After months and months of waiting, healing, skating, setbacks, and more of everything, after missing training camp, the preseason, and 25 regular season games, we finally get Jordan Leopold. Leopold, who has been recovering from hernia surgery, is finally healthy enough to join the team. They big question of the night is, how effective will he be? For all the hype Leopold will bring to the defense, I don’t see how he can live up to expectations. We have all seen what happens when a player sits out just training camp with a contract dispute (Raycroft). Or even camp plus a few games (Kovalchuk). And even though this isn’t that kind of scenario, it is that kind of time, and then some. While the rest of the league has been skating and bumping and grinding, getting the skates moving at game speed, Leopold has been doing the slow and tender stuff. He is joining the league not just a little late, but a step behind. That is my negativity for the day. Who will sit from the defense? I say Brisebois. Give the guy a few days, let him sit by himself. You can’t sit Klee after the night he had against Edmonton, and you can’t sit Skrastins, because he’s Skrastins. Maybe sit Vaananen. Two minutes for too many vowels on the ice. If there were bad blood from the schedule alone, tonight would have it gushing and spurting like a Wes Craven movie. The Avs have OWNED the Canucks in Colorado this year, with Roberto Luongo looking like a dancing monkey in net (not as bad as Roloson the other night, but you get the drift). OK, that isn’t true, but I loved typing it. Starter for the Avs should be Theodore, since he has won all three games so far against the Canucks. They have dropped three of their last four with a combined score of 12-3 against. There will be a little stepping up from them. Watch out for the Sedin twins. They should be grooving.
 
I get the late night feed, so I won’t be blogging about it until late. I hate the late feed, or my work schedule making me tape delay the game myself. I don’t get all the cool interweb scoresheets. So it’s net-goes-dark at 8pm local time. Let’s go, Avs.