Avalanche Loses Fleury Indefinitely

Colorado right wing Theo Fleury, acquired three days ago to bolster the Avalanche’s scoring, suffered a sprained knee in his first game with the team and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Fleury sprained his right knee in the third period of Monday night’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, Avalanche officials said Tuesday. The high-scoring winger’s goal sparked a three-goal rally in the final 13 minutes, but the Oilers held on for a 4-3 victory.

Jean Martineau, the Avalanche’s media director, said he could not predict how many games Fleury might miss, but the injury is not believed to be serious.

Fleury and winger Chris Dingman were sent to Colorado for forward Rene Corbet, defenseman Wade Belak, the right to select a player not on Colorado’s roster and a draft pick next year. Fleury will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Fleury, 30, had spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Flames, winning a Stanley Cup with the team as a rookie in 1989. He became the career scoring leader for the Flames on Friday, with 364 goals and 466 assists for 830 points.