Icing a Healthy Team
You can’t win a series off the strength of one line and a goalie. Well, you can, but it’s tough. Luckily, the Colorado Avalanche have a golden opportunity — they have a relatively healthy roster.
Colorado went into the Flames series mostly healthy. However, both Samuel Girard (injury) and Derick Brassard (illness) missed games. Both players have been skating in full-contact practices, and both are said to be good to go for Game 1. That means the team can ice the most effective players against the Sharks.
Colorado had a week off to rest and get healthy. San Jose did not. Indeed, their series-winning game took place just two days ago. And it went into overtime. What’s more, while we don’t know all the little injuries the Sharks players are suffering from, we do know about the big one:
It’s scary to see that blood coming out from under his helmet. The 34-year-old captain has already been unofficially ruled out for Game 1, which is how it should be. Don’t mess with the head.
You might notice Pavelski already has a weird mask on. In Game 1, he suffered a gruesome mouth injury:
The trainers had to go looking for his teeth during the commercial break, and, well:
Pavelski deserves a little rest.