Avalanche president Josh Kroenke said Tuesday that the organization is pushing hard for an outdoor game in Denver in 2015-16, the 20th anniversary of the team's arrival from Quebec.
"We've been working hard with the league and pushing the league quite hard to obtain an outdoor game and we hope to get a positive answer on that in the very near future," Kroenke said during a news conference while sitting between coach Patrick Roy and executive vice president/general manager Joe Sakic. "That's something that could be a distinct possibility for us."
Would the Avalanche like to play the game in Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, or Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where the NFL Denver Broncos play?
"We're still talking and want to keep our options open," Kroenke said. "I've had different conversations, as recently as a Board of Governors meeting last week in New York. We're hopeful to have a clarification on it very soon. We feel very optimistic about chances. While I think we would love to get a Winter Classic, we would be OK with either.
"I think the league recognizes, simply based on our success we had last year -- we were kind of a resurgent club, we have a proud history that was started by (Sakic and Roy) and they're trying to recapture some of that imagination that was once here. As far as talks with the league, I can't go into too much detail because we don't have any confirmation yet, but I think that they, in a nutshell the league reconizes that Denver could be a natural fit for an outdoor game at some point in time, hopefully sooner rather than later.
"As our hockey club stands, I think it makes a lot of sense to have our first (outdoor game) during our 20th anniversary of the club coming to Colorado. We'd like to make the event as big as we can."
The Detroit Red Wings would be a logical opponent if and when the franchise is awarded an outdoor game.
"I don't know who it will be, but if they asked my recommendation," Sakic said, smiling. "There's obviously a couple teams that would be a perfect fit here."
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The Avalanche practiced for 90 minutes for the second day in a row in preparation for Thursday's opener in Minnesota.
Center John Mitchell (migraines) skated and took some shots while wearing a red non-contact jersey, but he left the ice when the Avalanche began their regular drills. Roy ruled out Mitchell and center Jesse Winchester (concussion) for Thursday's game and it's doubtful either will play Saturday in the home opener against the Wild. Forward Patrick Bordeleau (back surgery) is expected to be sidelined until December.
Bordeleau will begin the season on injured reserve and the Avalanche will need to put Mitchell or Winchester on IR to get down to the NHL maximum 23-man roster.
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Left wing Jamie McGinn took part in all the drills Tuesday and will skate on the third line with Daniel Briere and Max Talbot. McGinn has been nursing a back injury and didn't play in any preseason games.
"I'm almost 100 percent, I feel good out there," McGinn said. "I'm champing at the bit. I wanted to get in a preseason game, but it didn't happen. I'll be ready to go Thursday. I wanted (hard practices), needed that to get back into game shape. My body definitely feels good. It was just a little back tweak and we took care of it."
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How the lines will look Thursday:
Alex Tanguay-Matt Duchene-Jarome Iginla Gabriel Landeskog-Ryan O'Reilly-Nathan MacKinnon Jamie McGinn-Daniel Briere-Max Talbot Cody McLeod-Marc-Andre Cliche-Dennis Everberg
"We have a lot of options out there, a lot of talent," Roy said. "I know that Alex and Jarome played really well together in Calgary. When we put Alex and Jarome and Dutchie together (Saturday in Las Vegas), they were flying out there. They were moving the puck really well and they had a lot of scoring chances.
"Sending Ryan back to center was also an option we wanted to look at. Nate on the right side, he was outstanding there last year. That's how we're going to start (Thursday), but don't be surprised. We're going to try a lot of things."
I'm not sure about the defense pairings except that Brad Stuart and Erik Johnson will be a pair, along with Nick Holden and Tyson Barrie. The remaining four defensemen are Jan Hejda, Nate Guenin, Zach Redmond and Ryan Wilson.
Semyon Varlamov will obviously start in goal with Reto Berra the backup.
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Interesting that Barrie will be back on the Xcel Energy Center ice on Thursday where he sustained a knee injury on a hit by Matt Cooke in Game 3 of the Avalanche's playoff series with the Wild. Barrie missed the rest of the series, which Minnesota won in seven games, and Cooke was given a seven-game suspension by the league.
"What happened last year, you can't just forget about it completely," Barrie said. "I'm 5-10 and 195 pounds, I'm not going to go out there and cause too much trouble. The way I like to get back at them is to beat them, beat them good and come back home (Saturday) and beat them again and kind of set the tone for our year. That's all we can really do."
Barrie said Cooke reached out to him shortly after the incident, but he wasn't in any mood to respond.
"It was a pretty emotional time for me and I didn't really want to talk to him," Barrie said. "I was emotional and it was tough to sit there and watch the team play. I wasn't really feeling it. Now it's a new season and I'm fortunate there are no ill effects on the knee. I'm not a guy to hold grudges. I'm just going to go and play hard."
Barrie, who signed a new two-year, $5.2 million contract last month, said his knee is completely healed.
"Training camp was pretty flawless as far as that goes," he said. "(Skating) was one thing I was worried about. Early in the summer I wasn't sure when I started skating how it was going to feel, but there weren't any setbacks. It was a pretty steady recovery.
"It's nice to come in having established myself as a quality defenseman. There's not quite as much pressure, but everyone is pushing to be better every day and I'm not going to take anything for granted."