It’s a big day for all the Captain Jacks in the world. Jack Eichel will make his long anticipated Vegas debut. The nagging neck problem that seem to be caused from just being in Buffalo is now fixed. Back in November, the estimated time table for return was about three months and here we are in February. Jack was wearing the red non-contact jersey last week, but on Monday was cleared for contact. The artificial disk replacement surgery was a success, take that Buffalo!
To all my loyal fans: I apologize for taking a hiatus from writing about your Vegas Golden Knights. The Avalanche come to The Strip for Jack’s big day. There will be no Panda in net as he continues to go through further evaluation due to an upper body injury. We will have to wait for this duo to strike again and hopefully it won’t be too long.
How might you ask is Vegas able to activate Jack while staying under the cap? We thought the answer was Max Pacioretty but Jack Eichel will join the winger on the top line. Instead of Patches pulling a Kucherov, it ends up being a case for Mark Stone. This next sentence goes out to fantasy hockey hater Brownie… According to my Yahoo fantasy hockey app, Stone has been to six specialists across the country due to a back issue that has “bothered him” since last years postseason. Mark Stone takes Eichel’s spot on IR but expect Stone to be back come playoff time.
The Golden Knights recall Logan Thompson on Monday from the AHL. Will we see Thompson start against the Avalanche or will Vegas go with Laurent Brossoit who has a 9-3-2 record with a 2.66 against and .905%? This will be a back to back for Colorado after losing at home last night to Dallas. I’m expecting lots of goals tonight. Will Jack play his best hand and get the hat trick or could we see a sock trick? I want one of these t-shirts… enjoy tonight’s show on TNT!
The Morning Skate 