Avalanche Notebook: Nearing good health

The Colorado Avalanche held an optional practice today following their 7-1 demolition of the Minnesota Wild last night. It was a heavily-attended practice as the team won’t have a morning skate tomorrow thanks to their afternoon game against the visiting Nashville Predators.

Among those on the ice for the Avalanche today were Jonathan Bernier (concussion), Vladislav Kamenev (arm), and Sven Andrighetto (lower-body). Bernier and Kamenev were full participants while Andrighetto was still wearing his no-contact jersey. While Bernier appears ready to go and spoke with media after, head coach Jared Bednar said he would not be the backup tomorrow but would likely go on the road trip.

Andrighetto is still a bit from returning because he’s still not a full participant in practice yet but Kamenev is and his situation remains fluid. We’ve been told various pieces of information about what the team plans to do with him once he got healthy but now that he’s there, Bednar said the team will likely send him to San Antonio on a conditioning stint just to him in some game action before dropping him into the Avalanche lineup in the middle of a playoff race.

The practice itself was light-hearted and mostly a series of mini-competitions happening all around the ice. It wasn’t particularly clear to onlookers who was competing with whom but there was no denying the raw amount of fun they were having as the players celebrated wildly after every goal was scored.

News and Notes

• Colin Wilson left last night’s game against the Wild and did not return with an upper-body injury. Today, Bednar clarified that it was indeed a concussion and he was the latest Av to go through concussion protocol. He currently has no timeline for a return.
• While Mark Barberio has lightly skated some, he, like Erik Johnson, continues to be a missing person most days. While the team has missed him, his injury helped open the door for Duncan Siemens to get time and Siemens has charged through that door and seized the opportunity.
• There continues to be a distinct lack of Andrew Hammond around the rink and you have to feel for the guy. It’s been a tough season for him getting traded and not getting much of an opportunity to play anywhere and then suffering the flukiest injury imaginable. Yes, I realize he makes a lot of money but I do feel for him.
• This is only my third year covering the Avalanche but this is hands down the most tight-knit Avs team I’ve been around so far. They genuinely like playing hockey together and they have developed quite a thirst for winning. The last two teams I covered were largely indifferent and at this point in the season were clearly going through the motions. This year’s group is locked in, looking for competition and dying to win. They are a legitimately fun team to be around on a daily basis.