CHICAGO — Cody McLeod did not participate in the Avalanche’s morning skate Tuesday at the United Center and was questionable for the ensuing game. McLeod did play against the Blackhawks, albeit with some pain.
Avs coach Patrick Roy said McLeod, a fourth-line winger and middleweight enforcer, took a shot off the foot in practice Monday and had swelling. Roy said McLeod does not have a shoulder injury, as some speculated.
McLeod, an alternate captain, is a key member of the team because of his ability to kill penalties and deter opposing players from roughing up his Colorado teammates.
The Avs are carrying just 21 players, with forwards Jesse Winchester (head), Patrick Bordeleau (knee) and Jamie McGinn (back) unavailable. Defenseman Ryan Wilson (shoulder) is out for the season.
Without McLeod and the more seriously injured players, the Avs could be viewed as one of the NHL’s softer teams when it comes to toughness.
Shinny. Roy and general manager Joe Sakic played shinny at the United Center after the morning skates, along with assistant coaches Tim Army, Andre Tourigny and Mario Duhamel and goalie Reto Berra and defenseman Zach Redmond. Sakic was the last one off the ice.
The informal, single-zone shinny is played in various forms, and only Berra and Redmond wore pads in this one.
Footnotes. Jarome Iginla has 570 career goals, three shy of tying Mike Bossy for 20th on the all-time NHL list. Iginla nearly scored on a semi-breakaway in the second period Tuesday. … Two potential future Avalanche defensemen — Will Butcher of the University of Denver and Ben Storm of St. Cloud State — will play against each other in a Jan. 16-17 series at Magness Arena. Butcher, 19, and Storm, 20, are sophomores. Butcher was impressive during the recent World Junior Championship, in which he served as a top-two defenseman for Team USA.
