Through the Avalanche’s first five games, veteran center John Mitchell waited — and watched — anxiously.
Since training camp, his attempts to recover from a hip flexor issue were frustratingly unsuccessful, but when the Avalanche was on the road last week, Mitchell skated hard with ex-Colorado defenseman Brett Clark, a team development consultant, and on Sunday went through a full practice with his teammates at Family Sports Center.
Afterwards, both Mitchell and coach Jared Bednar said they expected Mitchell to be in the lineup for Colorado’s next game, against Winnipeg Friday night at the Pepsi Center.
“It was a really annoying and very tedious injury that I had,” Mitchell said.