Alex Newhook recalled by Colorado Avalanche

It was expected, and just now it happened: Alex Newhook, the promising former first-round pick who was demoted to the Colorado Eagles after the first game of the Colorado Avalanche season, has been recalled by the Avs.

He practiced with the Avs this morning and is expected to play Thursday against Vancouver. He essentially is replacing Sampo Ranta, who was sent to the Eagles yesterday, in the Avs lineup.

In 10 games for the Eagles, Newhook had four goals and 11 points. He often centered a line with Andreas Wingerli and Alex Beaucage. Despite playing nearly a month with the Eagles, Newhook maintained his apartment in the Cherry Creek area, commuting back and forth.

His commute just got a lot shorter.

“The points started to come after a few games,” he said of his stay with the Eagles. “But just started to feel better, play with the puck a lot more. I thought I was making better decisions, playing better away from the puck. I think when you’re doing all those little things, points come. I hope I can just continue to play my way and play my game here with the Avs for the next little while.”

He said he tried to pay attention to what he was told to work on.

“I think they just wanted to see me improve in a lot of areas,” he said. “Playing with the puck a lot more, be a bit more confident and then away from the puck as well, just being reliable. A big thing they were stressing is just being that guy that always can be defensively reliable. That’s important here. If you make one mistake, it can be in the back of your net. I worked on that a lot and I think it’s part of my game I can continue to improve on.”