Colorado Avalanche Defenseman Tyson Barrie to Miss Remainder of IIHF Worlds UPDATED

Apr 6, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (4) controls the puck in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center. The Wild won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 6, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (4) controls the puck in the third period against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center. The Wild won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, who has been playing for Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF Worlds, will miss the remainder of the tournament.

The Colorado Avalanche don’t have any luck, even in the offseason. Defenseman Tyson Barrie will miss the rest of the 2017 IIHF World Championship because of an injury.

Team Canada announced the news via Twitter this afternoon:

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Apparently Tyson Barrie has suffered a lower body injury. There hasn’t been any announcement on what exactly the injury is or how it occurred. Indeed Team Canada didn’t play in any games today. They’re not scheduled again until tomorrow.

This is, of course, unfortunate for the Canadians. As I noted in a previous post, Barrie was having a great tournament. He was tied with Colorado Avalanche teammate Nathan MacKinnon for leading Canada in points with seven (2 goals, 5 assists.)

According to the Avalanche Twitter, while Barrie has to miss the rest of the tournament, he’s expected to fully recover for his offseason training.

Tyson Barrie is no stranger to injury. He missed some time in February with a lower body injury. And we all remember the Matt Cooke debacle of 2014:

Barrie had to miss the rest of the playoffs thank to that attack. His recovery was in the neighborhood of four to six weeks.

It doesn’t sound like this injury is as significant. Since it’s coming on a day off from the team, most likely it’s a flare up of a previous injury, perhaps from an earlier IIHF game or even back to the Colorado Avalanche. Barrie probably doesn’t want to exacerbate the injury — and potentially harm his off-season training — by continuing to play in the Worlds Championship tournament.

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Barrie is very important to the Avalanche. He’s considered second only to Erik Johnson as a defenseman and the premier offensive defenseman. He’s got the speed and stick skills the team prizes.

He’s also one of the best trade bait players. Indeed, practically every NHL team was calling up GM Joe Sakic last summer when it was thought Barrie was on the trade block. In any case, it’s a good thing the Colorado Avalanche will have Tyson Barrie back.

UPDATE:

So Tyson Barrie injured himself in a similar manner to former backup goalie Reto Berra — while horsing around. I repeat: the Colorado Avalanche have no luck.