Daily Cupcakes- February 2nd, 2012

It's being reported, by the Denver Post, that Jean-Sebastien Giguere will get the nod against the Wild.

Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start Thursday night in a key Northwest Division showdown against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center.

Colorado coach Joe Sacco will give Giguere his fifth start in the team's last six games, after 23-year-old Semyon Varlamov took the loss in Tuesday's 3-2 setback at Edmonton, the first game back from the All-Star break. The Avs practiced this afternoon after a long night of travel, returning to Denver around 2:30 a.m.

For those that commented a few weeks back about wanting to hear NHL analysts saying things that weren't so sunny: it happened on TSN. Ray Ferraro thought his mic was off air. Oops.

There are dangers in broadcasting, but perhaps none more so than a live microphone.

In a clip that has already been making the rounds, TSN colour analyst Ray Ferraro is caught speaking, erm, frankly, during Tuesday night’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ferraro pokes fun at Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf for yelling during the game, using what Ferraro describes as his "high-pitched" voice. Later, someone on the air is heard to call Pittsburgh defenceman Paul Martin "terrible."

Good news for an ex-Avalanche player. John-Michael Liles is getting closer to returing to the lineup since being sidelined with a concussion.

Liles and Armstrong have both been sidelined with concussions. Armstrong was knocked from the lineup on Dec. 17, after colliding with Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler in a game. Liles followed his teammate to the infirmary five days later.

"I’ve been saying it all along — it’s a day-to-day process," Liles said Wednesday. "You kind of just have to see how you feel every morning, and with every workout, and what things kind of aggravate it, and what don’t."

Liles signed a four-year contract extension worth US$15.5-million as the team dispersed for the all-star break last week.

"I feel good enough to play," he said. "You’re out for this long, it’s tough to really know what 100% feels like, sometimes. But for me, I feel really good, feel like I’m good enough to get back in the game and, hopefully, help out the team."

A very odd thing happened in a recent KHL game (video included).

The next time you roll your eyes at the antics of Brad Marchand or Alex Burrows, just remember Alexander Radulov.

What he did in a recent KHL game in Russia was either one of the worst things a player has ever done to his coach during a game or some kind of involuntary muscle spasm.

Check out the video. Radulov is sitting on the bench for Ufa Salavat Yulaev. All of a sudden he turns and delivers a blade-slap with his stick on the face of his head coach, a very startled white-haired man identified as Ilari Nackel.