Theodore back injury not serious; Budaj will step in

By Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 1, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Avalanche goalie Jose Theodore underwent tests on his ailing back Thursday and didn't accompany the team on a trip to Detroit and St. Louis for games tonight and Saturday.

Theodore, who stepped up for the injury-plagued Avalanche with dazzling performances in 11 consecutive starts in which he compiled a 1.94 goals-against average, was pulled from Wednesday night's game after two periods because of some back spasms.

"We don't believe it's in the serious nature," coach Joel Quenne ville said.

Nothing extraordinary was found in the tests on Theodore's back, and his ailment is believed to be muscular.

Peter Budaj, who gave up two goals in the third period of the 6-3 victory against Chicago, will take over for Theodore, and Tyler Weiman has been recalled from Lake Erie (Ohio) of the American Hockey League to serve as Budaj's backup.

Wednesday night's appearance was the first for Budaj since Jan. 2, but he has 14 wins this season and made seven consecutive starts in December.

"I've been practicing hard," Budaj said. "I haven't been playing for a while, so, hopefully, I'll be ready. I was able to help my hockey team win games before so, hopefully, I'll be able to do the same thing right now."

Budaj claims he is not discouraged by his recent lack of playing time.

"It's always nice to be playing, but on the other hand, Jose has been playing great," he said. "We are in the same ship and we have to try to win hockey games."

Svatos on a tear

Marek Svatos scored twice against the Blackhawks to give him a team-leading 22 goals.

He has collected nine points in the past nine games, and Quenneville has been happy with the play of the 25-year-old Slovakian, in his third full season with the Avalanche.

"He's been very consistent and his overall game has been better," Quenneville said. "He's responsible in his own end along the wall, he's aware of his defensive responsibilities and he smells the puck in front of the net as good as any player in the league and he doesn't need much of an opportunity to finish.

"He's on a great roll right now. We need some production from certain guys, and we're expecting him to keep scoring and he's been doing that for us."

Tough test tonight

Colorado begins its trip tonight against a Red Wings team that possesses the NHL's best record.

The Avalanche has played well against Detroit this season but has been saddled with 4-2 and 1-0 losses.

"We played them pretty well the two times we've played them, but we're looking for a little bit more offensively," Quenneville said. "The recipe of trying to check them and playing in our own end, we've done a decent job, but I don't think we can be satisfied with how we played them because we didn't beat them."

He said it

"Playing well and not winning is not exactly something you want to get into."

John-Michael Liles, defenseman, on the Avalanche's two narrow losses to the Red Wings this season.

Sauer back

Defenseman Kurt Sauer has been activated from the injured list and could play this weekend.

Sauer has missed 27 games with a neck injury and post-concussion symptoms.

Defenseman Johnny Boychuk has been reassigned to Lake Erie and defenseman Kyle Cumiskey has been placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 9, with a groin injury.

bentonj@RockyMountainNews.com

Avalanche at Red Wings

* When: 5:30 MST tonight.

* Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit.

* TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

* Leading scorers

Colorado (27-20-4) G A P

RW Milan Hejduk 18 19 37

LW Andrew Brunette 11 24 35

LW Wojtek Wolski 14 18 32

RW Marek Svatos 22 5 27

C Jaroslav Hlinka 5 15 20

Coach:

Joel Quenneville

Detroit (38-10-4) G A P

LW Henrik Zetterberg 29 33 62

C Pavel Datsyuk 17 44 61

D Nicklas Lidstrom 6 43 49

D Brian Rafalski 9 34 43

RW Daniel Cleary 19 18 37

Coach: Mike Babcock

* Injuries: Colorado - C Joe Sakic (hernia), D Kurt Sauer (concussion/neck), W Ryan Smyth (fractured ankle), C Paul Stastny (appendectomy) and D Kyle Cumiskey (groin) are on injured reserve; G Jose Theodore (back) is out. Detroit - LW Dallas Drake (knee) is day to day.

* Sidelight: Stastny skated Thursday, the first time he has done so since having his appendix removed Jan. 17. But he will not make the trip to Detroit and St. Louis for games today and Saturday.

* Notes: Colorado, 9-12-3 on the road, has won three consecutive road games. . . . Detroit has the best home record (20-4-2) in the league. . . . The Red Wings lead the NHL in wins (38), points (80), goal differential (plus 65), goals against (2.05), shots per game (34.61), shots against per game (23.9) and faceoff percentage (54.4). . . . Lidstrom leads the league in plus/minus at plus-43 and in scoring by a defenseman (49 points). . . . Detroit has four of the top five players in the plus/minus rankings. Datsyuk is second at plus-33, Zetterberg fourth at plus-23 and Cleary tied for fifth at plus-22. . . . Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood leads the NHL in goals-against average (1.88). . . . The Red Wings have won five in a row.

Featured

• 2008 Voter’s Guide

  

  Use our Ballot Builder tool to compare your viewpoints to the candidates.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  Sandra Dallas wrote 'Lennie's tavern' for our ongoing fiction series. Check it out!

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on today's events.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's totally biased pregame rant about the Broncos-Jaguars game.

• Presidential Elections

  

  See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.

• County election profiles

  

  A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production

• Latest from Dove Valley

  

  Click for more broncos videos.

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  No. 44 means a lot to Floyd Little