Who will sit?
It is the question that will hang over the Avalanche’s defense corps once captain Adam Foote returns from his ankle injury, which will be soon. The return Thursday night of Ryan Wilson from a concussion brought to six the number of healthy Avs defensemen.
Once Foote returns and if no other injuries occur to the defense until then, one of the seven will have to sit out. That won’t be much fun for that player, coach Joe Sacco acknowledged, but it could be a good situation for the team.
“We’ve said all along that the guys playing best at the time are going to play,” Sacco said. “I think it keeps guys accountable. It’s a good problem for a team to have.”
Said Wilson: “I don’t think there’s any tension or anything among the guys about it. We all get along and pull for each other. If I have to sit out, then that’s what I have to do.”
Foote skated Thursday morning, along with fellow injured teammates Marek Svatos and Ruslan Salei.
Wilson, hurt on a big hit from behind by Edmonton’s Jean-Francois Jacques, partially blamed himself for his injury.
“I shouldn’t have put myself in that situation and known what was coming,” he said.
Footnotes.
Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom sat out the game with a bad back, and the Wild recalled former University of Denver goalie Wade Dubielewicz. . . . Sacco said he would decide after Thursday’s game about a starting goalie for tonight’s game in Dallas. Craig Anderson shut out the Stars on Sunday night. . . . The game with Minnesota was the start of 10 games in 17 days for Colorado, before the Olympic break. “I don’t think we’re worried about being tired or anything,” U.S. Olympian Paul Stastny said. “We’ve had some good time off lately, and we know the break will give more time off to guys.”
