Avs captain Gabe Landeskog strongly hints he’s in for Game 3 after missing 3 years with knee injury
DENVER AP Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog strongly hinted he will play his first NHL tournament in nearly three years Wednesday night against the Dallas Stars In a video posted by the club a little over an hour before Challenge Landeskog revealed I ll have my jersey on tonight Excited to be part of the guys About two hours before the championship the organization also posted a picture of Landeskog s jersey hanging in his locker This is set to mark Landeskog s first NHL appearance since June when he and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay to capture the Stanley Cup He s been sidelined because of a chronically injured right knee Leading into the contest Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was non-committal on Landeskog s availability saying only well see Petitioned what criteria he would use in making a determination Bednar solely responded Gut feeling Colorado s first-round series with Dallas is tied at Landeskog s presence on the ice figures to provide a big boost not only for his teammates but the maximum crowd His No sweater is a frequent sight around the arena Everyone is rooting for him It s a great comeback story Bednar mentioned after morning skate I trust in Gabe s preparation and what I m seeing with my own eyes that he s getting close and ready to play I think he feels really good about where he s at Adding him back into our locker room he s almost an extension of the coaching staff but he s still one of the guys and the guy that everyone looks up to You can t get enough of that this time of the year Landeskog s injury goes back to the bubble season when he was accidentally sliced above the knee by the skate of teammate Cale Makar in a playoff meeting against Dallas Landeskog eventually underwent a cartilage transplant procedure on May and has been on long-term injured reserve He was activated Monday before Meeting in Dallas and skated in pregame warmups but didn t play Stars forward Matt Duchene was teammates with Landeskog and they remain good friends We ve been rooting for him to come back explained Duchene who was the third overall pick by Colorado in Obviously it makes our job harder having a guy like that out there but on the friends side the human side and the fellow athlete side I think everyone s happy to see the progress he s made I m just really happy that he s gotten to this point It doesn t mean the Stars will take it easy on Landeskog It s remarkable he s coming back if he s coming back as a friend explained longtime teammate Mikko Rantanen a first-round pick by Colorado before being traded in January to Carolina and on to Dallas in March As an opponent obviously no mercy The -year-old Landeskog in the last few days went through a two-game conditioning stint with the American Hockey League s Colorado Eagles He s practiced with the Avalanche leading up to their opener in the NHL playoffs He s looking good so we ll see where things go Makar stated stated Wednesday before the encounter For him I know it s going to be a huge night when he does play It s going to be really exciting for us to have him back in the room and have the captain back AP NHL playoffs https apnews com hub stanley-cup and https apnews com hub nhl Source
