The Avalanche has two players from Manitoba, but neither played in Colorado’s 1-0 loss to Winnipeg on Friday night.
Goalie Calvin Pickard, who was born in New Brunswick, but was raised in Winnipeg and considers it his home, watched from the bench as Semyon Varlamov got the start and made 20 saves in the Colorado net. Pickard is scheduled to play against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night in Glendale.
Winger Cody McLeod, from Binscarth, Manitoba, was a healthy scratch for the third time in six games this season.
“That’s hard,” said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. “That’s the toughest part of the business for a coach. It’s because of his work ethic and his attitude, and you know that he cares. So when you have to scratch a guy like that, a heart and soul guy, it’s tough, you feel for him. I mean, he’s doing everything he can to work his way into our lineup and he works hard and plays hard and does all the right things. … It certainly makes it tougher when you see Cody’s attitude and you know his history with the team.”
Winger Gabriel Bourque was the other healthy scratch. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin missed his second consecutive game with a groin muscle injury.
Concussion spotters. Bednar said he was fine with the NHL using spotters to be on the watch for players who possibly suffer concussions. “You want to make sure your players are taken care of and are safe,” he said.
Bednar spent his entire playing career in the minor leagues, the East Coast, International and American Leagues. Asked how many concussions he had suffered, Bednar said, “Too many. A handful, for sure. Back when I broke in, you didn’t always know that you had them. It certainly wasn’t looked at the same way.”
Third jerseys. The Avs wore their blue third jerseys — with the red C symbol inside a triangular mountain crest — against the Jets. It will be the first of 14 times they’ll wear the third jerseys this season. In that design’s first season, Colorado was 5-8-1 while wearing the third jerseys.
Rantanen return. Mikko Rantanen had one shot on goal in 18:16 of ice time in the Finnish teenager’s first game of the season with Colorado. He played four games with San Antonio on a rehab stint after recovering from the ankle injury he suffered Sept. 17. “I thought he was great,” Bednar said. “I thought he had some good jump in his legs. He played with energy, created some scoring chances, and defensively he was fine. I thought was a great first showing.”
