ST. LOUIS — Blues center Paul Stastny, who played the previous 10 seasons in Denver, beginning at the University of Denver, hosted many of his former Avalanche teammates for dinner Friday night.
Stastny has a shoulder injury and did not play in Saturday’s game, missing his sixth consecutive contest. He had a goal and three assists in his first two games with St. Louis and was injured on the first shift of his fourth game.
Stastny had 160 goals and 458 points in 542 games for the Avs before signing with St. Louis as an unrestricted free agent last summer. The Blues gave him a four-year, $28 million contract.
“I have a lot of respect for Paul and appreciated coaching him last year,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said after the morning skate. “He was a great leader for this team and obviously it was a big loss for us. But this is the way the NHL is now. Sometimes you’re going to lose players to free agency and there’s nothing you can do about it, and (the player) has to move on.”
Bruised ego. Avs forward Daniel Briere was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. Briere, 37, has scored 301 goals since being a first-round draft pick in 1996.
Roy said Briere, acquired from Montreal last summer for P.A. Parenteau and a fifth-round draft pick, is taking his demotion well.
“Outstanding. He’s great. It’s not an easy situation for him but I think he understands he’s 37 years old,” Roy said.
Parenteau continues to play a top-six role — including power-play and shootout specialist — for the Canadiens.
