McGinn sky high about trade to Avalanche

DENVER -- The past 48 hours have been about as hectic and strange as possible for new Colorado Avalanche forward Jamie McGinn, who was checking out NHL trades and rumors with his San Jose Sharks teammates Monday afternoon while using the team plane's WiFi system on the flight home from Minnesota.

"We were kind of just following it to keep ourselves entertained," McGinn said during a phone interview today. "One of the guys saw that San Jose had acquired (Daniel) Winnik in a trade, but they didn't know for who. Sure enough, two minutes later I got a tap on the shoulder to go and talk to (coach) Todd McLellan. I knew something was up then.

"The trade was a little bit of a shock at first. It was kind of a weird feeling being around the guys and not being able to get off the plane. Now I'm looking at the big picture and I'm really excited. I'm really happy to be an Avalanche and I see a lot of potential when I look at the lineup and I'm really happy to be a part of their plans."

The Avalanche acquired McGinn, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound left wing, and prospects Mike Connolly, 22, and Michael Sgarbossa, 19, from the Sharks in exchange for Winnik, TJ Galiardi and a seventh-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

McGinn barely has had time to catch his breath since Sunday, when the Sharks completed a nine-game, 17-day road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Wild. Mechanical problems with the team plane postponed the Sharks' flight home until Monday, and McGinn was to hop on a commercial flight this afternoon for Denver and take part in Avalanche practice on Wednesday.

"It's been kind of a hectic month with lots of travel and stuff," he said. "Yesterday was a little hectic, but I got to kind of relax a bit last night and pack up and make sure I have everything. I'm excited because it seems like Colorado really wants me in their system and I'm going to get an opportunity to play and I'm really excited about that."

McGinn, 23, was the Sharks' second-round pick (No. 36) in 2006. He's in his fourth NHL season and had 12 goals, 12 assists and 26 penalty minutes in 61 games with the Sharks, along with a team-high 137 hits.

"He'll probably play on our third line and get some penalty-killing time," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. "We'll see about the power play, I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to getting him here and his energy and his physicality. He's going to fit in nicely with our group of forwards. He's another dimension we're looking for.

"He skates hard, he plays the game, he finishes checks. He's physical on the forecheck and he can play on the power play and penalty kill. He's got 12 goals on a team where he's probably playing maybe a little bit less minutes (averaging 12:33 per game) than he would here, but he's going to fit in nicely here. He's exactly what we've been talking about, being a hard team to play against with some more jam. He's going to provide us with that up front."

McGinn said he spoke with Sacco on Monday night after Colorado's 4-1 win against Anaheim, which McGinn called "a big win for the guys." The Avalanche have won four games in a row and gone 7-2-2 in the past 11 games to tie eighth-place Dallas in the Western Conference (the Stars have played one fewer game) and pull within one point of the seventh-place Sharks.

Jamie McGinn

Left Wing - COL

GOALS: 12 | ASST: 12 | PTS: 24
SOG: 104 | +/-: 1

"They're a real hard-working team," McGinn said of the Avalanche. "They're young, but they have a lot of skill and a lot of potential. Being in a playoff hunt is where you want to be, and just to be a part of this playoff push, I want to be a big factor. When (the Sharks) came into Colorado, it was never going to be an easy game. They'd come at you up-tempo and fast and physical. I think I'm certainly in the mold for that kind of game and that style.

"I have to continue to do what made them want to trade for me -- keeping things simple and using my speed and being a physical force out there and being able to chip the puck into the net and to help out offensively."

McGinn will make his Avalanche debut Thursday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche have one game left with the Sharks, March 26 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.