Patrick Roy, left, and Joe Sakic talk at their season opening press conference:
The Avs won’t be at full strength to begin the season, or even training camp. Enforcer Patrick Bordeleau underwent back surgery and will miss approximately the first three months of the season, and Jamie McGinn (back) and John Mitchell (migraines) might miss Friday’s first camp day and beyond. A handful of other guys are banged up and read you can read more about the injuries .
Roy said he will begin with Jarome Iginla playing on Matt Duchene’s line, with Ryan O’Reilly, and Alex Tanguay starting with the Nathan MacKinnon-centered line with Gabe Landeskog. The third line will be a mix of Max Talbot, Mitchell, McGinn and Daniel Briere, with Talbot, Mitchell or Briere capable of centering the fourth line. Cody McLeod and Jesse Winchester figure to be the top fourth-line wingers.
