The Colorado Avalanche announced Friday that goaltender Jose Theodore will start in Saturday night’s season opener for the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie Monsters to complete his rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery.
He will return to Colorado on Sunday.
“Jose is in the final stages of his rehabilitation work and both our hockey staff and he agreed that actual game action would be the way to complete this process,” said Avalanche executive vice president and general manager Francois Giguere.
The Lake Erie Monsters will kick off their inaugural season on Saturday against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland after signing a long-term affiliation agreement with the Avalanche.
The new Cleveland franchise was purchased by a group led by Dan Gilbert, owner of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, in May of 2006.
Theodore last played in the AHL in 2000-01, and made his professional debut in Game 4 of the 1995 Calder Cup Finals.
