T.J. Galiardi is pumped. Not only from a summer largely spent lifting weights, but about what he hopes will be his first full NHL season, after playing 11 games for the Avalanche late last season.
A year ago, the Avalanche rookie forward was listed at 6-feet-2 and 172 pounds, and a look at his frame left little doubt about the accuracy of the numbers. Galiardi is still 6-2, but now he’s closer to 200 pounds.
Galiardi, primarily a center, wants to maintain his physique this season with help from food provided by the Avalanche, not the Lake Erie Monsters.
“It would be disappointing if I wasn’t here, right off the start,” said Galiardi, 21, a native of Calgary. “I don’t mean that in a cocky way. I just feel like I’m confident and there’s a good opportunity for me to be here this year.”
Galiardi scored three goals in his 11 games, including two in one of the team’s rare victories down the stretch, at Vancouver. That gave him confidence entering the offseason, but Galiardi did not take it easy. Punishing workouts in the weight room have added muscle without compromising his speed.
“I never thought (lack of strength) was that big of an issue, but obviously if you get stronger, you’re going to feel better on the ice,” Galiardi said. “I feel stronger and faster.”
Another reason Galiardi says he is excited — new coach Joe Sacco.
Galiardi’s statistics under Sacco at Lake Erie (66 games, 10 goals, 27 points) were not overwhelming, and Galiardi said he had some trouble adjusting to the minor-pro game at first, after a solid junior career with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. But his play got better as the season went along, and he attributes much of the success he had with the Avs to Sacco’s guidance.
“I think the best way to describe him is, he’s a player developer,” Galiardi said of Sacco. “Last year, he made so many players better to make that jump to the NHL, including myself. And not just to make the jump, but to make it successfully. I appreciated him as a coach so much more once I got up to Colorado.”
If Galiardi has to narrow it down to one area Sacco influenced him the most, it’s finishing checks.
“Before this year, I didn’t really finish checks consistently at all,” Galiardi said. “Under Joe, he made such a point at how important it is, and how many scoring chances you get from it.”
Ticket info.
Single-game tickets for Avs games go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Single-game tickets for the majority of Avs home games will be limited to eight per person, per game. Avalanche “Family Night” tickets also will be available for purchase beginning Saturday.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
