After Paul Stastny underwent surgery Tuesday on his fractured right forearm at Denver’s Rose Medical Center, the Avalanche said the team’s original estimate — that the young center would be out 6 to 8 weeks from the time of his Dec. 23 injury — remained accurate.
If Stastny’s absence lasted exactly six weeks, he would be back for the final 31 games of the 2008-09 season.
Meanwhile, veteran center Joe Sakic still is expected to be out until mid-March with a back problem and three broken fingers and tendon damage suffered in a snowblower accident.
So until at least early February, the Avalanche will have to try to remain in the hunt for a playoff spot minus its top two centers.
The Avs have won three straight, including two minus Stastny, going into tonight’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz. Colorado and Phoenix both have 37 points and were seventh and eighth, respectively, in the West going into Tuesday night’s games.
After practice Tuesday, Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote laughed and said that he had called former Colorado center Peter Forsberg, who is attempting to overcome his foot and ankle problems as he considers another NHL return.
“I talked to him the other day and said, ‘When are you coming back?’ ” Foote said. “He just laughed. So he’s not going to say anything.”
Without Sakic, Stastny and Forsberg, Colorado at least for the foreseeable future will continue to use center Tyler Arnason between Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk, with T.J. Hensick, Ian Laperriere and Ben Guite centering the other lines. Wingers Darcy Tucker and Wojtek Wolski are among the other forwards who can play center.
Actually, given that the Avalanche also had an unusual amount of injuries last season — most notably with Sakic, Stastny and Smyth missing a combined 81 games — this is a continuation of a pattern. Colorado certainly hasn’t been the only NHL team to suffer injuries, either last season or this season.
For whatever reason, the Avs haven’t just lost bodies — they’ve lost upper-echelon players for significant periods of time. They’re not alone, of course. This isn’t meant to be an all-inclusive list but serves to point out other Western Conference examples.
San Jose lost Jonathan Cheechoo for three weeks before he returned to the lineup on Dec. 18. Columbus’ Derick Brassard and Dallas’ Brenden Morrow are among those who have suffered season-ending injuries, and Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne will be out until about the all-star break. St. Louis has been devastated, losing captain Eric Brewer to back surgery, and Paul Kariya faces possible hip surgery and might be done for the season. Also, center Andy McDonald has just started skating again after suffering a broken ankle in mid-November. Los Angeles lost prized young defenseman Jack Johnson for at least three months after he suffered a shoulder injury Oct. 18. And Vancouver has been without star goalie Roberto Luongo for nearly six weeks.
“Finding ways to overcome difficult situations — every team goes through it,” Smyth said. “That’s what organizations are about, calling up young players and allowing them to have chances to play. As you can see, they’re doing that here.”
Tucker, who missed 11 games this season with a minor knee injury, is coming off spending seven full seasons with Toronto as a teammate of star center Mats Sundin.
“We lost Mats a few times and we seemed to find ways to win hockey games,” Tucker said. “There’s always going to be guys who get hurt, but it’s always unfortunate when your top two centermen are unable to play. Everybody finds ways to help, in whatever manner that is.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Colorado at Phoenix
6 p.m. today, ALT, KCKK 1510 AM
Spotlight on Todd Fedoruk: The Coyotes winger, nearly out of hockey after two devastating concussions, saw a rebirth to his career last season in Minnesota and signed with Phoenix as a free agent last summer. He’s physical, but as the Avs saw in the playoffs, he has some skill around the net, too.
Avalanche notes: Colorado on Tuesday recalled center Chris Durno from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League. Durno, 28, was the Monsters’ leading scorer, with eight goals and 19 points. This was his sixth minor-league season after he played four seasons at Michigan Tech, and if he suits up for Colorado, he will be playing his first NHL game. The Avalanche signed him as a free agent last summer. . . . This is one of only four road games for the Avs in a 19-game stretch that began with an overtime win over the Coyotes on Dec. 23.
Coyotes: Phoenix No. 1 goalie Ilya Bryzgalov missed practice Monday with a sore back and could miss tonight’s game. Coach Wayne Gretzky said Bryzgalov was experiencing tightness and would be re-evaluated at today’s morning skate. If he can’t play, Mikael Tellqvist will start. Tellqvist beat the Avs in Colorado’s last game at Jobing.com Arena. . . . Phoenix is coming off a 4-0 home loss to Los Angeles on Saturday. . . . The Coyotes, according to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail, are receiving advance subsidy payments from the NHL to meet financial obligations. Neither the team nor the league has addressed the report. Terry Frei and Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
