Colorado Avalanche: What Bourque and Greer Should Contribute

The Colorado Avalanche have placed two players on injured reserve and recalled two players from San Antonio to fill their roster.

The Colorado Avalanche have been bitten by the injury bug and so have had to make call ups from the AHL-affiliate San Antonio Rampage.

Tyson Jost is out for two to three weeks with a lower body injury (I presume left over from that dirty hit by Adam McQuaid). J.T. Compher suffered a broken thumb while trying to block a shot against the St. Louis Blues and will be out about three weeks.

So, for reinforcements, the Colorado Avalanche have recalled forwards Gabriel Bourque and A.J. Greer.

I was a little surprised. Coach Jared Bednar had said the plan was to evaluate how the players performed during their games over the weekend. Forward Dominic Toninato had a two-goal game last night, so I half expected Colorado to give him a call.

However, as the Colorado Avalanche website points out, Bourque and Greer were two of the last cuts the team made before starting the season. So let’s look at how they can contribute to the team.

Gabriel Bourque

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Right wing Gabriel Bourque is a smallish 27-year-old whom the Avs took on after he impressed during a PTO last preseason. They re-signed Bourque to another one-year, two-way contract this offseason.

Bourque is known for being tenacious and hard working. He does have good hockey sense at the lower levels. He’s adaptable as he can play all three forward positions. He’s especially adept at the forecheck and pretty speedy.

The Avalanche lost a tenacious forechecker in Jost. They’re definitely going to want to see some of that from Bourque. I wouldn’t put him in the top-six, which is where Jost was headed. However, I could see him with the Carl Soderberg line.

In five games with San Antonio, Bourque has recorded a goal and an assist.

A.J. Greer

AJ Greer had a tough preseason. He looked like he just might make the Avalanche, or at least force them to make some tough decisions. However, he suffered a concussion in a fight in his first preseason game. He missed the rest of the preseason and even had to wait on IR until he’d been cleared. He just joined the Rampage a week ago.

Greer is known for being an instigator. He’s a big (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) power forward who likes to get under people’s skin. He can skate well, but he’s known for hitting and grinding. He’s another player who has a stellar work ethic.

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I could see him taking on some of JT Compher’s minutes. Compher isn’t known as much for being an instigator, but he’s more in the power forward mold.

I like the addition of Greer. Nikita Zadorov has been trying to take on some of the protectionist duties, but it’s not his forte. I could see Greer stepping more smoothly into that role. NHL teams may not need a legit enforcer anymore, but they still need a pest who will make you pay if you, say, McQuaid their rookie.

Greer has two assists in just two games with the Rampage.

Next: Toninato Scores 2 Beautiful Goals

Neither Greer nor Bourque played in San Antonio’s Sunday contest. Presumably they were traveling to Colorado. (Poor Greer — he just left.) They’re expected to join the Colorado Avalanche at tomorrow’s practice.

Colorado’s next game is Tuesday, against the Dallas Stars at home. We’ll see which of the two call ups, if not both, make it into the lineup for that game.

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