Hejduk’s Arrest Is Revealed

Colorado forward Milan Hejduk was arrested on charges of driving under the influence and speeding on May 10, hours after the Avalanche’s Game 7 victory over the Kings in the Western Conference semifinals, Englewood, Colo., police said Thursday.

Hejduk, the NHL’s leading scorer in the playoffs, was pulled over at about 2:30 a.m. when an officer clocked him driving 70 mph in a 45 mph zone in Englewood, a south Denver suburb, police spokesman Jim Ulrich said.

Hejduk has seven goals and 13 assists for the Avalanche, which opens the Stanley Cup finals at home Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.

Ulrich said the officer smelled alcohol on Hejduk’s breath, asked if he had been drinking, and Hejduk said he had. Hejduk failed a roadside sobriety test and was taken to the police station, where his blood-alcohol content was measured at .056, Ulrich said.

Ulrich said that qualified for a charge of driving while alcohol-impaired rather than the more serious driving under the influence, but officers are allowed to consider factors other than blood alcohol.

He said Englewood officers routinely charge all drivers in alcohol cases with driving under the influence and let the district attorney decide how to prosecute them.

At about the same time Hejduk was pulled over, Avalanche all-star forward Peter Forsberg was taken to a hospital with a ruptured spleen. Although Forsberg skated Wednesday, prompting speculation he could return for the Stanley Cup finals, a quick comeback remains unlikely.

“It would take a miracle to see Peter Forsberg back in the lineup,” Coach Bob Hartley said.

The Philadelphia Flyers acquired minor league center Mike Watt from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Mikhail Chernov. . . . The Detroit Red Wings signed defenseman Fredrik Olausson and re-signed center Igor Larionov.