Brett Clark News

Wojtek Wolski #8 the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his game-winning goal with teammates Milan Hejduk #23, Ryan Wilson #44 and Adam Foote #52 in third period action on October 28, 2009 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

It's the holidays, and because we're talking about a team that was supposed to be horrible, I was pretty generous when grading the productivity of the Avalanche's players.

"They wanted me to elevate my game," he said. John-Michael Liles has always had an easygoing nature.

Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2009-10 NHL season.

On the schedule, this one always looked tough: New Year's Eve in Detroit, the Avalanche playing the second half of back-to-backs against a rested Red Wings team on Disco Night at Joe Louis Arena.

Shows how much I know: of the three guys I speculated about being scratched tonight, I put John Liles' chances at 20 percent, with Brett Clark and 30 and Ryan Wilson at 50.

Game Information Arena: Pepsi Arena Location: Denver, Colorado DAL COL 6:04 0 1 DAL COL 14:04 0 2 DAL COL 7:44 1 2 13:34 1 3 19:02 Chris Stewart Assists: Adam Foote, Brett Clark 1 4 Milan Hejduk and Chris Durno also scored for the Avalanche.

It's the time of year everyone love: trade rumor time. Now that teams are showing whether they're contenders or pretenders, media outlets have begun reporting "rumors" of which players may or may not be traded away .

Niklas Backstrom said he played poorly in his last start. He rarely fails to play well against his next opponent.

Denver Post sports writer Adrian Dater posts his Avs Mailbag on Mondays during the 2009-10 NHL season.

Bill Guerin #13 of the Pittsburgh Penguins reacts after his goal against the Colorado Avalanche on December 3, 2009 at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As a junior player, Dave Barr played on four teams in three years, so he got vast experience at an early age how to handle life being uprooted.

When T.J. Galiardi went down, he thought for sure his ankle was broken again. It wasn't, but the Avalanche still said Galiardi might miss six weeks with a severe sprain.

The Avalanche hit the 20-game mark, or roughly the end of the 2009-10 season's first quarter, on Saturday night.

Avs D Kyle Cumiskey celebrates his 1st pd goal at Chicago on 11-11-09. The Avs lost in a shootout.

Heading into the 2009-10 National Hockey League campaign, a pair of factors seemed to paint a less-than-promising picture for Kyle Cumiskey and the Colorado Avalanche.

Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles didn't return to the game after suffering a shoulder injury late in the first period of what turned out to be Colorado's 4-3 shootout victory over the Blackhawks Friday night.

Whether it was due to the flu bug or not, they failed to generate any quality chances on net and conceded the winner on the first shot of the game.

No team in the NHL has allowed more shots on goal than the Avalanche. Yet no team had more points entering Monday than the Avs, which says it all about the job goalie Craig Anderson has done.

Colorado's Kyle Cumiskey crowds the Calgary crease during the Avalanche's slim 3-2 win.