On the eve of training camp Thursday, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy disclosed that his team is already battling injuries. He said fourth-line forward/enforcer Patrick Bordeleau underwent offseason back surgery and will miss approximately three months of the season, and winger Jamie McGinn has a back injury and could miss part of training camp.
Center John Mitchell is experiencing migraines and also could miss time, and minor and undisclosed injuries to wingers Gabe Landeskog, Max Talbot and Ryan O’Reilly and defenseman Jan Hejda could prevent them from participating in the weekend training camp that concludes with Sunday’s Burgundy/White intrasquad scrimmage at Magness Arena.
Except for Bordeleau, Roy said, “We might miss a guy here and there for the start of camp, but they should be in during the camp and be ready for the start of the season.”
Cause for concern? Backup goalie Reto Berra is no longer playing behind Semyon Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Giguere is retired, and Berra is now No. 2 on the depth chart and will be asked to start 15-25 games. But judging from how Berra fared last season, the Avs could be concerned about their decision to acquire the Swiss goalie from the Calgary Flames late last season for a second-round draft pick.
Berra was 9-17-2 with a 2.95 goals-against average and .897 save percentage for a weak Flames team before going 0-1-1, 5.83, .781 for a good Colorado squad. Last season was his first in the NHL.
Roy said Berra, 27, did the same off-season training with goalie coach Francois Allair that Varlamov went through in the summer of 2013.
“It worked really well for Varly last year, and we hope it has the same affect on (Berra),” Roy said.
Berra is under contract through the 2016-17 season, paying him $1.45 million annually.
