Deen's Daily
Deen’s Daily: Bummer For Landeskog; Power Play Costs Avalanche; 3C Option Off The Board
The Avalanche’s power play struggled, and their 10-game winning streak ended. But the more concerning news was the injury to team captain Gabriel Landeskog. Also, the Penguins are on a roll, and the San Jose Sharks signed a 3C that could’ve been a trade deadline rental option for Colorado.
All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — January 5.
Colorado Hockey Now
Sunday was not a good day for the Avalanche. The biggest news of the day was team captain Gabriel Landeskog leaving the game with an upper-body injury.
READ MORE: Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog Hurt, Leaves Game After Crashing Into Net
The score was 1-1 when Landeskog left. But the Panthers had the only other goal the rest of the way, effectively ending the Avs’ 10-game winning streak.
Even after the Landeskog injury, the Avalanche had opportunities on the power play and could not capitalize. They finished the night 0-for-4 on the man advantage.
READ MORE: Postgame Wrap: Landeskog Suffers Upper-Body Injury in Avalanche’s Loss to Florida
Devon Toews also didn’t play against the Panthers. He left the game Saturday in Carolina briefly but returned and finished game. So it’s likely his injury is the result of that play, and could be some soreness.
READ MORE: Devon Toews Out For Avalanche With Upper-Body Injury
Around The NHL
Montreal Hockey Now: The Habs rebounded quickly from a bad loss to the Central Division worst St. Louis Blues. They followed that up by beating the Dallas Stars in OT. The Stars are now 0-2-3 in their last five games.
San Jose Hockey Now: One of the potential 3C options for the Avalanche is off the board. Alex Wennberg opted to sign an extension with the Sharks.
Detroit Hockey Now: After publicly calling out his top line, Todd McLellan changed up the Red Wings’ lines on Sunday. Lucas Raymond is getting a demotion to the bottom six.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins will not quit. That’s five straight wins after a big comeback against Columbus. Sidney Crosby, per usual, led the way.
Is there any news on our newly extension eligible players? I know the gan base would like to get Malinski extended sooner, rather than later. I would also think both Olofsson and Burns have earned extensions with their play this season, that is if the latter decides not to retire.
Burns will give up 1-2 dangerous scoring chances a game, but is otherwise a reliable work horse and great value.
It’s so obvious that Colton is better on wing which further raises the 3C question. I’m sure we’ll see a move before the deadline.
The Avs org is airtight. When have you ever heard leaked info on player negotiations? Nobody finds out a thing until the ink is dry. The only way you MIGHT hear something is if things are going sideways and the player’s agent puts something out to the press. Management doesn’t like that and you can see what happened to Mikko
“The Avs org is airtight. When have you ever heard leaked info on player negotiations? Nobody finds out a thing until the ink is dry.”
That is exactly as it should be.
Says who mate?
With Landy injured, I suspect that he won’t be playing for Sweden in the Milano Cortina Games. I’m sorry that he got hurt but I’ll look at it as a nice recovery period to get back to full strength. I’m still leery of playing the Captain on a back to back schedule. I’d rest him.
His ability to handle back to backs has surprised me. With what he’s gone through I’m sure he knows his body really well and if he needs a night off. Injuries just happen and this one was because he was actually feeling good and was making an aggressive move for the puck. It had absolutely nothing to do with his medical history and any game management would not have prevented his injury. They can’t be reckless, but you can’t bubble wrap a player
I don’t think resting a guy who took 3 years to recover from a major injury is bubble wrapping him. Sure, any player can get hurt on any play. But back to backs are killers and I just don’t see the need to risk it. I’d rather have a healthy team going into the playoffs. That would be time off for other major players as well. Secure home ice throughout the playoffs and provide some rest for key contributors.