Mark Barberio knows he stunk for a while, but he's working toward penance

Mark Barberio was just plain bad for a while, and the scorn from fans on social media was downright mean. The Colorado Avalanche defenseman knows he was bad for a while, but after a forced night off as a healthy scratch recently, the veteran has played like he never wants to be up in the press box again, where the popcorn is usually stale, the coffee often cold and the style of clothing worn by the sports writers says “early ’90s clearance rack.”

After a minus-2 performance in a home loss against Dallas, Barberio was a scratch against the Buffalo Sabres. In the two games since, he is a plus-1 with one assist. What did the time up in the box teach him?

“I think it was just a good chance to reset and refocus,” he said. “My effort was in the right place previously, but I was just making some tough puck decisions. I had good meetings with the coaching staff, and they just kind of sat me down and that’s it.”

Barberio was doing things like icing the puck too much, either out of desperation to get the puck out or just misfiring passes to intended receiver targets. In the Dallas game, he forced an impossible, hard pass for Sam Girard to handle in his own zone, leading to a keep-in by the Stars at the point and a subsequent goal.

He was also guilty of not skating smartly enough with the puck out of the zone, sometimes just being too immobile in general. Defensemen who don’t move their feet usually get in trouble, fast.

“If you combine good effort with a sound mental game, you’re going to get better performances and that goes for anybody,” said Barberio, who will be one of seven Avs defensemen to skate again tonight, in Pittsburgh. “I’m just trying to keep my feet moving. I think that’s when I’m at my best. If I get stationary out there, that’s where you’re a step behind the play. I think I’m staying engaged more and getting to pucks quicker. Then, you can make better decisions with it.”

NOTEBOOK

• Jonathan Bernier will start in goal for the Avs.
• The team will again go with 11 forwards and seven D-men, with Duncan Siemens the scratch. Nail Yakupov would have been a healthy scratch anyway, but he did not participate in the morning skate because of illness, the team said.

Here is video of my interview with Barberio:

By the way, doesn’t Barberio look like the doppelganger to this other “Mark” in this Taco Bell ad? I mean, seriously. I actually asked Barberio if this was him in the ad and he said no.