Avalanche Report: Laperriere Bird Watching
(from the Rocky Mountain News)
By Rick Sadowski
Rocky Mountain News
November 19, 2008 - Montreal native Ian Laperriere is excited - well, sort of - about his hometown Alouettes advancing to Sunday's Grey Cup game against the Calgary Stampeders to determine the Canadian Football League champion. The game will be played at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
"I hope they win, but I won't lose any sleep over it if they lose," the Avalanche forward said Tuesday. "But it's huge back there. It's a great happening. They love winners back home, like everywhere else. I'll watch, for sure."
Asked what an Alouette is, Laperriere answered, "It's a bird" and broke into the children's song: "Alouette, gentille alouette . . ."
MONSTER STRUGGLE
The Avalanche's American Hockey League affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, is going through some tough times, with seven losses in the past nine games for a 5-8-1 mark.
Defenseman Kyle Cumiskey has been a bright spot, with one goal and five assists in his past four games. Forward Brian Willsie, the Monsters' top scorer now that T.J. Hensick is with the Avalanche, has seven goals and four assists in 14 games.
Former No. 1 draft pick Chris Stewart has four goals, five assists, 19 penalty minutes and a minus-3 plus/minus rating in 14 games. Former Colorado College player Marty Sertich has one goal, one assist and a minus-6 rating in nine games.
ETC.: The Avalanche went 0-for-2 on power plays and is 2-for-33 with the man advantage in a seven-game stretch. . . . The team killed all eight Flames power plays and has thwarted 32 of 35 in the past 10 games. . . . Not counting goals awarded in shootouts, the Avalanche has totaled 14 goals in the past 10 games.
sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com