratched.
The Avs’ healthy scratches against the Flames were defensemen Jordan Leopold and Kyle Cumiskey (who was brought back from Lake Erie) and winger Scott Parker. The Leopold scratch — his second straight — was interesting, given that the veteran came to Colorado from the Flames in exchange for Alex Tanguay in 2006. Tanguay was back in the Flames lineup Thursday after missing one game with a broken toe.
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
