Francois Beauchemin (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
After the Avalanche announced it had placed Nate Guenin on waivers and recalled Chris Bigras and Nikita Zadorov from San Antonio Wednesday, and after getting Guenin’s comments for , I sat down with veteran defenseman Francois Beauchemin to get his view on the events. The Avalanche held off-ice workouts Wednesday and didn’t conduct a practice.
Here’s what he said: “Well, it’s never easy. We all like each other as teammates and when you see guys going down or going on waivers, it’s never an easy situation, but at the same time, this is where we’re at. It has to be a wakeup call defensively, and it’s not just the defensemen, it’s the whole unit of five that needs to be better.”
I’m headed for the Avalanche morning skate shortly, and it’s likely we’ll hear that Guenin cleared waivers and will stay with the team for the time being, perhaps until Brad Stuart and/or Erik Johnson are ready to be added to the active roster. If that’s the case, he and either Zach Redmond or Andrew Bodnarchuk will be healthy scratches against New Jersey Thursday night.
By the way, Guenin handled the situation with class, conceding in response to questions from me and from NHL.com’s Rick Sadowski that he hadn’t been playing well and would continue to be a pro in all of this — even if it means a return to the AHL, where he toiled for so long after leaving Ohio State until gaining a foothold with the Avalanche in 2013.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
