Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles came off the ice after Thursday’s “optional” practice at Family Sports Center and saw the familiar questions coming.
When you’re the third highest-paid player on the team and have been a healthy scratch the past three games, as has been the case with Liles, the questions aren’t going to be about, say, how his alma mater — Michigan State — did in football recruiting.
“It’s not easy, and that’s the best way I could put it,” said Liles, who likely won’t play again tonight when the Avalanche faces the Phoenix Coyotes at the Pepsi Center. “It’s never easy being on the sidelines. The coach (Joe Sacco) made it clear he expects more of me. It’s not easy to take right now, but he’s getting it across, that’s for sure.”
Liles said Sacco has spelled out what he means by “more.”
“We’ve had talks,” Liles said. “In our latest talks, he made it clear he expects a lot of me. I expect a lot of myself, and I realize I wasn’t living up to what they were expecting and what I was expecting. He obviously has decided to take this route to make sure I realize it.”
The NHL roster freeze begins at 1 p.m. today, and teams won’t be able to make deals again until March 1 — and then only until the March 3 deadline. Although Liles’ contract — he’s in the second year of a four-year, $16.8 million deal — and the NHL’s relatively straightforward salary-cap system would make it difficult to trade him, that remains a possibility.
“No, I don’t want to be traded,” Liles said. “I love Colorado. I love it here. I want to be playing and I always do. There’s a reason why I signed here and I want to be here, I want to be a part of what this is. . . . When the opportunity comes again, hopefully, I’ll take advantage of it.”
Since the Monday activation of veteran Ruslan Salei, the Avalanche has had eight healthy defensemen, and Salei and Liles haven’t made it into the lineup. Liles also sat out the Jan. 31 loss to the New York Rangers, so he has been a healthy scratch in four of the past six and a total of six times this season.
Kyle Cumiskey’s strong play of late — including his spectacular goal in overtime against the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday — again raises the issue of whether Colorado can have two undersized, offensive-minded defensemen in the lineup at the same time. One possibility is playing Liles or Cumiskey on spot shifts at left wing on nights Colorado suits up seven defensemen, and Sacco has done that occasionally with Liles.
Sacco has been asked about, and addressed, the Liles situation many times, but given Liles’ prominence, the issue isn’t going to go away, either.
“I don’t want to repeat myself any more,” Sacco said. “It’s a situation where we have eight healthy defensemen and I go with the six healthy defensemen I think give us the best chance to win.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: Eleven skaters, including Milan Hejduk, who is recovering from knee surgery and still on the injured list, and the two goalies were on the ice for the “optional” practice Thursday. . . . Avs coach Joe Sacco said Craig Anderson will be in goal tonight and added that he hadn’t decided whether he would come back with Anderson or give Peter Budaj a start in the last game before the Olympic break, at Los Angeles on Saturday.
Coyotes: Phoenix continues to be, along with the Avalanche, one of the biggest surprise teams in the league. And yet the Coyotes remain last in NHL attendance. Through 32 home dates, Phoenix is averaging 11,005 per game. The Avalanche is averaging 13,592 through 29 dates, ranking 27th in the league. The Avs averaged 15,429H per game last season. . . . Phoenix is expected to start Ilya Bryzgalov in goal.
Adrian Dater and Terry Frei, The Denver Post
