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less attractive

In the years the Chicago Blackhawks were annual Stanley Cup contenders [url=http://www.officialhockeyrangersshop.com/authentic-adidas-fredrik-claess... Claesson Jersey Womens[/url] , the Colorado Avalanche seemed to find ways to beat them despite being a perennial lottery team.The script is flipped this season and it’s the Blackhawks who are struggling while the Avalanche are near the top of the Western Conference standings. Chicago can play the role Colorado did for a few years when the two teams meet at Pepsi Center in Denver on Friday night.The Avalanche have a little advantage going into the matchup. Chicago played in Dallas on Thursday night — a 5-2 win over the Stars — so it will be on the second night of a back-to-back against a relatively rested Colorado team. The Avalanche, however, will be shorthanded on defense. Nikita Zadorov suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Montreal and will miss at least two games.Article continues below ...“Muscular, so I would consider him day-to-day, but he won’t play in these next two games,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com on Thursday. “I think he just tweaked something.”Colorado (19-10-6) is still very formidable without one of its top defenseman because of the first line of Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog. Rantanen and Landeskog scored the goals in the win over the Canadiens, and MacKinnon assisted on both.Rantanen and MacKinnon are 1-2, respectively, in scoring in the NHL, and Landeskog leads the team with 23 goals. Their big seasons are a result of coming in as young players and developing their games at the NHL level.That is where the Blackhawks are now after winning three Stanley Cups in six seasons (2010 through 2015). Chicago (12-19-6) is experiencing growing pains, which is one reason why it sits in last place in the Central Division.“Now more than ever, this league is about developing players as you go,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s younger than ever. You need to continue to bring guys along and teach them how they’re going to have to play to win.”Chicago’s youth development was accelerated by a rash of concussions recently. Goaltender Corey Crawford suffered one against San Jose on Sunday, and center Marcus Kruger was struck by an inadvertent elbow in Tuesday’s game against Nashville. Both are out and the Blackhawks are being cautious with the two.Forward Artem Anisimov missed four games with a concussion suffered Dec. 9 but has returned.“You only have one brain,” Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. “Any brain trauma [url=http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-dylan-demelo-jersey]Dylan DeMelo Jersey Womens[/url] , I don’t know if there’s enough studies out there that show the lasting effects of a concussion and what can happen. So that’s the scary part of concussions, and I think that’s why the awareness we have out there is a good thing now.”With Crawford out, Collin Delia could get the start in goal against the Avalanche after Cam Ward was in net against Dallas. Colorado is going to start Philipp Grubauer, who is 8-2-3 as the No. 2 netminder behind Semyon Varlamov but has a 3.05 goals-against average.Grubauer and Varlamov have struggled of late, but Grubauer is coming off a 35-save performance against Montreal.“Grubi just looked like he was in control of the game, looked real confident and steady in there,” Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Eric Staal was coming off his least productive NHL season since he was a teenage rookie with Carolina when Minnesota took a flier on him two summers ago to add some depth at center.The three-year contract was modest for a player with Staal’s ability and accomplishments. The expectations were, too. Three consecutive seasons of decline in points per game, after all, don’t provide a hint that the scoring touch or passing knack is primed for resurgence.Bruce Boudreau could see the rebound potential, though. His first day of training camp with the Wild happened to be Staal’s practice debut with his new club, and a strong impression was made on the new head coach.”I said, `You know what? Everybody was wrong,”’ Boudreau said. ”Because he did the skate test on the very first day, and he blew everybody out of the water. So I said to the staff [url=http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-gabriel-gagne-jersey]Ga... Gagne Jersey Womens[/url] , `He should be able to play for us.”’Staal has done much more for the Wild than simply prove he can keep up and stabilize a key position with some savviness and leadership. Nobody on the team has scored more since he arrived, and with 40 goals this season he’s tied for sixth in the league through Monday’s games.”I never thought a specific number was a goal. I don’t ever usually think like that,” Staal said. ”Once you start a season, it can go a lot of different ways, but once the puck starts hitting the back of the net and you’re gaining confidence that way, you want to hold on to it as long as you can and accumulate as much as you can to help your team win.”Staal became just the second player in NHL history, joining Gordie Howe, to record a 40-goal season at least nine years apart with none in between. Slumps can factor into that, but so does dedication.”Look, he’s won a Stanley Cup. He’s won an Olympic medal. He’s got all the money that he’s ever going to need,” Boudreau said. ”But when he came here he wanted to prove to the world that he’s still a really good player, and to me he has.”The lanky 33-year-old with the left-handed shot has been a big reason why the Wild, despite some rough patches of the schedule and significant injury absences by several of their best skaters, have clinched a spot in the playoffs for the sixth straight season.”You want that, especially as a player who’s in the second half of his career. You want to make sure you’re in a spot to try to win again, and coming here I felt gave me that chance [url=http://www.officialflyersproshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-van-riemsdyk... Van Riemsdyk Jersey Womens[/url] ,” said Staal, the second overall pick in the 2003 draft who won the Stanley Cup in 2006 at age 21 but only returned to the playoffs once more with the Hurricanes. ”We’ve still got some work to do here, but hopefully we can finish strong.”Staal only has one goal-less stretch on his ledger longer than four games in a row, when he played six consecutive contests without scoring from Jan. 9-22. He still contributed four assists over that span. Not coincidentally, the Wild have only one losing streak larger than two. They dropped three in a row from Nov. 4-8.”He’s a guy we’ve definitely looked to to help lead us,” said left wing Jason Zucker, one of the many linemates Staal has saddled up to this season – without, Boudreau said beamingly, a single complaint.Durability has been one crucial component of his value, of course. Staal has yet to miss a game since signing the $10.5 million deal on July 1, 2016. The emotional steadiness he has contributed can’t be overlooked, either.”He’s been through the best of teams. He’s been through the worst of teams. He’s been the leader on all of these teams,” Boudreau said. ”He’s had to make sure he’s the steady one, because if he gets too high, maybe the rest of the group gets too high. If he was one to get too low, maybe everybody else would follow his lead.”The Wild actually left Staal exposed in the expansion draft [url=http://www.officialpenguinsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-matt-cullen-jers... Cullen Jersey Womens[/url] , banking on his age being less attractive to the Vegas Golden Knights. His salary cap hit is only the ninth-highest on the roster.”If he was playing in Toronto, he’d be up for the MVP,” Boudreau said.Settling in Minnesota was more than satisfying for Staal, with the perennial postseason opportunities and the relative proximity to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Manitoba, about a six-hour drive away. He and his wife, Tanya, have been able to raise sons Parker, Levi and Finley, in a similar northern culture and climate that he was raised in, delighting in seeing the boys at 8, 6 and 3 years old take to the local hockey rinks or eagerly hop on their sleds after the latest snowfall.”All that stuff I grew up doing and loving, and now I’m kind of living it back through them,” Staal said. ”It’s definitely made it a ton of fun.”—

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