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Avalanche playoffs

Darcy Kuemper: “I got pretty lucky”

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The Avs are locked and loaded for their Round 2 series with St. Louis. The only thing missing is a start time. It’s looking more and more that they will play Tuesday night but Jared Bednar said today that there “was a slight possibility it could be Wednesday.” 

The schedule should be released after all the game 7’s tonight. Nothing like a midnight schedule release.

Darcy Kuemper spoke today for the first time since the injury to his eye during Game 3 at Nashville.

“Scary situation, didn’t really see anything,” Kuemper said after practice. “I didn’t know what happened till I watched it after. It happened so quickly. Pretty scary when your eyes are involved. I got pretty lucky it wasn’t worse.”

Kuemper also mentioned he would not be changing anything on his mask. This is the second time in his career he has taken a stick through his mask.

“First time, definitely thought I was one in a million but twice is two in a million.” said Kuemper.

Gabe Landeskog and Erik Johnson didn’t practice Sunday. Bednar said both were on maintenance days and there was nothing to be concerned bout, although the Avalanche hadn’t practiced Saturday.

“I liked our practice today a lot,” Bednar said. “Thought there was good focus, good talks, good discussion before our practice in the meeting.” 

The Avs will continue to rest up till game time. Maybe they’ll catch a few Game 7’s tonight.

Practice Notes…

  • The Avs are healthy as they prepare for round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No one practiced in a red jersey. 
  • As mentioned earlier, the schedule has not been released but the anticipation is Tuesday but potentially Wednesday. Either way, we should find out tonight as round one finishes up.
  • In regards to having “too much rest” Bednar said, “I think you want enough time to be able to get away from the game a little bit mentally, especially when you’re playing emotional playoffs series.”
  • Cale Makar has watched all the game 7’s and is going to watch them tonight.
  • When asked about having that time away from the ice Devon Toews said, “We come in at the rink for 2-3 hours, you put your work in and it’s time to focus when your here but to be able to go home and relax with loved ones and family and kids and whatnot, it’s really special.”
  • Status update : No playoff beard from Cale Makar.  

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