Northwest: Say it ain't so: Avs will miss Joe

The Colorado Avalanche will be without all-star center Joe Sakic for possibly the remainder of the regular season due to recent hernia surgery.

As the years have passed, Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche has been one of hockey’s embodiments of agelessness, surpassed on the ice in terms of geriatric accomplishment only by Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.

Season after season goes by and Sakic never gets seriously injured; never shows signs of slowing down. If anything, he has seemed to get healthier as he gets older.

He played 81 of 82 games in 2003-04 (the last season before the lockout), and all 82 games in 2005-06 and again in 2006-07, when he produced his first 100-point season in six years.

Now, though, for the first time in years, Sakic is seriously ailing. Sidelined since Dec. 1 with what originally was called a groin strain, Sakic had appeared in 232 consecutive games before his injury.

He’s working on a different kind of streak at the moment, having missed 16 consecutive games following Wednesday’s visit by Phoenix. Sakic won’t be back anytime soon, either. The captain of the Avalanche is recovering from hernia surgery that will shelve him for 8 to 12 weeks. He turns 39 in July, so this is a taste for the Avalanche of what will become permanent soon enough: life without Joe.

“It’s a huge loss,” teammate Ryan Smyth told the Denver Post after the news broke that Sakic would be sidelined for an extended period. “He’s an inspiration, on and off the ice. We’re just going to have to do the best we can without him, but you don’t replace a Joe Sakic.”

The Avs got even more bad news on Thursday when they learned that they’ll also be without Smyth, their third-leading scorer, for up to eight weeks with a broken ankle. He was injured Monday during Colorado’s 4-3 shootout loss in Phoenix and the break was discovered during a follow-up MRI.

Colorado forward Ian Laperriere said it will be a challenge to make up for the losses of Smyth and Sakic.

"You need more than one (person) to step up to fill the void," Laperriere said. "It takes a team effort."

Two questions present themselves: Though Colorado was 8-6-2 without Sakic through Wednesday, can the Avalanche maintain that pace and remain in the Northwest Division race without him and Smyth? The second question: Will the Avalanche make any moves to try to fill a void that just got a lot bigger?

The second question is easier to answer than the first. Avalanche GM Francois Giguere told the Post before the extent of Smyth’s injury was known that he’s not going to rush into any trades and instead will look to find something positive in Sakic’s absence.

“This could give us a chance (for) some of our younger players to make an impact,” Giguere told the newspaper. “(About a trade) I’ll say what I always say: We’re always trying to make our team better, in any way.”

As for whether the Avalanche can remain in the race, it’s equally difficult to say. Despite their winning record since Sakic was hurt, the fact is that in the bunched-up Western Conference standings, any team other than Detroit is one midsized losing streak from being in danger of falling into playoff jeopardy.

The best news for the Avalanche is that they are so deep offensively. Giguere was right to point out that the injury will give young forwards a chance to step up. And they already have; Paul Stastny is the team’s leading scorer, and Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos are also having productive seasons.

As hard as it is to lose a sure Hall of Famer and a key contributor for several weeks, the Avalanche might be much worse off if the extended injuries had hit defensemen Brett Clark or Scott Hannan, the team’s two leaders in ice time on a blue-line corps that is Colorado’s area of weakness.

Who’s hot -- Pavol Demitra scored twice, but the Wild were blown out in Dallas, 8-3. … The Wild rebounded the following night in Phoenix, taking a 3-2 victory against the Coyotes on the strength of a goal and two assists by Eric Belanger. … Five different Canucks had two points and Roberto Luongo made 29 saves in a 5-3 defeat of the Flames.

Luongo

Luongo outplayed Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who was yanked in the third period after stopping only 15 of 20 shots. The loss for the Flames came in their first road game since their recent 6-0 road trip. … But Tuesday night, Kiprusoff got the better of Luongo, stopping 24 shots as the Flames beat the visiting Canucks, 2-1. … The Wild overcame a three-goal deficit at home and defeated the Oilers, 5-4, on an overtime goal by defenseman Petteri Nummelin. It was the first goal of the season for Nummelin, injured much of the year. Center Pierre-Marc Bouchard recorded three assists in the same game. … Oilers captain Ethan Moreau, sidelined 14 months with various injuries, finally returned to the lineup in the loss to the Wild and recorded an assist in 18:38 of ice time. … The Flames roared back from a 3-1 deficit for a 5-3 win against the visiting Ducks. The usual suspects, Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius, led the way with three points each, and Craig Conroy contributed three assists. … Daymond Langkow had two assists in the 2-1 defeat of the Canucks on New Year’s Eve.

Shootout summary -- The Avalanche rang out the old year with their first shootout loss of the season, 4-3 at Phoenix. Colorado rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime and the shootout, and to pick up a badly needed point in the standings. But the Avalanche could not get the win. In the shootout, goalie Peter Budaj failed to stop a shot, allowing goals to Peter Mueller and Radim Vrbata. As for Colorado’s shooters, Wojtek Wolski missed the net and Marek Svatos was stopped by Ilya Bryzgalov.

 

Rumor mill -- It’s clear the Canucks could use a scoring center in the absence of Brendan Morrison, who will be sidelined for a lengthy period following wrist surgery. But the Vancouver Province reported that it’s unlikely the Canucks will fill the void through a trade. For one thing, The Province noted, the Canucks are in much better shape at this point in the season

Morrison

than they were a year ago. And a year ago, the Canucks got hot at this point in the season and rode the tide to the division title. This season, there are plenty of reasons to be patient. The Canucks have dominated their divisional opponents in head-to-head action, have improved offensively and defensively, and have the division’s -- and maybe the League’s -- best goalie in Roberto Luongo. So there’s no need to rush into anything. … The Ottawa Sun reported that the Penguins have spoken to the Flames about forward Kristian Huselius, but with Calgary in the thick of the division race, it’s hard to see the team moving one of its best forwards, even though he could become an unrestricted free agent next summer. … According to The Denver Post, Kings defenseman Rob Blake said it’s possible he would waive the no-trade clause in his contract, allowing him to move to a contender sometime before the Feb. 27 trading deadline. “(The Kings) would have to come to me first, but, yeah, it’s a possibility,” Blake, 38, told The Post.

The week ahead -- The Canucks have a relatively light week, but they’ll be singing New York, New York in the city of Vancouver. The Canucks host the Rangers on Thursday night, and after four days off, they will host the Islanders on Tuesday.

It’s much the same story for the Oilers, who visit Nashville Thursday before hosting the Rangers on Saturday and the Islanders on Monday.

The Avalanche host the Islanders on Saturday, then have some tough travel, visiting Detroit on Tuesday and playing at Washington the following night.

The current Minnesota team faces the old one twice, with the Wild hosting the Stars on Thursday and visiting Dallas on Monday. In between, the Wild visits Nashville Saturday.

The Flames spend the week facing the Pacific Division, visiting San Jose on Thursday and Los Angeles on Saturday before heading home to play Phoenix on Tuesday.