Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

The Colorado Avalache face off against the Los Angeles Kings tonight and Joe Sakic is doubtful to be in the lineup.

The Avalanche have recalled Brian Willsie after placing Ben Guite on injured reserve and I would love to see him in the lineup tonight.

I think any shakup, even one as minor as this, could provide a much needed spark to the offense. I'm not saying Willsie will stroll in and put the Avs on his back but the team is playing complacently. A little reminder that there are hungry folks below couldn't hurt.

And who should sit if Willsie draws in? Well the Rocky Mountain News reports that Tyler Arnason was the fifth center in practice. Would Granato sit Arnason again?

Probably not since Willsie is a RW and if Arnason sits, that leaves just three centers on the team. Since Sakic was at practice, Granato would be running the lines on the premise that Sakic would be in the lineup.

And though Wolski has played center before, he hasn't spent one lick at center during practices - I assume AD would have noted it at some point if he had - so I can't see Granato moving him there at this point.

UPDATE: David Jones is out, Willsie is in. Good. I was just saying that Jones should head down to the AHL to regain some confidence. I don't think sitting in the press box is enough for him at this point but at least we'll get a hungry player in the lineup.

Will the Avalanche break out of their slump? I don't know. What I do know is that if this team doesn't start supporting Peter Budaj's efforts with some goals, I wouldn't blame Budaj if he were to take his pads and go home.

The puck drops at 10:30 ET, 8:30 MT. I'll be watching via my new Slingbox while I'm back on the farm. It's not great quality but it's still awesome to be able to control my PVR from 360 km away. That's about 220 miles for you non-metric folks.

Related Links
Practice report: Budaj shoulders load
Avalanche report: Looking for some offense
ColoradoAvalanche.com Game Preview