Avalanche's Milan Hejduk to miss Vancouver Games because of knee surgery

DENVER - Colorado Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk needs knee surgery and will miss the Vancouver Olympics.

Hejduk told The Associated Press on Monday he will not represent the Czech Republic at next month's Games. He'll have arthroscopic surgery Tuesday.

Hejduk was a member of the gold-medal winning team at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. He's competed in the last three Winter Olympics.

He's missed six games this season because of the injury. He watched Monday's skatearound leading up to a game with the Edmonton Oilers.

Hejduk, 33, is fourth on the team in scoring with 30 points in 40 games this season.