Thursday’s to ignite the scoring woes of Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon.
Avalanche winger Daniel Briere fell to the ice Wednesday in a collision with Philadelphia defenseman Michael Del Zotto, and Briere’s skate blade caught Del Zotto in the neck, causing a nasty gash that required 18 stitches. Del Zotto returned to the game but was limited to 11 minutes in Colorado’s 4-3 overtime victory.
After practice Thursday, Briere recalled the dangerous play. He said he heard Del Zotto “yelp” when the blade made contact with his neck, and Del Zotto immediately asked Briere “if it was bad.” Briere could see a red mark, but no blood. However, when Del Zotto looked the other way, the red mark opened up to a large gash, and Briere told him to skate to the bench. It was a slow-bleeding wound, which is why most of us didn’t see blood and and believe it was serious. Briere is obviously thankful his blade didn’t sever a major artery.
Meanwhile, forwards Cody McLeod and Jesse Winchester and defenseman Erik Johnson did not practice Thursday. McLeod and Johnson took maintenance days, and Winchester is being shut down. The first-year Av who suffered a preseason concussion and has yet to play a game with the team continues to have vision and sickness problems when he skates at an NHL arena or walks into a grocery story. He’s fine when he skates at Colorado’s practice facility but his world dramatically changes in other confined spaces with complex and colorful landmarks.
For now, Winchester’s only physical activity will be off-ice workouts, coach Patrick Roy said. That decision — as well as long-term injuries to two fellow forwards Jamie McGinn (back) and Patrick Bordeleau (knee) and Roy’s choice to not use a defenseman to round out the forwards corps — will keep rookie Borna Rendulic in Denver. Rendulic, 22, was recalled from the minors Tuesday and became the first Croatian-born player to score an NHL goal Wednesday, and although he was playing with Ryan O’Reilly and Gabe Landeskog at the time, the rookie will return to the fourth line Friday against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.
More on that in Sunday’s editions. Rendulic, playing outside Croatia for the first time, has a unique story that needs special Sunday attention.
Winchester’s story begs sympathy. The Avs had legitimate plans for this guy to solidify the third- and fourth-lines when they signed him as an unrestricted free agent last summer. But after the fluke play that resulted in his preseason concussion at Calgary, Winchester’s head won’t stop rattling. He’s ill, and previously told me he feels, in words that I can use, like a frightful cat. His quality of life is poor and he doesn’t even feel like he’s part of the team.
“We just feel there’s not enough improvement so we prefer he stays away from the ice,” Roy said of Winchester, a Colgate graduate who previously played with Ottawa and Florida. “Right now, he’s frustrated about the situation — everybody is — and we don’t see enough improvement. He’s doing really well when he skates here (at the practice rink) but for some reason when he goes to the grocery story or (NHL arenas) he does not feel well. He’s in super shape and doing everything he can, but I think it’s time for him to stay away from the rink and work out in the gym. It’s just a change of how we’re going to proceed.”
