Donning a Forsberg jersey bought in 2000 and holding two ticket stubs worth $150 apiece, Cory Rinehart on Monday drove from his home in Lagrange, Wyo., to attend the scheduled home opener of Peter Forsberg’s NHL comeback.
He came disappointed, knowing his favorite hockey player announced his retirement from the game Monday morning and made it official with an afternoon news conference at the Pepsi Center. Forsberg left the arena long before the Avalanche hosted the Calgary Flames.
“I’m obviously not here watching because I think they’re going to win. I came to watch Forsberg,” Rinehart said, sulking about Forsberg’s decision and the Avalanche’s seven-game losing streak. “I love the guy. We’re avid Avalanche fans too, so it’s not that big of a deal. But it was a big letdown that Forsberg’s not playing.”
Rinehart, 30, came to Denver with his mother, Shirley Rinehart.
“We’ve been fans of his forever,” she said of Forsberg.
The Avs said there was an increase in advance ticket sales for the game, but they think it had more to do with their Valentine’s Day promotions.
Wake-up calls?
Avalanche teammates Chris Stewart and John-Michael Liles were upbeat about their roles and eager to return to the lineup. Both front-line players and special- teamers were benched by coach Joe Sacco in Colorado’s previous game, a 5-3 loss at Nashville on Saturday.
Stewart, a power forward who had just one goal in his 11 previous games, was a healthy scratch against the Predators. Liles didn’t play the entire first period and probably would have been a healthy scratch if the club had more than six defensemen available.
“Seven-game losing streak, so you can’t point the finger at anyone else — you have to take a look in the mirror and, at the end of the day, I wasn’t getting the job done,” Stewart said at Monday morning’s skate. “Hopefully, it was an eye-opener, watching the other guys play, and an opportunity to get back to the drawing board. It all comes down to work ethic.”
Said Liles: “It’s something that we talked about, Joe and I, and the bottom line is, it’s sending a message that I need to play better. That’s the biggest thing, and I understand that.”
Footnotes.
Avs defenseman and captain Adam Foote (quadriceps) missed his third consecutive game and 16th of the season. Also out with injuries were forward TJ Galiardi (forearm) and defensemen Kyle Cumiskey (whiplash) and Jonas Holos (head). . . . Milan Hejduk celebrated his 35th birthday Monday.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
