Colorado Avalanche: What Chris Bigras’ Return Can Mean
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Chris Bigras may return to playing soon. He has to pass a final test of the concussion protocol.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Chris Bigras practiced with the team. According to head coach Patrick Roy and Bigras himself, he has to pass one more concussion protocol, and he might be cleared to play.
This is very good news for the Colorado Avalanche.
It may seem funny that a rookie defenseman who barely got called up a couple months ago is so important to the team. Bigras has played 23 games for the Colorado Avalanche and recorded a single goal and single assist. On the third defensive pairing, he sees around 12 – 13 minutes of ice time per game, and none of those are the big minutes. No specialty teams, no time against the big lines.
Chris Bigras is not a core player. However, since his call up, he’s been the cornerstone of that third defensive pairing. Bigras is a strong skater who moves the puck well. Still so-new to the NHL, he’s just learning his positioning. He’s taking instruction extremely well.
Coach Roy likes to keep his defensive pairings as consistent as possible. Erik Johnson and Francois Beauchemin have been paired the whole season, as have Tyson Barrie and Nick Holden.
The only merry-go-round has been on that third pairing. This year, Colorado has seen the following players rotate through that pairing:
Of those players, Zadorov and Gelinas are the only ones likely to even be on the big team next season — or with the Colorado Avalanche organization at all. Bigras adds some stability to that pairing — presumable with big Eric Gelinas moving forward.
Indeed, Gelinas and Bigras are similar players in a good way. They’re both strong on their skates and on the puck. They’re also good with puck movement. Gelinas has a better shot, but Bigras is picking up on positioning a mite faster.
Bigras has been out with a concussion since the March 5th game against the Nashville Predators. During a post-practice presser, Bigras said he thought he caught a forearm in the head. He elaborated:
"“It was a pretty innocent play. It wasn’t a huge hit or anything, but sometimes those things just happen, get you in the wrong spot.”"
As Bigras himself pointed out, head injuries aren’t something you want to mess around with. He finished the game, but he told the team doctors about headaches and blurred vision during the next practice.
That’s scary. The fact that the play was so innocuous means nothing. You barely have to scratch the surface of hockey to find players who have been taken out for months if not years by seemingly “innocent” plays.(See Jesse Winchester, who never played a regular season game with the Colorado Avalanche after getting injured in a check during a preseason game.)
The NHL has stood up and taken notice. They’ve implemented a concussion protocol that’s a lot more in depth than “How many animals that start with the letter B can you name?” That’s what the test for concussion used to be.
That’s another reason Chris Bigras’ return would be good for the Colorado Avalanche and the player himself. He has to pass all the tests to be cleared to play. Players can’t fake their way through like they used to be able to.
Bigras seems to have more sense than that:
"“It’s something you don’t want to mess with, your head, for sure.”"
Hopefully Chris Bigras passes the test with flying colors. Not only do the Colorado Avalanche need him, but it would be a relief to know he was back to full health again.