CHICAGO — Off and on for five seasons, Kyle Cumiskey was the Avalanche’s intriguing, tantalizing and speedy defenseman, perhaps the best skater Colorado ever has had — and that’s covering a lot of territory and great players.
The “off and on” was because he spent time with Avalanche American Hockey League affiliates, but more notably because he had concussion issues and often was sidelined. He played only 18 games in his final Colorado season, 2010-11.
At 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, Cumiskey is a virtual physical duplicate of the Avalanche’s current smaller and fast-skating defenseman, Tyson Barrie, but durability — and, yes, some soft play in the defensive zone — was his undoing. Cumiskey and Barrie played major junior for Kelowna of the Western Hockey League, but their stays didn’t overlap.
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“I had a great time there at the start of my career,” Cumiskey said of the Avalanche in the Chicago Blackhawks’ dressing room at the United Center on Friday. “The organization treated me really well, and it was just too bad, some of the injuries I had. It was tough, and it would be tough for anyone in that situation. I wish things had worked out better, but I’m happy where I am now.”
Cumiskey hadn’t played an NHL game since Feb. 9, 2011, when the Blackhawks recalled him Feb. 12 from the Rockford IceDogs of the AHL. Friday night’s matchup with the Avalanche was his fourth game for Chicago.
“I’m still going in every game with that mind-set that I need to play good enough to stay up here,” said Cumiskey, 28.
After leaving the Avalanche, Cumiskey spent one season with Syracuse of the AHL, then the lockout season of 2012-13 plus 2013-14 with Modo in the Swedish Elite League. That franchise in Ornskoldsvik includes Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg as its hockey executives and part-owners. After his two seasons in Sweden, the Blackhawks signed him.
“It was a great experience,” Cumiskey said. “Peter and Markus ran a great organization. They were both around quite a bit. I think the team was very important to both of them and they took a lot of pride in it, and the way they ran it was like an NHL organization.
“I had a really good time over there, and I never regretted going over there for one second. It was everything, from the style of hockey to the different country with a different culture and experiencing something different. I had great teammates, and top to bottom the organization was great and made it really fun.”
Plus, the larger international ice sheet was right for Cumiskey’s game, and in his two seasons, he had 11 goals and 49 assists in 91 games for Modo.
“When I went over, it wasn’t a for-sure thing that I would get another opportunity in the NHL, and I was all right with that if that was the case,” he said. “But I tried to stay positive, and it ended up working out.”
The Blackhawks offered him that chance, and he had a goal and 10 assists in 38 games for the IceDogs before his recall.
Cumiskey noted that the concussion issue “is something you have to be careful about for the rest of your life after you’ve had problems with that. But it’s something you can’t be worried about every shift. I just try to keep it in the back of my mind, and I haven’t had any problems with it for a while.”
Cumiskey played his first 47 games for Colorado over two seasons when Joel Quenneville, now with Chicago, was the Avalanche head coach. Quenneville said Friday that Cumiskey “gives you quickness. We like his speed and his transition with the puck. He goes into the puck area quick. I think he’s played well since he’s been here. His quickness adds a little bit of something different to our back end.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
