The only consistent thing about the Colorado Avalanche this season has been their incredible inconsistency. They've followed three game winning streaks with four game losing streaks, four game losing streaks with four game winning streaks, and so on and so forth.
Currently, the Avalanche sit at 12-12-0 on the season, two points behind the Nashville Predators for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. Complicating things for the Avalanche, as they attempt to make a return trip to the postseason, they received word today that they are going to be without their captain, Joe Sakic, who will be out of the lineup for the next six weeks with a herniated disc in his back.
Colorado head coach Tony Granato on the injury, as quoted by the Associated Press report:
"He's a guy that knows his body probably as well as any professional athlete I've been around. When he came back he felt great, he looked great, you could see how he was skating, it looked like he had his jump back and the back wasn't an issue at all," Granato said. "So, when he came off the ice after the shift in Phoenix and his back tightened up again, obviously it was an injury that was more significant than the first time it happened."The 39-year old Sakic has played in only 59 of a possible 106 regular seasons games over the past two years, after missing only one game the previous three seasons.
When healthy, the future hall of fame member is still close to a point-per-game player, picking up 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists) in his previous 59 games. So, it's kind of a big blow to a team that is currently 25th in the NHL in terms of goals per game.
