Avs forward is eager to exhibit stellar form he showed last season

By Jim Benton, RockyMountainNews.com

Forward Ville Nieminen isn't the same player he was last season -- and he knows it. 

Nieminen has struggled this season after playing so well late last season and in the playoffs. He has been in and out of the lineup, up and down in the line combinations and has produced only 17 points in 48 games.

Yet, he will get a chance to redeem himself in the next few games because of injuries to Milan Hejduk and Dan Hinote.

"It's a great opportunity for guys like (Brian) Willsie and Nieminen, guys who have been on the bubble all year, to step up and prove that before the playoffs they want to play on a regular basis," coach Bob Hartley said.

In the Avalanche's 4-1 win against Columbus on Wednesday, Nieminen recorded an assist while playing on the second line with Chris Drury and Steven Reinprecht. "That line worked very well," Hartley said. "Chris, (Reinprecht) and (Nieminen) skated well and drove the net well."

Hartley said he hopes to see more of the solid Nieminen in the Avalanche's final 17 regular-season games.
 

"He has to work his way out of this, and if one guy has the talent to do it, it is (Nieminen), Hartley said.  "We've worked on his conditioning, but sometimes it's all a matter of momentum. Remember last year, when he came to us in the middle of the season (when Adam Deadmarsh was injured), he was an instant factor... He not only gave us a great second half but great playoffs. We saw what he gave us last year, and it's my job to demand nothing less than he gave us last year. Right now he's got to find a way to bring his game to that level."

Nieminen, a 24-year-old from Tampere, Finland, is puzzled about his unproductive season. He scored six of his seven goals in January and appeared to be coming out of his slump. But in his past eight games, he has collected only three assists.

"It's so hard to find an answer, one answer," Nieminen said. "Sometimes you don't have confidence. It's like the snowball thing, and when it started to roll the wrong way it started to melt a little bit and there's not too much left when you hit the bottom."

"I practiced the same last summer as I did before, but I think I was stressed out after the season. I came to camp with high expectations. Maybe that was a mistake. In January I started to find myself. It only lasted a month. Now it's time to get back to normal. It's my turn to play good."

Colorado did not practice Thursday but will return to the ice today to prepare for its home game against Los Angeles on Saturday (1 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7).