Derick Brassard would have liked a little warmup. After scoring a goal in his Avalanche debut Monday night — approximately 11 hours after switching locker rooms at the Pepsi Center — the Avs’ new forward from the Florida Panthers revealed he hadn’t skated in the previous three days.
The Panthers didn’t have a morning skate Saturday before an afternoon game against the visiting Los Angeles Kings — a game Brassard was scratched because of his likely trade — and Florida didn’t practice Sunday after arriving in Denver.
Brassard, a pending unrestricted free agent/attractive “rental,” really wanted a morning skate at the Pepsi Center to either prepare for his next game for another team or the Panthers’ game against the Avs if his trade didn’t unfold.