Marek Svatos had his bags packed Monday night. That was the case partly because the Avs will begin a two-game road trip starting with Wednesday’s game in Anaheim, and partly because he knows he could be traded by then.

“If it happens, it happens. I’m ready for it,” Svatos said. “I just put it in the back of my mind. We’ll see.”

With right wing Milan Hejduk sidelined Monday because of back spasms, Svatos played on the second line with Matt Duchene and Wojtek Wolski. Otherwise, Svatos’ season has been one long struggle. He has six goals and 10 points in 44 games — and a team-worst minus-11.

“The effort is there; I’m trying. It’s just a question of confidence,” Svatos said.

Svatos is in the final year of his contract, with a cap hit of $2.2 million. Scouts from at least two NHL teams — Chicago and San Jose — were at the game. The trade deadline is 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“I’ve been here six years. It’s been a while,” Svatos said. “I’ve always been happy to be here, but we’ll see what happens.”

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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Paul Stastny walks in quick, seesaw steps instead of a swagger. His favored outfit is jeans, T-shirt and baseball cap, not exactly Armani. He will stop for the TV cameras to give a few words but always seems a little shy in their hot, white lights.

It will be intriguing to see how Stastny performs on the world stage in the next two weeks at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. This could be the best chance for the young Avalanche center to step from the shadow of his Hall of Fame father’s hockey legacy.

Is he ready? Does he want to be a leading man, or the best supporting actor?

“It’s an exciting time for me,” said Stastny, 24, who could be the first-line center for Team USA, which begins Olympic play today against Switzerland. “Now I can think about the Olympics and just focus on that, enjoy myself and do well there. We’re going there to win. We feel we’re just as strong as any other team. I guess the message is, ‘Don’t count us out.’ ”

Stastny and Kings defenseman Jack Johnson were given a send-off by Kings fans after the Avs’ 3-0 loss in Los Angeles on Saturday. Fans at the Staples Center chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” when the two American Olympians were introduced to the crowd as part of postgame festivities.

“I’ve been getting more excited the nearer it’s gotten and now that it’s here, it feels like it’s going to be fun,” Stastny said.

His father, Peter, and the rest of the family will be in Vancouver to watch him. Peter played for the former Czechoslovakia in the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid before defecting with his brothers, Anton and Marian, to Canada. Thirty years later, Peter’s son is an Olympian, playing for America.

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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Earn your keep, or your behind will be like corn in a Nebraska field: planted.

That is the message that has been imparted — consistently from Day One — by Avalanche coach Joe Sacco to his players. And look what has happened.

The Avs enter tonight’s game against Atlanta with 72 points, three more than they had all of last season under Tony Granato. Sacco is a top candidate for the Jack Adams Award for NHL coach of the year, which isn’t bad for a guy who was the Avs’ fallback choice over the summer after a dalliance with Patrick Roy.

What has been the rookie coach’s secret of success? It takes a village to build a good team, of course, and others deserve credit for Colorado’s resurgence — starting with general manager Greg Sherman’s midnight phone call to Craig Anderson when the free-agent season began. Can you imagine what the state of things would be around here if Sherman had, say, instead signed aging goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to the same bloated contract Edmonton did?

But I think the biggest reason Sacco has succeeded has been his flushing of a pass-the-buck atmosphere in the locker room. It’s hard to assiduously label a pro team, with so many variables that can happen. Sometimes, no matter how good the coach is, it just doesn’t work.

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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The calm, happy-go-lucky attitude among Avalanche players Monday made it seem they are enjoying one of their best stretches of the season.

Of course, the opposite is true, as Colorado enters tonight’s game against Columbus having gone three games without a victory or a point.

“There’s no reason for us to panic. We’re a good team, and we’ll be better (tonight),” Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “It just comes down to hard work. There’s no secret to it. It’s just hard work, not squeezing the stick (and) being confident.”

The Avs’ recent problem is scoring, particularly from their top line and power-play units. First-line center Paul Stastny and linemates Wojtek Wolski and Chris Stewart are pointless in the three-game losing streak, and the power play is a combined 0-of-9 during that stretch.

After winning six consecutive games, the Avs have scored just three goals in their season-high losing streak.

“We know we need to score,” Stastny said. “When you get a chance, you have to bear down and get a gritty goal. We know the responsibility, and we know it’s a matter of time. We just have to stay positive and have short-term memory and forget about it, and just look forward.

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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Keith Ballard knocked a second NHL goalie out of action within a week, only this time he got a face full of knuckles from Avalanche captain Adam Foote for it.

The Avs then missed out on a great chance to rub a victory in the faces of the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night, losing 6-5 in a shootout at BankAtlantic Center.

Avs goalie Craig Anderson, playing against his former team, was hurt and left the game in overtime after Ballard collided with him following a scoring attempt. Unlike Ballard’s inadvertent stick to the head of teammate Tomas Vokoun in Atlanta on Monday, Foote felt there was nothing accidental about the incident and pounded Ballard behind the net.

“From my view, it looked deliberate,” Foote said. “Whether he was trying to jar the puck loose, I don’t know. Whatever reason it was, it was deliberate.”

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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It is simply impossible not to like Peter Budaj. The kid is unfailingly polite to everyone, always credits others for any success he has and never ducks the media after a rough night.

That’s why it has been painful to see what Budaj has gone through this season with the Avalanche. He is the forgotten man, the goalie who never plays.

The Avs played their 28th game Monday night, a 3-0 victory against the Lightning. Budaj has started exactly two of them. His last start came Nov. 18 at Edmonton, a 6-4 loss in which he allowed five goals on 32 shots. In the three games he has played, his goals-against average is 4.29, and his save percentage is .855.

It’s clear that coach Joe Sacco doesn’t have much confidence in Budaj right now, though he prefers to paint the situation as simply a case of riding a hot goalie in Craig Anderson. Thing is, Anderson hadn’t been all that hot lately, entering Monday night’s game against Tampa Bay having allowed four or more goals in four of his previous five starts.

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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“The Avalanche didn’t practice Sunday before traveling to Florida, where it will face the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight to open a five-game road trip. But the plane ride gave Colorado coach Joe Sacco and his staff additional chance to ponder how to adjust in the wake of the loss of winger David Jones, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Saturday night against Minnesota and will be out until at least late March.

“If you look around the league, this is happening everywhere,” Sacco said after arriving in Tampa on Sunday night. “Every team is dealing with injuries, whether it’s to role players or star players. The only way we deal with it is try to rally around it and make sure we get other players to step up and raise their level of play.”

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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“Goaltenders are definitely receiving more contact from opposing skaters than in recent seasons, with some wondering if it’s time to reintroduce rules to protect them more.

Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson doesn’t seem concerned either way.

“If the GMs want to do something about it, they will,” Anderson said. “It’s out of my control. But that’s the way the game is now. You’re trying to create more interference with the goalie, because if goalies can see the puck, they’re going to stop it.”

Anderson has taken a few hard collisions this season and hasn’t been shy jabbing his stick back in response.

Click here to read the full article – By Adrian Dater of Denver Post

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Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson, who’s paced Colorado in jumping to a two season-opening victories, on Monday was named one of the NHL’s three stars of the week.

In wins over San Jose and and Vancouver in Denver, Anderson stopped 73 of 75 shots. He has a .973 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average. The Avs’ 3-0 victory over the Canucks on Saturday netted Anderson his eighth career shutout.

Click here to read the full article – By Denver Post

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A day after witnessing the emotional Joe Sakic farewell at the Pepsi Center and making their NHL debuts, Avalanche rookies Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly were working overtime Friday.

The two 18-year-old centers, perhaps thinking of the hard work Sakic put in over his legendary 20-season career, were the last players to leave the ice, finally walking off nearly an hour after the coaches called it quits.

Duchene said the extra work wasn’t about not wanting their first NHL in-season practice to end or adhering to the rookie code of being the first group on the ice and the last one off.

“Ryan and I just like to fool around after practice, keep sharp,” said Duchene, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. “When you mess around a little bit, you can hone some finer skills. Plus, I look forward to coming to the rink every day and being on the ice all the time. The more I’m out there, the happier I am.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mike Chambers of Denver Post

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