Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

It's that time of the year again. Time to see if the Avs can manage to not lose to the bloody Detroit Red Wings. The Avs are 4-13 against the Wings in their last 17 regular season tilts dating back to the 01/02 season. That's a dismal record to have against a team that was your arch rival. And if that wasn't enough, the Wings just got shut out by the Jackets last night and will be looking for redemption.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Leopold will not be making his return tonight which is fine by me. Not that I don't want to see him play but how ridiculous would it be for him to come back and get injured again b/c he wasn't fully healed. The training staff would look like amateurs. Sitting out this game gives him an extra week to rest up and be 100% when he makes his return against the Coyotes on Friday.

Patrice Brisebois will also be out of the lineup as he continues to have back problems. I'm not sure if he's even taken to the ice in practice recently. I recall reading somewhere that coach Q said he was not practicing. That can't be a terribly good sign if he's not even on the ice yet. Once he's ready to come back he'll still need a practice or two to get the legs going again which means it's possible he may not be back for at least 2 more weeks.

By all accounts, Peter Budaj should be getting the start tonight. He had been seeing a lot of rubber lately but there was a 2-day break after the Phoenix game which should be plenty of rest time. The last time Budaj faced Detroit was on Jan 9th where he got the team an undeserved point when he single handedly took the Wings to a shootout. I suppose some credit should be given to Hasek in that game as he looked a bit off, which he has looked for most of January actually.

Mathieu Schneider will be out of the lineup for the Wings as it was determined that he has a sprained MCL. He is one of their top defencemen and can often be found on the power play so it will have an effect on the team. The rest of the Wings are healthy though so unfortunately it's likely not a huge hit.

In a quick edit, Joey Macdonald will be getting the start for the Wings tonight. Osgood is out sick with the flu and Hasek played last night so in steps the backup to the backup. That can be nothing but good news for the Avs.

Tonight I will be in a corporate booth watching the Saskatoon Blades take on the Calgary Hitmen tonight so my post-game might not be up until tomorrow.

Injuries
Leopold - groin, IR
Liles - foot, IR
Brisebois - back, day-to-day

Schneider - knee, day-to-day

Hot
Sakic has 6 in 4, Brunette has 5 in 4, Hejduk, Arnason, and Stastny have 3 in 2.

Datsyuk has 12 in 5, Zetterberg has 10 in 5, Holmstrom has 8 in 5.

Cold
Mclean has 0 in 6, Svatos has 0 in 3.

Maltby has 0 in 12, Lang, Draper, Samuelsson, and Williams have 0 in 3, Cleary has 0 in 4.

Goaltenders
Peter Budaj - 14-10-2, 2.59 GAA, .909 save pct
Joey Macdonald - 0-2-1, 3.67 GAA, .857 save pct

Standings
Colorado - 23-20-3, 5th in NW, 10th in West
Detroit - 30-13-5, 2nd in Central, 4th in West