Avalanche veteran defenseman John-Michael Liles was the odd defenseman out again Saturday against Edmonton, when he was a healthy scratch for the second time in four games and for the fifth time this season.
“Johnny knows that he has to be a better player for us,” Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. “He knows that we expect more of him.”
Brett Clark was the healthy scratch among the defensemen at Nashville on Thursday. Before that, Liles sat out the Jan. 31 game against the Rangers, and then Sacco went with seven defensemen in the lineup against Columbus on Tuesday.
Liles is Colorado’s third-highest paid player, and is in the second season of a four-year, $16.8 million deal. He has four goals and 20 assists in 40 games this season. Presumably, sitting him further diminishes his trade value, although a deal probably is unlikely given his contract and the inflexibility of the NHL’s salary cap rules, which don’t allow for teams dealing players to pick up any part of their remaining salaries. The trading deadline is March 3.
Center Justin Mercier, who had played the three previous games after his second recall of the season from Lake Erie, was the Avs’ other healthy scratch against the Oilers.
Salei on the Olympics.
Avalanche defenseman Ruslan Salei, who has played only one game this season and is hoping to get back in the Colorado lineup this week after recovering from back surgery, was the captain of the 2002 Belarus team that shocked Sweden in the quarterfinals in Salt Lake City. His nation didn’t qualify for the 2006 Games. Belarus will be in Group C in Vancouver, with Sweden, Finland, and Germany, and Salei isn’t shy about saying how much it would mean to him to be able to play.
“It was amazing the excitement in our country after that,” he said of the win over Sweden in 2002. “It’s obviously going to be tough to match. But it’s just exciting, and it looks like it could be my last one. I just want to enjoy every minute of it.”
