SB Nation - Adam Foote

Colorado Players Among League Leaders

Joe Dunman — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:16:13 -0000

One sign that a team has a strong offense is the presence of its players among the league's individual leaders. Last season the Avs' offense was the worst in team history, and because of that, few Avalanche players made the final leader lists at the end of the season.

Historically speaking, Avalanche players have frequently appeared in large numbers on the league leader boards. In 2000-01, four Colorado players finished the year among the top 50 players for points scored (Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Tanguay), with three more just outside (Drury, Blake, Bourque). Last season, not one Avalanche player appeared on the list.

Non-offensive categories like blocked shots and average time on ice feature Avalanche players this season as well. Last year no Colorado players ranked among the top 50 in ice time, nor did anyone make the +/- leader board. This year is a different story.

Below is a comparison between last year's leaders and this year's current standings, separated by category. First is the player's rank, then name, then current total in parentheses.

	2008-09	2009-10
Goals	t-47th Hejduk (27)	t-26th Wolski (13)
		t-29th Hejduk (12)
		t-47th Jones (10)

Assists		t-8th Stastny (26)
		t-20th Wolski (20)

Points		t-14th Stastny (34)
		t-17th Wolski (33)

(+/-)		t-11th O'Reilly (12)
		t-16th Wolski (11)
		t-33rd Hannan (9)
		t-44th Stastny (8)
		t-44th Wilson (8)

PIM	11th Laperriere (163)	17th McLeod (59)
	12th McLeod (162)	t-42nd Koci (44)

ATOI		10th Quincey (25:11)

Hits	t-22nd McLeod (194)	21st McLeod (87)

Blocked Shots	2nd Clark (238)	1st Clark (108)
	t-14th Hannan (162)	7th Hannan (76)
	29th Salei (143)	t-11th Quincey (67)

Shots	t-23rd Smyth (257)

PP Goals	t-39th Hejduk (10)	t-10th Hejduk (6)
	t-39th Smyth (10)	t-38th Duchene (4)

PP Assists		t-26th Quincey (8)

SH Goals		t-1st Jones (2)
		t-12th Duchene (1)

SH Assists		t-9th Galiardi (1)
		t-9th Foote (1)

The season is not yet half over. If these trends continue, expect to see a major Avalanche presence on the NHL individual leader boards at the end of the year.

Game 29 Preview: Return of the Foote

Mike MacLean — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:31:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

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This is going to be extremely quick, folks. I just found a computer and I don`t even know if the formatting will turn out. This is the return of Adam Foote, I won`t bag on him as much as others do, but it will be interesting to see how the fans treat him.

Andrew Murray and Raffi Torres return to the lineup, and the defensive pairs have been shaken up. Toots and Stralman aren`t together anymore, Stralman is with Russ and Methot returns to the lineup to play with Fedor. Should be interesting how the Russ-Stralman pairing does five-on-five.

I won`t be able to watch this game tonight unfortunately, but I will be checking the boxscore on my Blackberry. Here`s hoping the boys can pull one out and get back in the win column.

Fearless Prediction: A win, damnit.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Mile High Hockey

Game Page: Avalanche vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Avalanche vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Colorado captain Adam Foote makes his first appearance in Nationwide Arena since he was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Avalanche on Feb. 26, 2008. The Blue Jackets are in a 1-4-3 tailspin since Nov. 19. Columbus won all four games last season and has won six of the past seven games in the series.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Andrew Murray
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Marc Methot
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Anton Stralman

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Colorado Avalanche

Matt Duchene	Paul Stastny	Chris Stewart
Wojtek Wolski	T.J. Galiardi	Milan Hejduk
Cody McLeod	Ryan O'Reilly	Darcy Tucker
David Koci	Chris Durno	Marek Svatos

Scott Hannan	Kyle Quincey
John-Michael Liles	Brett Clark
Adam Foote	Ryan Wilson

Peter Budaj

Tyler Weiman

Florida Panthers week in review

Whale4ever — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:04:29 -0000

Panthers fans will find a new addition to the concourse level Saturday at BankAtlantic Center.

Been a busy five days for the Cats since the first puck dropped at Philips Arena Monday. A quickie recap before tonight's action between the Southeast division rivals faceoff in Sunrise:

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk is foiled in his initial shot on a breakaway, but regains a dead rebound and scores the Thrashers' second goal of the game, paving the way for Keith Ballard's infamous Paul Bunyan-style chop to the head of goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Despite the first of Stephen Weiss' heroics for the week (1g, 1a), ex-Buffalo fan favorite Maxim Afinogenov inserts a knife deep into the heart of reliever Scott Clemmensen and the Panthers with 5.5 seconds remaining in the third period, producing a 4-3 final score in favor of the home club. Vokoun? Briefly hospitalized. Ballard? Stunned. Florida fans? Dumbfounded by yet another strange fork in the road. Panthers are now winless in five.

Back in Sunrise Wednesday against the Avalanche, and the Cats somehow found creative and unique ways to smash four 2-goal leads...of their own (one of those in the final minute of regulation...of course). Craig Anderson, returning to South Florida for the first time since signing with Colorado over the summer, was his plucky self throughout, going goal-for-goal with Clemmensen. Enter overtime, add an end-to-end rush by - who else? - Ballard, a collision ensues, Adam Foote declares war on on the Florida defenseman. Andy's hurt, in comes Peter Budaj, and the ease with which it seems possible to imagine the green goalie getting a win without facing a single shot becomes quite natural; it's that kind of week. Stephen Weiss, he of three goals on the evening, enters the shootout in the fifth round, netting the game winner. A victory for sure, though one that feels strangely hollow. Winless streak over.

Thursday in Washington for a third shot at the Capitals - minus suspended Alex Ovechkin. No matter; anarchy ensues among the visitors after several minutes of close play. Spunky recent callup (and rookie) Alexander Salak replaces a quickly-yanked Clemmensen; nothing changes but the lead, which stretches to a formidable six goals. Another Alex, this time of the Semin variety, has four points before Bryan Allen and Weiss (with his fifth regulation-goal in three games) change the score but not the outcome. It was the classic "clinic" game by the home club, leaving the Cats dazed and defeated. Mike Duco ended his evening with 17 minutes in penalties: an instigator, fighting major, game misconduct, and aggressor calls. When's the last time we saw an "aggressor" penalty? Salak - whom the loss should not realistically fall upon - was quickly sent back to Rochester.

And here we are. Never boring around these parts.

Game Thread goes live at 5pm.

Poll

What to do?

Blow 'em up...top to bottom

11 votes

Hang in there...Booth and Stillman are on the mend

17 votes

28 votes | Poll has closed

Game 31 Preview: Avalanche at Blue Jackets

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:37:22 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	5: MT / 7 ET / 12 GMT	Columbus Blue Jakcets
15-9-6	December 5th, 2009	13-10-5
36 pts	Nationwide Arena	31 pts
t-4th in West	Columbus, OH	10th in West

The Avalanche continue their 5-game trek tonight with their first visit to the fine city of Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. For whatever reason, these matchups always seem to be entertaining. There's been some chippy games and some back-and-forth games in the last few years. There's that annoying cannon, of course, and, if you happen to watch the Columbus feed you'll be watching two of the biggest homers in all of sports. Actually, analyst Danny Gare left after last season, so I don't know that new analyst Bill Davidge will be as bad, but given that he played for (*sigh*) The Ohio State University and coached at Miami of Ohio and that he's paired with pom-pom-toting Jeff Rimer, I think it's a fair guess. Neither team is playing well right now (both teams are3-4-3 in their last 10)

There's added intrigue in the game as it's the first return to Columbus for Adam Foote since his "controversial" trade to Colorado in 2008. When Foote missed both trips to Columbus last year, we was quietly (and not-so-quietly) accused of having a touch of Columbus flu to avoid any controversy. Sadly, I have another engagement tonight and will not be able to see the game until tomorrow. I won't have a recap up for this one.

Craig Anderson (neck) is not expected to play tonight, which should give Peter Budaj his 2nd straight start. Statistically, he's the better goalie. Columbus' Steve Mason has had a tough sophomore season, with a 3.46 GAA and an .888 save percentage. In his 22 starts, he's allowed 3 goals or more 14 times. The Jackets are 3-7-4 in those games, so I think the Avs goal tonight is clear: score.

As strange as it is to see the BJ's goaltending collapse (they went from 9th in the league last year to 29th so far this year), it's nothing compared to what happened to their powerplay. They had the worst PP in the league last year (yes, even worse than ours). This year? #1. They have almost doubled their PP efficiency so far, improving from 12.7% to 24.8%. Amazing.

Besides Andy, the Avalanche will be without the usual suspects tonight - David Jones, Ruslan Salei and Kyle Cumiskey. The BJs are without Rusty Klesla, Derek Dorsett, Andrew Murray, Frederik Modin. Raffi Torres and Marc Methot are both questionable.

Avalanche vs Blue Jackets coverage

The Cannon

Colorado			Columbus
7th	36	Points	15th	31
9th	2.97	GF/G	7th	3.04
21st	2.93	GA/G	29th	3.46
17th	19.7	PP%	1st	24.8
18th	79.4	PK%	23rd	78.2
30th	26	S/G	17th	29.4
26th	33.1	SA/G	23rd	31.4
29th	46.7	FO%	13th	50.2
16th	14	PIM/G	20th	14.4
Stastny	30 pts	Top Scorer	Nash	30 pts

Game 30 Recap: Penguins 4 - Avalanche 1

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:06:28 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

21 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) can't stop a first-period goal by Colorado Avalanche's TJ Galiardi during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Final - 12.3.2009	1	2	3	Total
Colorado Avalanche	1	0	0	1
Pittsburgh Penguins	1	0	3	4

Complete Coverage >

Which is better? A 6-5 shootout loss where you get a point that you didn't deserve, or a 4-1 loss where you were in the game right up to the end? I thought the Avalanche played a good game tonight - better than the statsheet is going to reveal. In the end, though, a couple of tough breaks had them come up just short as the Pittsburgh Penguins used a couple of empty net goals (I blame Budaj) to turn a 2-1 game into a 4-1 game.

The Avalanche got off to a strong start and struck first with TJ Galiardi tipping in a puck to score a PP goal just 5:02 in. The Avs played solid hockey throughout the first period, but got burned when Brett Clark pinched in to deep in the waning seconds of the period. Probably not a good idea to let Crosby get behind you, right? Of course, the puck turned over at the Pens' blueline and the Penguins were off to the races with Mike Rupp and the Holy Diver engaging some nice give-and-go passing that led to an easy Crosby goal with just 6 seconds left. The best part? When the puck was dropped on the play, the Penguins had 6 players on the ice. How you miss a too many men call on a faceoff is completely beyond me. Tough break #1.

Tough break #2 happened in the 2nd period when Galiardi appeared to score his 2nd PP goal of the night. Unfortunately, the ref lost sight of the puck on the play and blew a premature whistle. Even though the puck was in the net before the whistle was blown, the rule is that the play is dead when the ref intends to blow the whistle (and a replay clearly showed the ref bringing his whistle up before the puck went in, in case that matters to anyone). That was midway through the 2nd period, and the Avs wouldn't get another powerplay that night. Some might say the officiating had a decided Pittsburgh tilt to it. I personally didn't see it, but I was probably too busy focusing on tough break #3.

Tough break #3 was the July 1st, 2008 signing of Darcy Tucker. Had we signed someone who actually gave a crap, or if we hadn't signed anyone and just sent $4.5 million to a Nigerian banker, we might have had a chance to win tonight. Because then, when Stastny's wide shot landed right into the slot in front of a wide open net, there might have been someone able to approach that puck with a sense of urgency a tad higher than lazy-stroll-through-the-park. Or, when Ryan "Get Me Off This Line" O'Reilly fires a centering pass back to a wide open trailer, it might have been someone with a stick on the ice instead of a thumb up his ass. Was that to harsh? How about this: I would trade Darcy Tucker to Riga for Tyler Arnason in a heartbeat.

Anyway, after the Avalanche squandered the few chances they were given in the game, the rest was inevitable. Adam Foote was called for hooking in the 3rd (I didn't feel this was a bad call, but I see that a few of you disagree) and Brett Clark followed that soon after with a stupid tripping penalty. Even a Tony Granato-coached powerplay (stick tap to Jibbles) is good enough to score on a 5-on-3. And they did. Technically, Foote was just out of the box so it was a 5 on 4, which is like saying that, technically, OJ was found innocent.

From then on, the Penguins absolutely shut the Avalanche down. The Avs managed just 1 3rd period shot and, to be honest, I credit Pittsburgh much more than I blame the Avs. The Pens played great defense - the way I'd like to see our team play more consistently. Whether the Avs tried to dump and chase or carry in, the Pens were all over the puck. It was an impressive performance.

Speaking of impressive, it's too bad that an excellent effort by Peter Budaj was completely wasted. Budaj was superb tonight. He didn't give up those dreaded rebounds that has everyone's panties all bunched up. He was poised and seemed really confident for a guy who's been sitting as long as he has. I would have liked to see him get a win for his troubles tonight. But for a couple of tough breaks tonight, he would have.

Matt Duchene played on the left wing tonight with Paul Stastny (who leads the lead in faceoffs taken) and Chris Stewart. It was a good line, and the 2nd line of Galiardi, Wolski and Hejduk was decent as well. Obviously, there's not much to show for it other than Galiardi's goal, but I personally wouldn't give up on these combos yet. So, expect something completely different on Saturday in Columbus.

Thursday Caterwaul - Open Forum

Whale4ever — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:26:26 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

21 days ago: Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj misses Florida Panthers' Stephen Weiss game winning goal during the shoot out in NHL hockey game in Sunrise, Fla. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. The Panthers won 6-5. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Need some subjects to get started?

Colorado's Adam Foote ("Captain Courage") pummeling Keith Ballard after a momentum-induced collision knocked Craig Anderson from last night's game. Feel free to get in on this one, Columbus fans.
What would the backlash have been - if any - had the Cats lost that game, either in regulation or overtime periods (thereby going winless in six)?
Who starts for Florida tonight: Scott Clemmensen or Alexander Salak?

Cats at Caps Live Open Thread at 5pm...

Poll

Ballard on Anderson: accident or malacious intent?

Competely unintentional - just "one of those things"

58 votes

A dangerous play by Ballard - and he knew it

13 votes

71 votes | Poll has closed

Game 29 Recap: Panthers 6 - Avalanche 5 (SO)

David Driscoll-Carignan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:04:30 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

22 days ago: Florida Panther's Stephen Weiss (9) begins to celebrate a goal in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche in Sunrise, Fla. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Final - 12.2.2009	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Colorado Avalanche	0	2	3	0	0	5
Florida Panthers	2	2	1	0	1	6

Complete Coverage >

Honestly, I have no idea where to begin.

This game had a little bit of everything. The Avalanche gave up 44 shots, 33 in the first two periods. Florida's Stephen Weiss had hat trick before the game was half over (and the crowd of about 217 people rewarded him by tossing maybe 4 hats onto the ice). Craig Anderson wasn't particularly crisp, although, again, he faced 44 shots tonight. The Avalanche didn't play defense tonight but, 29 games into the season, they finally decided to do something about their goalie getting run into constantly; every time there was a whistle, Adam Foote and / or Ryan Wilson punched somebody.

The Avs fell down 2-0. Then they made it 2-1. Then they fell down 3-1. Then they made it 3-2. Then they fell down 4-2. Then they cut it to 4-3. Then they fell down 5-3 and the game was over. They pulled Anderson...and made it 5-4. And then, they completely ruined the SAT numerical pattern question by scoring again to tie the game with 16 seconds left. Yep, after playing like ass for 59 minutes, the Avalanche turned it on and scored two goals in the final minute.

In overtime, each team traded some shots and it went back and forth until 4:18 when all hell broke loose. Keith Ballard made a great play to blow by Brett Clark and rushed hard to the net. Craig Anderson made the save...and then got hit hard by Ballard. Anderson went down hard and ended up leaving the game, making him the second goalie Ballard has knocked from a game this week (couldn't resist). Ballard got pummeled by Adam Foote. Peter Budaj - who should have started to begin with - came in cold and had about 42 seconds to warm up for the shootout. He was excellent, stopping the first 4 shootout attempts. Unfortunately, the Avalanche couldn't score at all and the Panthers ultimately won the game on Weiss' shootout winner.

Matt Duchene and Chris Stewart continue to be the bees' knees on offense. Duchene had another 2 goals, and each of them had 3 points on the night. Stewart might have had more, but he was effectively tossed from the game for instigating a fight with Bryan Allen when he mistakenly thought that Allen had leveled Duchene. I've wanted to see Stewie get more physical all year; that was a poor time to do it. Interestingly, before Stewart was tossed the two finally found a suitable left wing to complement their skills: Paul Stastny. Stastny played left wing with Duchene and Stewart in the 3rd period and ended up with 4 points.

So, here are the big questions going into tomorrow.

First and foremost, is Craig Anderson okay? And what about Brett Clark, who went to the locker room late in OT? Can any forwards other than Stastny, Duchene or Stewart score? The Avs had 5 goals, and the only forward besides those three with a point was TJ Galiardi. Wojtek Wolski had 6 shots...but no points. What happened to the defense that held Tampa off the scoreboard on Monday? When was the last time someone had 4 points and wasn't named one of the 3 stars, as was the case with Stastny tonight? And is Peter Budaj the first goalie to lose a game without facing a shot on net? Is there anyone who's lost a game with less than 42 seconds of playing time? I'd like the answer to all these on my desk first thing tomorrow, okay?

Tom Preissing Waived

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:27:24 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

28 days ago: Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, right, of Finland, is run into by Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tom Preissing, front left, after Preissing was checked by Predators right winger Jordin Tootoo (22) in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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The Colorado Avalanche have placed defenseman Tom Preissing on waivers. This is not at all a surprise move; it's actually one we've been speculating would happen for some time now. Preissing has a $2.75 million salary and is signed through the end of next season. It is highly unlikely that he will be claimed and will instead be headed to the AHL (he cleared waivers in the spring when the Kings sent him to their farm team). In making this move, the Avalanche clear some cap space and Preissing gets a chance to play every day.

In other roster news, Kyle Cumiskey has been placed on the IR retroactive to November 23rd (meaning he'll miss at least tonight's game and Monday's game against Tampa Bay) while Adam Foote and Matt Hendricks have been activated and could play tonight.

Game 26 Preview: Avalanche at Wild

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:48:53 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	12 MT / 2 ET / 7 GMT	Minnesota Wild
14-7-4	November 27th, 2009	8-12-3
32 pts	Xcel Energy Center	19 pts
3rd in West	St Paul, MN	15th in West

The Colorado Avalance are in Minnesota this afternoon to take on the Minnesota Wild. The Wild have had a rough season so far and are currently mired in last place. They simply haven't been able to get anything going this year and have only managed to put together two consecutive wins twice (they've yet to win 3 in a row). Like Colorado, the Wild got a loser point on Wednesday, falling to the Boston Bruins in a shootout.The Wild are their normal low-scoring selves this year. Unfortunately, they are 23rd in the league in goals against per game (just ahead of the Avs) to go with that. It's hard to win 2-1 hockey games when you are giving up 3 goals a game...

The teams have met each other once this season, with the Wild taking advantage of a slew of Avalanche penalties and winning in the shootout, 3-2. Neither team really play the sort of style to facilitate this, but the opportunity is there to develop a little bad blood, as they are playing 3 times over the next 2 weeks (today, tomorrow and December 9th). Derek Boogaard and David Koci did tangle in the first game, but it wasn't much of a fight.

Minnesota is expected to be without forwards Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen; both missed the game on Wednesday and neither practiced on Thursday. The Wild hope to have Gillaume Latendresse in the lineup; he was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the week. No word yet as to who the starting goalie will be for Minnesota, but Niklas Backstrom has started 20 of the Wild's 23 games.

The Avalanche will again be without the services of Adam Foote, who will be missing his 5th game with a mere flesh wound, and Kyle Cumiskey (broken jet pack). Brian Fahey was called up from Lake Erie yesterday and it's possible he'll play instead of Tom Preissing. Craig Anderson is the starter today, according to Adrian Dater's reborn twitter feed. Andy is 8 games away from his NHL season high of 31.

Tale of the Tape

Colorado			Minnesota
5th	32	Points	28th	19
7th	3.00	GF/G	27th	2.35
22nd	2.88	GA/G	23rd	2.91
22nd	18.4	PP%	23rd	18.2
15th	80	PK%	8th	83.2
30th	25.8	S/G	23rd	28.7
25th	32.6	SA/G	10th	28.5
29th	46.7	FO%	8th	51.4
13th	13.4	PIM/G	5th	11.3
Stastny	23 pts	Top Scorer	Koivu	21 pts

Avalanche Roster Moves

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:41:08 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

2 months ago: Colorado Avalanche center T. J. Hensick (7) moves the puck past Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter, left, in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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The Avalanche made a couple of moves today. As usual, the news came first from the AHL transaction wire...

T.J. Hensick has cleared waivers and has been reassigned to Lake Erie. I have enough faith in T.J.'s potential that I was sweating this move slightly, but I guess no one wants to spend $850,000 (Hensick's NHL salary) to see if a change of scenery (or coach) would snap him out of his funk. Now that he's cleared, I'm glad to see him sent down to Lake Erie, as he needs to get some ice time and a giant boost of confidence. This is probably the point in the piece where I mention (again) that I think Hensick has looked better this year than he's been given credit for. Oh look! It was!

To replace Hensick, Chris Durno has been recalled again. He has 15 points in 14 games with Lake Erie this year, but he's a 4th liner / reserve forward for us.

The Avalanche also recalled defenseman Brian Fahey. You may recall that Fahey is a minor-league vet (he's 28) acquired this summer for Nigel Williams. Williams is tearing up the AHL this year with 1 point. Fahey has 6...with a Svatos-like line of 5 goals, 1 assist and 22 penalty minutes. Fahey has played in 334 AHL games and 104 ECHL game, but has yet to play in his first NHL game. I'm curious to find out if he and Craig Anderson knew each other growing up. They were both born in 1981 in Illinois in towns that are about 7 miles from each other. You have to figure they've crossed paths at some point, right?

Both Kyle Cumiskey and Adam Foote have been ruled out for Friday's Minnesota game (in fact, neither made the trip); I don't know if Fahey will play instead of Tom Preissing, but it wouldn't shock me if it happened.