Defenseman Cole close to return
Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole had two offseason hip surgeries and wasn’t expected to be cleared to play until December. But, less than a week into the season, it appears Cole could be activated soon.
Cole, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh, practiced in a regular sweater Monday, and afterward, coach Jared Bednar said Cole could return late this week or early next week, when Colorado begins a fivegame road trip.
“He’s been working extremely hard,” Bednar said of Cole, a shutdown-style defenseman. “He had a focus from Day 1 of his injury that he was going to be back early, and he’s put in the work. That’s a guy who wants to get back in the lineup and wants to play. So it’s all his doing. He’s been doing everything and more that the trainers and the doctors allowed him to do in the timeline. Sometimes that helps — you get back quicker — and I believe that’s the case here.”
To accompany Cole’s return, the Avs reassigned rookie defenseman Conor Timmins to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. Timmins played the first two games for the Avs — the first games of his NHL career — but will go from a third-pair defenseman to the top pair for the Eagles.
Timmins, 21, missed all of last season with concussion-like symptoms and surprisingly made the Avalanche’s opening-night lineup after having a solid training camp/preseason.
“He starts on the roster because what he did in training camp,” Bednar said of Timmins. “(But) to get him the right amount of minutes and in the right situations is really important, and it’s also an understanding where he’s leaving (the Avs) and everything is positive on our outlook on his game.”
Bednar said the Avs would call up a seventh defenseman before Wednesday’s practice — presumably choosing between newcomers Calle Rosen and Kevin Connauton, who were acquired in the offseason to help replace Cole early this season. Mark Barberio, who was a healthy scratch the first two games, could slip into the sixth defensive spot and play with Ryan Graves.
Graves, 24, is beginning what could be his first full NHL season. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Graves is playing a key shutdown role, replacing Patrik Nemeth, who was not offered a contract last summer and went on to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. Graves played in a last-minute situation Saturday when the Avs were clinging to 3-2 lead and had a 6-on-5 disadvantage against Minnesota. Graves scored on the empty net to ensure Colorado would begin the season 2-0.
“Being dependable defensively is what I take pride in, to do what it takes to give the team the win,” Graves said Monday. “Every team needs a guy like that. You can’t have six defensemen out there to score. For me, I really don’t judge my season or my game on how many points I have or being on the power play. It’s just being dependable in the D-zone, on the PK, things that aren’t always recognized.”
Five forwards skipped practice Monday for precautionary reasons. Three of them — Nazem Kadri, Joonas Donskoi and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — were offseason acquisitions. … The Avalanche will take Tuesday off before returning to practice Wednesday to prepare for Thursday’s game against visiting Boston. … The Avs will have two events Thursday morning — a morning skate at the Pepsi Center and an NHL Stadium Series news conference at the Air Force Academy. The players will remain in Denver while some team executives will join NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and others at the academy.