The injury train is making it’s annual stop in Colorado. This, more than anything, was the downfall of the Avalanche of the 2008-09 season. The train arrived earlier this year than it has the last couple of years, but it’s just been just as effective. Cody McLeod, Darcy Tucker, JM Liles, and now TJ Galiardi have all been out for multiple games this year, not to mention Tom Preissing, one of the players we got in the Jordan Leopold trade who we haven’t even seen play yet. Luckily, Liles should be back tonight vs. the San Jose Sharks, but the [...]

That’s it. The Avs are now officially off to their best start in franchise history. I can’t say enough about the tenacity of this young team. Last night they start about as slow as you can get – 2 goals down less than two minutes into the game?! Like a team heavy on veterans, the team calmed down, focused up, and played some solid hockey. By the end of the 1st, they had the game tied 2-2 thanks to a strong effort by David Jones and a nice deflection by David Koci’s butt.
The second period was a little slow, a [...]

Twenty-nine teams and their fans are still waiting for the Colorado Avalanche to come back down to Earth. Judging by the Avs’ impressive performance against the Edmonton Oilers, they shouldn’t hold their breath. Wojtek Wolski scored two goals and Craig Anderson recorded his second shutout of the season as the Avalanche rolled over their division rivals 3-0 in a mostly lopsided match Tuesday night.
The Colorado Avalanche is currently the #1 team in the NHL.
There must be something in the Gatorade at the Mile High City. Colorado’s pro sports teams seem to have a vendetta against the so-called professional sports prognosticators, [...]

I feel like Christmas came early this year! Any time I can watch the Detroit Red Wings take a loss, I’m a happy guy. When that loss comes at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, it’s especially sweet. And when that loss comes because our goaltender absolutely put their vaunted offense to shame, well it doesn’t get much better than that!
Make no doubt about it – that’s exactly what happened last night. A power play juggernaut for the better part of this decade, Detroit ought to be looking for a generic Viagra prescription in Mexico because last night they were [...]

I’m not going to write a full report tonight, just a couple of notes on the game.
It’s obvious Joe Sacco took his Avs players to the theater as a reward for their impressive road trip. The movie? Zombieland. What’s more, they brought some the the lessons in Zombieland onto the ice tonight. Namely, Rule #2, The Double Tap. In the movie, to ensure that you’ve sufficiently killed a zombie, you “double tap” them, or, shoot them twice. In the first two periods of Friday night’s game against Carolina, the Avs “double tapped” every time the Hurricanes seemed to be developing [...]

So much for that break, Anderson. It’s been announced that Budaj has been stricken with the flu and will be unavailable tonight against Carolina. Anderson is expected to start in his place.
In related news, Tyler Weiman has been recalled and will be on hand against the Hurricanes. Weiman is the starting goaltender for the Lake Erie Monsters and led all goaltenders in shutouts last season in the AHL with eight.
Weiman also holds the distinction as the Colorado Avalanche franchise leader in save %. (His number was called for clean up duty a couple of seasons ago. Stopped all ten shots [...]

Just a quick post tonight for a few announcements.
Cody McLeod is going to be okay it seems. Coach Joe Sacco said McLeod’s vision seems to be okay after he took a stick to the face during the second period of Wednesday’s shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild. As a precautionary measure, Sacco is keeping him out of the lineup for the next 2 games or so. As a result, Chris Stewart has been called back up to Colorado after just two games with the Avs’ AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. It would nice to seem him play with some [...]

The Colorado Avalanche were nursing a 2-1 lead with five minutes left in the 3rd period, but penalties and and an inability to score in the shootout resulted in a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday night.
The Avalanche were doing everything they could in the first period to put themselves behind early, playing nearly half the period shorthanded behind four penalties and only generating six shots. The Wild capitalized on the ample powerplay time when Brent Burns put in a rebound from a shot by Wild captain Mikko Koivu.
Colorado brought the lunch pale in the 2nd period though, as [...]