The Avalanche suffered another injury setback today, announcing shortly before its game against Nashville that winger Tomas Fleischmann would miss the rest of the season following the discovery of one blood clot in each of his lungs.
In the team release, team physician Dr. David Mellman said: “The nature of his condition requires that he be on blood thinners for several months and he will be unable to play hockey.”
Before the game against the Predators at the Pepsi Center, Avalanche general manager Greg Sherman said that Fleischmann, who had taken the day off from practice on Wednesday in what was termed a “maintenance day,” again complained about shortness of breath after participating in today’s morning skate.
Sherman said that trainer Matt Sokolowski this afternoon sent Fleischmann to Mellman, who made the diagnosis. Sherman said the problem is correctable and not career-threatening, but that Fleismann — acquired from Washington on Nov. 30 — was done for the season.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with injuries, this year or even last year,” said Sherman. “I think the depth of our organization has come through in the past, and I expect it to come through here in the future.”
Sherman noted, “Given that this is something that all has come to light literally in the last couple of hours, I certainly would want to sit down with the head coach (Joe Sacco) tomorrow and have a discussion. We’ll assess where we’re at.”
Fleischmann, 26, was acquired Nov. 30 from Washington for defenseman Scott Hannan, and had eight goals and 13 assists in 22 games for the Avalanche this season.
He also missed the first 11 games of the 2009-10 season with the Capitals after a blood clot in his leg was discovered during training camp.
“At the end of the day, fortunately, this was discovered,” said Sherman. “He’s a young man. It’s obviously a serious condition, but it’s fortunate for Tomas that Dr. Mellman discovered it… All indications from our doctors are that he can live a quote, normal life, unquote, and it’s something that can be treated through medication.”
Sherman called Fleischmann “a big piece of our team, but it’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with injuries to our players.”
The diagnosis forced the Avalanche to insert winger David Koci, who had been scheduled to be a healthy scratch against the Predators and had taken the routine extra conditioning skating this morning, into the lineup against Nashville. With Fleischmann and Ryan O’Reilly (shoulder) both out but still on the active roster, defenseman Matt Hunwick was the only healthy scratch.
The most obvious move would be to quickly bring winger TJ Galiardi, sent down to the Lake Erie Monsters on Wednesday, back to Colorado, but Sherman didn’t want to get into specifics about potential responses. If it’s decided that the message-sending implicit in Galiardi’s demotion requires leaving him with Lake Erie for at least a short time, other possibilities for immediate promotion include three players who have appeared in games for Colorado this season — Greg Mauldin, David Van der Gulik and Mark Olver.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
