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MacK (maintenance) misses Fan Fest; roster spots still up for grabs |
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Rick Sadowski
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Alarm bells went off (not literally) Saturday when the Avalanche’s star attraction, Nathan MacKinnon, didn’t take part in the organization’s inaugural Fan Fest at the Pepsi Center before a few thousand fans.
No reason to panic.
An Avalanche spokesman said MacKinnon was simply taking a “maintenance” day, along with J.T. Compher and Nikita Zadorov. All three played Friday in Colorado's 4-3 overtime win against Minnesota, but there was no word on their availability for the preseason finale Sunday in Dallas, which goalie Semyon Varlamov is scheduled to start.
The Avalanche don’t practice again until Tuesday.
Coach Jared Bednar didn’t meet the media following the “practice” session, which consisted of several competition drills between Team Burgundy and Team White, ending in a shootout.
"Today was just mostly about having fun, and I don't think it would be as much fun for the fans to watch a D-zone checking drill than maybe a 2-on-2 or 2-on-1 game," captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “Good job by the coaching staff to put together a practice like this, and I think the guys enjoyed it.
"It's awesome to practice in front of this many fans. It means a lot to us that they came out and supported us on a day like this. I think it was a good overall event, and I hope we can continue to do this."
The Avalanche are carrying 29 players on the training camp roster, and they’ll need to get down to a maximum of 23 before Thursday’s regular-season opener against Minnesota.
Bednar hasn’t said if he’ll keep two extra forwards and a seventh defenseman, one extra forward and two extra defensemen, or one extra each.
Forward Sven Andrighetto’s foot injury has opened a spot; he’s expected to miss 2-4 weeks. Another forward, Vladislav Kamenev, is day to day with what Bednar said is a hip issue. Sheldon Dries, Logan O’Connor and Dominic Toninato are the other forwards competing for roster spots.
Either Mark Barberio or Patrik Nemeth will be the sixth defenseman, but both will make the team. Of the “extra” defensemen still on the roster, only Mark Alt is healthy. Anton Lindholm has a hip injury, Conor Timmins apparently still has post-concussion issues and David Warsofsky has an undisclosed injury.
Bednar said Friday that camp has been an “ongoing audition” for spots.
“All of our positions,” he said. “Who can handle a certain amount of minutes? Who’s going to play with who? I think up front we have some flexibility. If a guy’s having a bad night I’m not going to leave him on the line just because I have him penciled in there, you know?
“I’ve been thinking about that already through exhibitions. There’s guys that I’ve been happy with in games, there’s guys that I’ve been unhappy with, and guys that I’ve liked for a period here and a period there, and not for some others.
“The name of the game is consistency and playing at the top of your game as long as you can. The guys that can do that are going to earn my trust and our coaching staff’s trust to get the ice time."
Bednar continued:
“And it’s the same with the D. We’ve got a deeper D core now. We have eight (healthy) guys with us still, nine with (Lindholm) injured, and the guys who earn the ice are going to get it. That may mean some unexpected guys (will be) in the stands on certain nights. I think that’s what raises our level of competition and hopefully pushes us to the next level.
"It’ll be competitive, not just to start the season but ongoing.”
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