Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post: The Colorado Avalanche continue to roll on, but there are several players that aren’t living up to expectations. “The Avs are getting next to nothing from Darcy Tucker, Marek Svatos, Ruslan Salei and Liles, whose combined salaries exceed $12 million”…. “John-Michael Liles produced an assist on a goal against the Islanders, but when I asked Sacco to evaluate the highly-paid defenseman’s performance, it’s seems to be no secret that the Avs would like to trade Liles to Mystery, Alaska, for a bag of pucks.”
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: After an impressive run at the World Juniors, earning the top defenceman of the tournament, Alex Pietrangelo earned himself a ticket back the OHL. Blues management felt that rather than play spot duty or be a healthy scratch, playing big minutes with Niagara was better for him.
Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Minnesota Wild defencemen Brent Burns has been skating for the last 2 weeks. He is still awaiting medical clearance for his concussion, but there is hope that he is able to return soon.
