While the Colorado Avalanche prepare for a first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs game against the Dallas Stars, the most-anticipated storyline is that of Gabriel Landeskog, who has not played for the team in three years. Landeskog is inching closer to joining his team on the ice in a meaningful game, but we might just have to wait a little bit longer.
According to Adrian Dater, the Avalanche could choose to hold Landeskog out of the lineup for the first two games against the Dallas Stars. There could be several reasons for the team to do this, despite fans eager to see the captain back on the ice in what will be his first game action with the team in years.
For one, the first game of the series is in Dallas. For the sake of Avs Faithful, holding Landeskog out until the team is back at Ball Arena makes sense and would get the crowd roaring. Basically, it would be a huge story for Avs fans. Kind of the same idea as the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup at home in 2022. That being said, I have no doubt that the first playoff game at Ball Arena this year is going to be a sellout. It would shock me if it wasn’t, especially if Landeskog makes his official return on that day.
Another reason that holding Landeskog out of the first two games of the series is because the team knows what they have in the players who would play in his place. It’s possible that the team is comfortable rolling out a lineup without Landeskog simply because they’ve been together on the ice way longer than Landeskog has in practice. While Landeskog looked pretty good in his return, with the Colorado Eagles, the two leagues are very different, particularly the speed of the game.
The last thing the Avalanche want to do is put Landeskog out on the ice when he is not ready to go. I’m not suggesting that he isn’t healthy—the team will have a very good idea about that—but this isn’t some sort of pulled hamstring. While a pulled or torn hamstring is very serious, a knee injury that required multiple surgeries and knee cartilage transplant has proven to be extremely serious. It got so serious that Landeskog didn’t even set huge goals for himself for a return as to not get let down if it didn’t happen.
Personally, I would love if Landeskog was travelling with the team throughout the game(s) he ends up missing to start the series. If he and the team feels that getting some time in for skating on his own is the way to go, I fully understand that. Whether on the ice or off of it, Landeskog is still a very important cog in the Avalanche organization.
Colorado is not going to force him into the lineup. If they deem him ready for Game 1 (on Saturday), that’s great. If not, we’ve waited three years for this moment. What’s another couple of days?