Downie Out for Season, O'Reilly Notes

The Avalanche face the Blue Jackets at home tonight, and they do so after hearing 2 separate pieces of news that will definitely impact the team. The Avs suffered a massive blow on Tuesday night; forward and tough-guy Steve Downie tore his ACL on an akward hit in the Avs 3-1 win over the LA Kings and will miss the rest of the season. Tough, tough break for the Avs just 2 games into this shortened season, and they will need some of their other role players (Mitchell, McLeod, Olver and Kobasew) to make up for the game that Downie brings. The fact is that none of those guys can match the physical side of Downie; he is so good at pissing off opponents and laying the body at the appropriate time, and the bad part is he got injured throwing his own hit. I really like the play of John Mitchell so far, I hope he continues to play well because the Avs need him to step up without Downie.

Onto the 2nd piece of news, and that is unsigned C Ryan O'Reilly; he terminated his contract in the KHL and is coming back to North America. However, he still is unsigned, and at this point in the season the Avs really need him back. The details of their contract negotiations have been shady, and we all have sat back and patiently watched them do nothing. It is ridiculous, of all the Avs players unsigned after last summer I thought no-brainer O'Reilly would be the first to sign. This guy was amazing last year, and he is getting better every game he plays. He is already one of the top defensive forwards in his game, and is coming off a career year where he scored 18 goals and 37 assists to lead the Avs with 55 points. It isn't even the offence that the Avs are missing, it is his defensive qualities that they desperately need. O'Reilly is a complete 200-foot player as they would refer in hockey terms, he isn't the most talented guy on the ice but he will compete about as hard as any player in the league. His work ethic is outstanding, always the first guy on the ice and the last to leave it in practice. It is up to GM Greg Sherman to sign him quickly now that he is officially done in the KHL, however the games keep ticking away of this shortened 48-game season and they need #37 back ASAP.

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News