CALGARY, Alberta — “‘Rid-er pride!” Avalanche captain Joe Sakic bellowed Monday upon entering the visitors’ dressing room at the Pengrowth Saddledome. “That’s right, baby, ‘Rider pride!”
While Sakic exulted over the Saskatchewan Roughriders riding roughshod over the Calgary Stampeders in Canadian Football League action on TV, Adam Foote was taking good-natured ribbing from Darcy Tucker.
“Footer, a little grumpy on the ice today, eh?” Tucker jabbed. Foote, getting a rubdown in the middle of the room, pretended to ignore his new teammate, which only made the kidding worse.
Ryan Smyth signed autographs for a group of young visitors, while John-Michael Liles kept breaking up at whatever it was Foote was telling him from the massage table.
Isn’t this supposed to be a team in panic mode already? Sure didn’t look it.
“Yeah, we’ve blown at least two points so far. But you know what? We’re playing the way we want to play,” Sakic said. “If you play like that, you’re going to win most of your games.”
The 0-2 Avs take on the 0-1-1 Calgary Flames tonight, so one team will get its first victory. The Avs aren’t making excuses but sincerely believe they have been victims of some tough luck so far. They have outshot opponents 72-39 and largely controlled the tempo but have found ways to lose both games.
“I mean, of course there’s no panic in here,” Sakic said. “We’ve had bad bounces, but over the course of a year, you’re going to have some go against you and some for you. You can’t let that affect the way you’re going to play the game. If you’re not playing well, you might get a couple breaks and get a couple cheap wins, but you’re going to lose most of them.”
The Avs started the 1998-99 season with a new coach, Bob Hartley, and lost their first four games. They came within one win of going to the Stanley Cup Finals. Bottom line: It’s a long season.
“The results don’t dictate how we’ve played,” Avs coach Tony Granato said. “We’ve played two very good hockey games, and if we play the rest of the way like we’ve played in the first two, we’re going to win a lot of them.”
Granato will make no lineup changes against the Flames. Peter Budaj, who has allowed eight goals on 39 shots, will start in net.
Granato isn’t looking for sympathy or moral victories.
“We’re all about results. The bottom line is finding ways to win,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t play well and you find ways to win, but you’re not happy with how you played. When you play two games and play well but you don’t win, you have to stay with it. You can’t make any changes or do anything different.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
COLORADO AT CALGARY
7:30 p.m. tonight, ALT, KCKK 1510 AM
Spotlight on Jarome Iginla: It’s hard to believe the Flames’ star has played 12 seasons already. He still seems like a young kid at times, but the fact is he’s 32 and has been in Calgary awhile now. Iginla remains a premier power forward, with a great shot and instincts around the net.
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: Enforcer Scott Parker (concussion) has resumed skating on his own, but he has not rejoined the team. His timetable for a return remains uncertain. . . . The Avs went 5-3-0 against Calgary last season, 2-2 at the Saddledome. . . . First-line right winger David Jones has only one shot on net through the first two games, with a minus-2. . . . Milan Hejduk has 14 shots and two goals so far. His penalty-shot goal Sunday improved him to 3-for-3 in career penalty shots.
Flames: Veteran Todd Bertuzzi is off to a slow start with Calgary, his fifth team in the last four years. Bertuzzi is minus-4 through two games, although he does have one goal. . . . Calgary’s power play went 0-for-7 in Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to Vancouver. . . . Miikka Kiprusoff will start in goal for the Flames.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
