The up-and-down season of the Colorado Avalanche hit a couple more major bumps yesterday. Tomas Fleischmann, a promising young winger obtained last November via trade, will miss the rest of the season after doctors discovered blood clots in each of his lungs. “The nature of his condition requires that he be on blood thinners for several months, and he will be unable to play hockey,” says team doctor David Mellman (via the Denver Post). Avalanche general manager Greg Sherman says the condition isn’t life threatening, but that Fleischmann, 26, will definitely miss the rest of the year.

Before last night’s game, Fleischmann kept complaining of shortness of breath, and the team eventually sent him to see the doctor, who made the diagnosis. Fleischmann also missed the first 11 games of the 2009-10 season, after a blood clot in his leg was discovered during training camp. The Avs could have used Fleischmann’s scoring help last night at the Pepsi Center, where they fell 5-1 to the Nashville Predators.

Avs goalie Craig Anderson gave up two goals in the first period and three in the third, notes the Denver Daily News, making it one of his worst games of the year. But it wasn’t all Anderson’s fault. The Avs couldn’t get much by Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who stopped 32 shots on the night. Colorado was only down two goals heading into the third period, but the Predators tacked on three quick points to put the game out of reach (via the Associated Press recap). The Avs had been on a two-game winning streak, but the loss leaves them with 54 points on the year, 12 behind the division-leading Vancouver Canucks.