avalanche news
NEWS: Jonathan Drouin To Miss First Round Series Against Jets
Prior to the Colorado Avalanche stepping on the ice for practice on Saturday afternoon, they were hit with a crushing blow.
Jonathan Drouin, coming off the best season of his NHL career, will miss the first round series against the Winnipeg Jets due to a lower-body injury. Drouin suffered the injury towards the end of the second period in Colorado’s final game of the season against the Edmonton Oilers.Â
While forechecking, Drouin seemed to slip behind the Oilers defenseman and immediately got up in pain. He went straight to the bench and immediately to the locker room. The fact that the Avalanche were so quick to announce that he would miss the entire series against the Jets tells me that the injury must be pretty serious. They’re typically pretty coy about injuries at this time of year.
It’s a huge blow to Colorado’s chances against the Jets. Drouin has been playing on the top line for almost the entire second half of the season, and registered a career-high 56 points with the Avalanche. In addition to playing top line minutes at even strength, he’s also been a regular member of the top powerplay unit. Replacing him will not be easy.
He came to Colorado to turn his career around, and he’s done exactly that, buying into everything the coaching staff has been selling and working hard to make sure he doesn’t waste this opportunity. Reuniting him with MacKinnon is one thing, but Drouin has succeeded away from the superstar as well. He deserves all the credit for his turnaround.
Most of all, I just feel terrible for Drouin. You run the risk of getting injured any time you step on the ice in hockey, but to get hurt in a pretty meaningless game on a nothing play is awful. Like everyone else on the team, he was looking forward to showing what he can do in the playoffs. He won’t get that opportunity now, at least against the Jets. There will now be even more questions as to why the Avalanche decided not to rest anyone in that final game with this news.
With the injury, the Avalanche have decided to recall veteran center Chris Wagner. A very safe move that won’t replace any of the offense Drouin brings, and really won’t excite many, but it’s someone with experience. Nikolai Kovalenko has played two games with the Colorado Eagles since returning from a knee injury, but obviously did not get the call. To me, it would make sense to see what he has with a skilled player going down, but they’re going the safe route.
For now.
This news broke right as I was taking off on a plane to Winnipeg for Game One, so we’ll have more updates as the series goes on. A tough break for the Avalanche, and a really tough break for Drouin.
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So Drouin is probably out the rest of the post season with a high ankle sprain and we bring up a guy who has zero offensive capability and move Duhaime to Drouin’s spot in the top 6, who has the exact same pedigree. Bednar is ridiculous with these trust issues. We need offensive punch vs a damn good defensive team and great goalie. Take a chance on Kovalenko.
Well said. The Avs put themselves in this position with their failure to beat bad teams down the stretch and now we lost a key player for likely the first two rounds if not the whole postseason. Toews didn’t practice either and the Avs called up Brad Hunt so that final game may be a double blow. I’m totally ready to see us lose 6-0 tomorrow.
Said perfectly my man. I like Wagner, & actually prefer him to Cogs at this juncture. So I would already have him in there. But to your point get a little creative. I might even tinker with putting Colton up on the wing (his actual natural position) in the top 6. Put Trenin at 3C with Wood & Duhaime. It’s not like Colton is some defensive stalwart anyhow at center, nor does he drive offense. As a matter of fact his offense has basically been non – existent since the new year. But the guy has a shot & is… Read more »
I woulda brought up foudy at least… wagner doesnt do much
This is brutal. Really bummed for Drouin. He worked so hard to prove himself again and to have this happen, totally sucks. Also for the team and fans. The Avs depth is not strong if Wagner is our first call up. I agree about taking a chance with Kovalenko. The odds are against the Avs!!! Not very optimistic……
I would try the following lineup:
Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Rantanen
Colton-Mittelstadt-Nichushkin
Wood-Trenin-Duhaime
Cogliano-Wagner-Parise
The Avs need to 2nd line that can score and Colton is the really the only bottom 6 forward with that ability. Then you make the bottom 6 defensive oriented and if they can chip in a goal now and then, great.
Swap duhaime and parise and I’m OK with that. But adding Kovalenko or Foudy makes more sense. Swap them out for cogliano and Wagner. Cogs is the extra if anyone goes down. We will see how it goes. The sad part is that we won’t get those lines. Kovalenko wants to go to nhl. This is not what he was promised. He should be on the roster. He could have played that meaningless game 82 easily for his debut, and we might not have this injury to deal with. I have no confidence in bednar. He is great at developing… Read more »
A little off topic. And I think Bednar is better than most NHL coaches. But let’s be honest we only laud coaches as top tier after they win a cup or two. And you don’t win Stanley Cups without elite talent. What do all of these guys have in common Bednar, Cooper, Sullivan, Quennville & the list goes on. They’ve all won, in some cases multiple times. But when you look at the hall of famers at those guys disposal it begs the question could other coaches have won with those teams/rosters? Timing is important in life. I think Bednar… Read more »
This is a good take and the only reason it would make sense to bring up Wagner over e.g. Foudy. Use Wagner as 4th line center and free up Colton to play in the top 6.
The Avs are on the road in Canada. They brought an extra forward who can play center or wing, a d-man, and a goalie. When they come home, the callups may be different. Kovalenko may get another game or two by later in the week.
If Girard and the defense are healthy when they come home and barring any other injuries, Hunt may be sent back. If Kovalenko is ready, I would have him skate with Trenin and sit either Cogliano or Parise.
To all those calling for Kovalenko….I didn’t watch the game, but apparently his defense, especially in the 2nd game, was really lacking (according to Brennan Vogt). He doesn’t seem to have gotten into game shape yet, even for AHL. So, he just would not be an option for playoff hockey in the NHL . I’m super excited about Kovalenko, but seems like he won’t really be an option till next year (or perhaps later in the playoffs, if he can play some more AHL games and have the legs and lungs for NHL playoffs)
I watched his second game and he was fine. The AHL is unorganized chaos. For being a league below the NHL, no one plays to the system at all.
The Great Pantheon of Hockey Gods is playing a cruel trick on this team.
And their chances against the Peg get a little worse…than not having much of a chance anyway. So why doesn’t Bednar roll the f***ing dice for once and do something besides relying on yet another dogsh** veteran?