Good news on Liles injury

The Avs got some good news today on the status of John Michael Liles' shoulder injury. As Dater first reported, the defenseman did not separate the shoulder in the game yesterday against the Leafs. It is just a bruised shoulder and he will be out 2 weeks at the most so we will probably see him sometime before then.

Since he will not be suiting up on Thursday in Montreal and Ruslan Salei is also on IR, the Avs will give Ryan Wilson a shot on the blue line as he was already called up when Salei went down. Wilson was brought over from Calgary last season at the deadline in the deal that sent Leopold back to the Lames.

4 down 3 to go

The Avs just passed the midway point of their long 7 game road trip after downing the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. They have continued their surprising play during this trip. Despite dropping the 1st game in Nashville for the Preds home opener, they battled a really high powered Blackhawks team all the way to the 9th round of the shootout. 2 nights later they beat last season's Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins in an afternoon tilt on Columbus Day.

Overall, the team has done exactly what Joe Sacco said they were do and that is play with a lot of energy and be a team that is very difficult to play against. However, the one thing that the team really needs to do is not sit back on leads. They blew the lead in the 3rd period against the Preds that ultimately lost them the game, couldn't hold onto the lead against Chicago and then nearly blew two 2 goal leads against Boston.

Craig Anderson still hasn't missed a game and also has not missed a beat. He's now 1 of only 3 goalies to play 6 games so far this season along with Kipprusoff and Nabokov and he has the lowest GAA and best sv% of the 3.

Against Boston, the Avs got a big spark with the return of David Jones who has been injured all season with a bruised chest. Jonesy has looked incredible so far with a goal and an assist in each of his 2 games and both goals were game winners. His size and speed bring a great element to this young Avs team. Jones is going to be a very important part of this team going forward.

Matt scored his 1st career goal against Boston but it wasn't Duchene. Matt Hendricks, at the ripe young age of 28 scored his 1st career goal by doing what he is supposed to do in driving to the net and chipping in a rebound. Duchene and O'Reilly are still goalless but have added some assists and both have been huge in helping the Avs be so good on both the PP (2nd) and PK (5th). Both are making cases to stick with the club beyond the road trip.

As far as injuries are concerned, Liles left the game against the Leafs in the 2nd after being hit from behind into the boards (uncalled). It looked like a shoulder injury and hopefully it is not serious. Salei was also put on IR and because of that, Ryan Wilson, who was acquired in the Leopold trade last season and was one of the last players cut in camp, was called up from Lake Erie. If Liles goes on IR, we'll get our first look at Wilson on Thursday against the Habs.

Anderson keeps rolling

The Avs didn't pick up the victory Thursday night in Nashville but Andy remained solid. He stopped 34 of the 37 shots he faced. They only goals that were allowed were on a Jason Arnott one timer in the slot and then 2 by Hornqvist who was left all alone in front of the net. In total, through 3 games, Andy has stopped 107 of 112 shots faced which equates to the best display of goaltending the Avs have seen since Roy retired.

Anderson has done exactly what he needs to do in every game so far, and that is just to give the team a chance to win every night. He is expected to start on Saturday against the Blackhawks in his home town. This is sure to be a huge test for Anderson who is more than likely going to face a lot more rubber than he has faced with Chicago's high powered offense in their home opener. Andy also is a former Blackhawk so he will definitely have something to prove in his return. Hopefully he stays strong in net and the Avs have a chance in this game.

Not a bad start eh?

So heading into this season, everyone had the Avs written off, myself included. A rookie management staff, rookie coaching staff, an untested goaltender and two 18 year old centers in the lineup should lead to a disastrous season. Instead, Pierre Lacroix is looking like a genius bringing in Greg Sherman who was responsible for bringing in, Joe Sacco and most importantly, Craig Anderson. It's only 2 games into the season but it is really too hard to not be excited about the way this team has started out.

First, last Thursday, the Avs had a very classy and very emotional tribute to their longtime captain, Joe Sakic, by raising his #19 to the rafters of Pepsi Center. Just about everyone in the building, once again myself included, expected the Avs to get destroyed by the league's best (regular season) team. Instead, they came out, clearly inspired and energized by the ceremony for Joe, and beat the Sharks 5-2.

Wolski started the season with 2 goals by using his size to get pucks in the net down low. McLeod, Liles and one of the biggest scapegoats from last season, Darcy Tucker chipped in with goals to lead the charge. The biggest story of the game was goalie Craig Anderson. Overall, he stopped 38 of 40 shots including all 19 in the 3rd period. I don't remember hearing a goalies name chanted in the Pepsi Center since Roy.

On Saturday, the Avs continued that momentum with a great performance against Vancouver. Wolski and Tucker again provided goals as well as Paul Stastny chipping in with his 1st of the season. The story of this game again, though, was Craig Anderson who stopped all 35 shots he faced for the shutout. Anderson has been the biggest reason for this team's great start and he was rewarded for his great play by being named the 2nd star of the week in the NHL.

As for the rookies, Duchene and O'Reilly, they have not looked out of place at all. O'Reilly I still believe will be sent back to Erie after 9 games, mainly just to get ice time as Sacco has been giving him 4th line minutes. Duchene has been just as advertised. He's been the fastest skater on the ice in both games and has shown some really slick moves. No goals have been scored by either player but they have been working really hard and have both been used on the PK where they have also excelled. Both players also recorded assists in the opener against San Jose.

It's only 2 games in but this team has already played better and shown more heart than they did all of last season. I really love how Sacco has the team playing. If they keep playing like this and Anderson keeps up his solid play, playoffs will not be out of the question.

Gameday 10/1/09 vs Sharks

SJ 0-0-0 0pts Avs 0-0-0 0pts

Game Time: 10:00 PM ET

Venue: Pepsi Center Denver, CO

Injuries: Col - D Tom Preissing (knee), RW David Jones (bruised chest). SJ - none

This game will feature many 1sts. It's the 1st game for both teams this season, 1st game for Avs rookies Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly, 1st game for new goaltender Craig Anderson in an Avs uni, and most importantly for the Avs, 1st game without long time captain, Joe Sakic. This is obviously the biggest story line of the game with Super Joe's #19 going up to the rafters in Pepsi Center. As Adrian Dater mentioned, there will be a pretty nice guest list including Peter Forsberg and Mike Keane to name a few. Also, sure to be in attendance is former Avs blueliner Rob Blake, who just recently was named new captain of the Sharks. It is sure to be a tremendous ceremony for the best player this franchise might ever see.

While the Sakic Ceremony will take the biggest spotlight, there will still be a game played. While not much is expected of the Avs, one would think that they would at least step up their game for their former captain. The Sharks, on the other hand, have so much to prove this season and they will look to get off to a hot start to the season. They finished last season with a league best 117 points but ran into a red hot Ducks team in the 1st round of the playoffs. A team with players labeled as playoff failures (Hi Mr. Thornton!), the Sharks made some significant offseason moves. GM Doug Wilson said there would need to be changes and the first move he made was stripping the captain C off Patrick Marleau's jersey. It will now be worn by Blake with alternates Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle. The most recent move made was acquiring super diva Dany Heatley from Ottawa for Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo. It's hard to imagine the Avs will be able to hang with the Sharks but there may just be that extra spark being opening night and seeing Joe's number go up.

One thing to keep an eye on is the kind of system new coach Joe Sacco runs. With the lineup he has put in place, each line will have at least 1 tough guy on it with the exception being the top line of Wolski, Stastny and Hejduk. Look for Sacco to use a strong forecheck and really have his players finish their checks making the game a tough one for the Sharks' skill guys. As long as the guys go out fighting and not just laying back getting beat, the game will be considered a success despite the outcome.