Nieminen gets word girlfriend is in labor

                    By Terry Frei
                    Denver Post Sports Writer

                    Friday, December 28, 2001 - CHICAGO - Ville Nieminen had just gotten word that his girlfriend,
                    Kaisa, had gone into labor Thursday night in Denver. And after Colorado's 3-1 loss to the Chicago
                    Blackhawks, the Avalanche's Finnish winger said Kaisa's pregnancy had been weighing on his mind the
                    past few weeks.

                    Nieminen has been in Avalanche coach Bob Hartley's doghouse most of the season, often being a healthy
                    scratch. He has only one goal and four assists this season after a rookie season that seemed to stamp
                    him as an emerging force for the Avalanche.

                    It has been part of a strange season for Nieminen. He is on the verge of fatherhood and last weekend
                    was named to the Finnish Olympic team - all while trying to get back into the good graces of Hartley.
                    After being a healthy scratch Wednesday at Dallas, he was back in the lineup against Chicago because of
                    injuries to Shjon Podein, Alex Tanguay and Radim Vrbata.

                    "The message has been pretty clear, but there are no hard feelings," Nieminen said of his relationship
                    with Hartley. "Sometimes an athlete who wants to do too much or gets too confident, when things aren't
                    working out there, there are going to be people upset on both sides. It's not an argument, it's just a
                    talk about the way the game of hockey should be played. We have talked about the way I got up here
                    from the minors, and how I earned the spot and how I played here last year."

                    "I feel like I can be a better player than I was for this team last (season). The success is just not there
                    yet."
 

                    [The same day, in the afternoon, Ville and Kaisa became the lucky parents of a baby boy, Viljami]

                    [4 days later, Ville scored a power play goal vs Nashville. "The last time I scored a goal, there were green leaves
                    on the trees."]