OTTAWA — With the return of Kyle Cumiskey, who had missed 16 games with a foot injury, giving the Avs seven healthy defensemen, Avalanche coach Joe Sacco made the difficult decision Wednesday night to give John-Michael Liles a seat in the press box.
“Easy decisions are to scratch fourth-liners and your fifth and sixth defensemen. At the end of the day, you can’t take the easy way out. I still think (Liles) is going to be an important part of our team,” Sacco said.
The Avs want Liles to play with more hunger.
“It’s not easy to scratch John right now,” Sacco said. “I think he can take his game to another level. We don’t want him to be satisfied with just getting by. We’re just trying to find a way to get the most out of him.”
The return of right wing Marek Svatos from a groin injury meant center Matt Hendricks was a scratch, along with left wing David Koci.
No Olympics for Hejduk.
Milan Hejduk is putting his team before country. The winger wasn’t selected to the 23-man roster for the Czech Republic in Vancouver, but the 33-year-old Hejduk revealed he spoke with coach Vladimir Ruzicka last week and the duo agreed it was best to rest. “We made a decision that it’s better not to go,” Hejduk said. “If I hadn’t played in the Olympics before, it would probably be a little different, but I’ve played in three. It’s still tough, but this team is first right now.”
Sacco was pleased with the decision. “It means that the Avalanche are his first priority,” he said.
