Things have not gone exactly to plan for the Colorado Avalanche this season. The team fired their head coach Patrick Roy just before the season started, in hopes to improve from last season. Yet even with the coaching change, the Avalanche find themselves at the bottom of the standings, with just 28 points on the season.With their top players struggling and trade rumors swirling the team, things are just a mess for the NHL’s worst team.
Things got a little worse today when the team announced goaltender Semyon Varlamov will undergo season-ending hip surgery.The surgery will repair his groin, which has caused him to miss 12 of the Avalanche’s last 18 games.
From the official website of the Avalance:
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar noted Wednesday that surgery could be an option considered by the goalie and team physicians and trainers.
“We can’t put him in the net if it’s just going to be temporary, short-term [solutions]. So we have to come up with a way to make sure he’s either playing, or he’s doing the right things so he is put in a position to be able to play a lot of games,” he said. “I would say that [surgery] could be an option, yes.”
With Semyon Varlamov done for the season, backup goaltender Calvin Pickard will take over the starting duties. Pickard, 24, has started 21 games for Colorado this season but has struggled, winning only 7 of those games while posting a mediocre 3.01 goals against average.
Pickard has been nothing more than a backup so far in his career, but with rumors going around that Varlamov could be on his way out the door, he has an opportunity to show his team he should be the starter.
The Avalanche will also keep Spencer Martin on their roster to serve as the backup goaltender. Martin has only made two appearances so far this season but has struggled, giving up 8 goals in those two games combined.
