Avalanche left wing Jamie McGinn will probably miss the rest of the season after undergoing back surgery Wednesday.
"I would not be surprised if his season is over," coach Patrick Roy said this morning. He said the doctors are "very happy" with how the procedure went -- aren't they always? -- and that McGinn "won't do much" for the next six weeks.
"We'll see how it goes," Roy said. "We'll know in the next three or four weeks, see how his back reacts. We're certainly not going to push him."
The Avalanche have activated forward Dennis Everberg (shoulder) from injured reserve and he just finished warmups and will play against Winnipeg at the Pepsi Center. Center Paul Carey is ill and center John Mitchell (leg) was placed on IR to make room for Everberg on the active roster.
*****
The Avalanche will take a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) into tonight's game. The Avalanche have the sixth-worst home record (5-7-2) in the NHL and the Jets have the second-best road record (9-4-3).
The Jets are 15-9-5 overall, fourth in the Central Division and at the moment are holding the first wild-card playoff position in the Western Conference.
Here are the game notes.
"I always thought that was a good team," Roy said. "They have speed, they have size, they play a physical game. This is a good team."
Calvin Pickard, who was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, but grew up in Winnipeg, will start in goal for the Avalanche. But he said playing against his hometown team won't be extra special.
"I don’t think so," he said. "All my buddies, all my family follow the Jets, of course, being from Winnipeg. But I’m with the Avalanche and that’s what we’re focusing on. To get back on the right track, we need to get the two points tonight."
The Avalanche will have to do a much better job against the Jets line of Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler than they've done in the past.
The line combined for six goals and seven assists in the first two games this season -- Little had a hat trick last Friday in the Jets' 6-2 home win -- and the three players have 27 goals and 30 assists in 47 career games against Colorado. Ondrej Pavelec is expected to start in goal for the Jets.
I talked to Little after the Jets had their morning skate and he said the Jets were trying not to think too much about any playoff possibilities.
"We're on a bit of a roll and when that's happening you're not really thinking about much other than going out and playing hard," he said. "That's what we have to keep doing. (But) it's what we all play for. You try every season to try and get a spot there. It's tough. There's a reason why the good teams make the playoffs; you have to do it all season and we still have a long way to go. If we continue playing like we're doing, we're giving ourselves a good shot."
The franchise is in its fourth season in Winnipeg since leaving Atlanta, where the Thrashers made the playoffs once, in 2006-07, in 12 seasons.
The Avalanche (9-13-6) are last in the Central and hardly thinking about the playoffs.
"Every time we work hard, every time we're outcompeting the other team, we give ourselves a chance to win," Roy said. "The best back-to-back games we played this year were against the Rangers and the Devils (Nov. 13-15). We outworked the other team. We drove that net, we had a net presence. Our skill will come out, there's no doubt about it. We have a lot of skill, but it's not enough just having skills.
"Right now we feel all the bounces go against us. We hit posts, we're in front of the net and we have a great scoring chance and the puck bounces over your stick. We forget a guy is behind us and they have a breakaway and the puck is in the net. Every mistake goes like this. But you know what? It's not fun going through it, but it's part of the process and I think it will make us a better team."
Avalanche defenseman Zach Redmond expected better things when he left the Jets organization to sign as a free agent over the summer.
"After a while it starts to take a toll on you, but the group in here makes it a lot easier to rebound and stay positive," said Redmond, who has three goals, five assists and a plus-4 plus/minus rating -- easily best on the team -- in 17 games. "You never want to be happy with losing, but you can't kick yourself so hard where you can't rebound and have a good game. The older guys do a good job of making sure we're ready and not too hard on ourselves and trying to have fun despite it all." Here is the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Alex Tanguay - Matt Duchene - Ryan O'Reilly Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod - Daniel Briere - Dennis Everberg Nick Holden - Max Talbot - Borna Rendulic
DEFENSEMEN Jan Hejda - Erik Johnson Nate Guenin - Tyson Barrie Karl Stollery - Zach Redmond
GOALIES Calvin Pickard Reto Berra