Anton Lindholm: The joke will be on Avalanche doubters this season

Did you hear the one about the Avalanche defense? Did you hear that it takes two Avalanche defenders to screw in a light bulb – one to hold the chair and the other to get a minus-3? Did you hear that a Swiss cheese maker made inquiries into having the Avalanche defense be their brand ambassadors?

These are just the kind of awful one-liners that Anton Lindholm damn well doesn’t want to hear anymore. As a hockey player with some pride, Lindholm wants to shut the yaps on those who have gotten away with jokes at his team’s defense.

“I don’t know what it’s called in English, but ‘revenge’, something like that,” said Lindholm, the Avs’ young Swedish defenseman who played some with the club last season. “A lot of guys in this room want to have that I think.”

Indeed, “Screaming for Vengeance” by Judas Priest might be the theme song Lindholm would choose for the oft-maligned Avs’ defense. First, though, Lindholm knows he must still make the Avalanche out of training camp to start his own personal revenge tour. Despite playing 12 games for Colorado and drawing some good notices from coach Jared Bednar, Lindholm knows he’s in a fight for a regular roster spot.

With Nikita Zadorov having signed a new contract with the Avs on Friday, the club has a set top-4 rotation right now probably, with him, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie and Mark Barberio. That leaves two other regular spots to compete for among Lindholm and guys such as Chris Bigras, Duncan Siemens, Andre Mironov and perhaps a couple others such as Jared Cowen and Sergei Boikov. Plus, you never know if, say, a Matt Duchene might be traded for added defense.

Lindholm is ready for battle, though, having worked hard over the summer in adding more muscle.

“If I wanted to play my game on this level, I needed to get a bit stronger,” Lindholm said. “I needed to get a bit heavier, so I can push more guys off the puck. That’s a huge part of my game, trying to separate guys from pucks. I think my skating is good enough to compete on this level, so I just wanted to be stronger to add more and really contribute to this club.”

Lindholm checked into Avs camp weighing 191 pounds, up from the 185 he was listed at last season. At 5-foot-11, he’ll never be considered huge, but he does have very big thighs and a strong center of gravity. He has shown no compunction at hitting anything in an opposing jersey in front of him so far.

“I know he put in a lot of hard work on his conditioning this summer, and I think it’s going to pay off for him,” Bednar said. “He’s looked good.”

Despite loving a physical style, Lindholm wants to be a contributor at the offensive end more, too. He failed to put up a point in the 12 games he played. He grew up using Swedish Hall of Famer Nick Lidstrom as a role model, and would like to be known as more than just a stay-at-home type.

Lindholm, who grew up in one of the northern-most parts of Sweden, Skelleftea, also had a poster of Peter Forsberg on his wall as a kid.

“It’s a real honor to be with this organization. I want so much to help make this team a winner again, and I think we will. But we know it’s up to us in this room to go out and do it,” he said.

NOTEBOOK: Zadorov did not participate in drills Saturday. He is still getting his immigration papers in order, and is unlikely to be ready to play in Sunday’s Burgundy-White scrimmage at Magness Arena. … Already, the Avs are dealing with a pretty lengthy injured list. Those who did not participate in drills Saturday include Tyson Jost (groin), Tyson Barrie (upper body), Barberio (lower body), Colin Wilson (undetermined) and Joe Colborne (back). The Avs did say all the injuries are considered minor, of the “day-to-day” variety. … MDuchene did not talk to the media again Saturday, but he looked excellent for a second straight day on the ice. Duchene has spent a lot of time on a line with 2012 No. 1 overall NHL pick, Nail Yakupov, and the duo has looked strong. … Bednar said he had a good talk with Duchene, and that he was encouraged by his attitude. “He’s a motivated player,” Bednar said. “He wants to have a real bounce-back season.” … Bednar said Semyon Varlamov will start in the Burgundy-White game. He has yet to determine the rest of his lineups.