Avalanche 5 - Red Wings 4 - Suck It Edition

The Avalanche marched into Joe Louise Arena tonight on the second night of back-to-back games and walked away with a 5-4 shootout win. Don't try and say that didn't sting, Wings fans.

In a back-and-forth game, the Avalanche got timely goals from Ryan O'Reilly and Daniel Winnick, book-ended by David Jones tallies to get this game into a shootout. From there, Peter Budaj locked it down and Brandon Yip drove in the winning goal to spoil the Red Wings season opener.

Long Thoughts
During last night's "recap" I said that if the Avalanche turned the puck over against the Wings the way they did against the Flyers, they'd be walking away with their asses in a bag. You know, after it was handed to them. Turns out they only needed to marginally improve their turnover rate (because the Flyers are clearly a superior team to the Red Wings) to still get the W.

The Avalance are still making small, silly plays that are really hampering the flow of their game. They are still having trouble chipping the puck out of the zone, a lot of passes seem to be getting intercepted and there's just a lot of running around. One thing that really struck me tonight was how little the Wings appeared to be moving while defending. They were just in the right position. On the other hand, the Avalanche were often racing across the ice to get in a lane or cover their man. The coaching staff needs to get them to settle down and do a better job at reading where the puck will go.

It looks like I spoke too soon in believing Joe Sacco wouldn't stray far from his "ride the Andy" strategy in goal. If this was last season, Anderson would have been in net for both back-to-back games. Instead, he put Peter Budaj in who more than held his own against the Red Wings attack. It's a good sign to get Budaj in early and show the team that it's not all about the Anderson this year.

Short Thoughts
J.M. Liles is just 35 points away from 40 on the season.

David Jones is now just 28 goals away from 30 on the season.

Did anybody else pee their pants - just a bit - every time Datsyuk and Zetterberg were on the ice?

Why were both two-goal scorers in this game on the bench during the first round of the shootout?

Why did David Jones not take a new stick before his shootout attempt?

Two games in a row with a short-handed goal against is something that needs to be addressed right away.

How about Daniel Winnik with not only a crucial goal, but a hard-working *and* skilled goal? Just for that goal alone, I'm counting his signing as the best of the offseason. For any team.

Philippe Dupuis won 100% (4-for-4) of his faceoffs tonight.

Ryan O'Reilly blasted off 7 shots tonight. Three missed, three were on net and one was in the net.

Speaking of shots, brace yourself: the Avalanche outshot their opponent 38 to 28 tonight.

Suck it, Wings fans.

Avalanche 4 - Red Wings 3; Game Highlights

That ending was so unexpected and yet so damn heartwarming. It was like a cheesy Hollywood movie but it's one I could get behind. After falling behind 2-0 and being absolutely dominated in the first two periods, the Avalanche came out in the third, tied it up, fell behind again, tied it up one more time and won it in the shootout.

Highlights

Cody Mcleod and Ryan O'Reilly are going to stick on a line for a while with the chemistry they showed tonight. Cody Mac had 2 goals + a fight against Brad May while Ryan O'Reilly had 2 assists including a sweet, sweet feed to Mcleod for the second tying goal.

There is no way O'Reilly is going back to juniors. Good news for Avalanche fans, bad news for Team Canada's junior squad.

TJ Galiardi was aching to make himself the next healthy scratch after a weak performance today. He turned it up a bit in the final two minutes but that's nowhere near good enough. His only saving grace will be that the entire team stunk it up in the first two periods.

Wojtek Wolski was planted on the bench in the 3rd period and only had four shifts in the 2nd. He is on a really short leash with Joe Sacco this year. While I'm all for sending messages, it's tough to send a message to just one player on a night like tonight.

Milan Hejduk still has some sick, sick hands. He was smooth as silk out there today and had some moves that made Detroit defenders look silly.

Craig Anderson made some stellar saves in the third period to keep the team in it and if it wasn't for him, the Avs would have been heading into the third down 10-0.

And finally, Matt Duchene got his first goal of the season. It was so quick that it took a second to register. He flew down what would be his off wing and sniped a wrist shot to the top corner, making Chris Osgood look silly, though not as silly as he looked in the shootout. Hopefully with that monkey off his back, Duchene will open up and start potting more of his opportunities. Lord knows he's had enough of them.

Suck it, Wings.

Avs 3 Stars

1) Cody Mcleod
2) Ryan O'Reilly
3) Matt Duchene

Highlight Video

Poll time

Related Links

NHL.com Game Summary
Paul Stastny - "We're just four lines playing with confidence"

Quincey Cup Snub Brings Out the Sniveling

Kyle Quincey is a little bothered that the Detroit Red Wings voted and said he wouldn't get his name on the '08 Stanley Cup. Red Wings fans are annoyed that Quincey is bothered. Quincey is now a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Perfect.

Wings fans are saying it's a joke that Quincey is making an issue of this and that he's nothing but a "biotch". Talk about a fanbase just aching to have somebody to deride. The Wings do good? Poke fun at other teams and players. The Wings do bad? Poke fun at other teams and players. Talk about a joke.

Quincey said:

"It bothers me a little that I didn't get a ring. That's kind of a gray area, and they decided not to give us one. That's their decision," Quincey said. "It just drives me more and more to have an opportunity to get one with this team."

Yeah, what a whiny little bastard. A sniveling coward. A pussy. Wimp. Biotch.

Of course, they never commented on what Quincey said about his time in Detroit:

"I was very privileged to be there and being able to learn so much from so many legendary players,"

Yeah, what a terrible excuse of a player.

You know what, Wings fans? STFU and cheer on your team. It's what real fans do.

Avalanche @ Red Wings; Game Preview

The first place Colorado Avalanche head to Detroit to take on the 11th place Red Wings tonight. I got joy out of writing that sentence. First place. 11th place. Mmmm...tasty.

Tonight will be the penultimate game of the Avs seven-game road trip which has seen them capture seven of a possible 10 points so far. I think that's far beyond what anybody's expectation of this trip would be so the only thing the Avalanche can do now is color us even more surprised.

Lineup

Chris Stewart and TJ Hensick have been the scratches recently and I don't see a need to inject one of them in the lineup at this point.

John-Michael Liles is still out so Ryan Wilson will draw in again. Wilson looked solid in his debut against the Canadiens on a pairing with Brett Clark.

Kyle Cumiskey slotted up to take Liles spot on the pairing with Foote against Montreal and will likely do so again today as he had his best game of the season on Thursday.

Johan Franzen is out of the Wings lineup for a few months after undergoing knee surgery while Pavel Datsyuk is sitting out this game as well. As much as I enjoy watching Datsyuk play, I'm more than happy to see him in the press box tonight.

Our old pal Brad May will be in the lineup tonight for the Wings and already fans are predicting a David Koci-May square off. Dario is taking it up a notch and hoping for an Adam Foote-Todd Bertuzzi showdown. Hard to argue with that.

Goaltending

Craig Anderson gets his eight straight start and there is absolutely no way you can argue that call. Anderson has been lights out this season and has fans, coaches and players alike marveling at a world without goaltending worries.

Time for the first?

Ryan O'Reilly got his on Thursday. Will Matt Duchene get his tonight? Wouldn't it be poetic for the Avs great white hope to score his first goal against the Wings? We all know it's only a matter of time but could time run a bit quicker, maybe?

At least he's enjoying the travel in the meantime.

Game time

The puck drops at 7:08 ET. This is a can't miss so put away whatever else you had planned and settle down in front of the TV or computer.

Red Wings Sign Brad May

The Detroit Red Wings have signed Brad May. He'll go along nicely with their offseason booby prize of Todd Bertuzzi. In Holland do they still trust?

I don't care that it's "only" $500K, it's still $500K that they could have spent on someone other than Brad friggin' May.

Honestly, what will Brad May bring to this team other than more hatred from Avalanche fans? It's almost like the Wings are accepting all the punditry that has them falling off this year and are doing their best to cede to the predictions.

Or maybe Holland retired unceremoniously and Brian Burke has taken a second job.

Pittsburgh Penguins Win Stanley Cup

I'm a so happy.

Avalanche Take Season Series Against Red Wings, Win 6-5

(AP)

Damn, that felt good!

The Avalanche took down the Winged Wheel by a score of 6-5 in a game that needed 5 shootout rounds to decide the winner.

For those counting, that's 3-0 against the Evil Empire this season. Yep, the team sitting last in the Western Conference was able to take down one of the best teams in the league three out of three times and has officially taken the season series regardless of what goes down on March 4th.

Ain't that just a kick in the pants?

Recap
Ian Laperriere scored just 16 seconds into the first period and Wings and Avs fans alike were shocked. If anyone would score first, you'd think it would be the Wings loaded offense against a 3.00+ GAA goaltender in Andrew Raycroft.

The remainder of the first period was fairly sloppy. Nearly as sloppy as Chris Osgood's puck handling abilities. The Avalanche killed off the first of their three 5-on-3 situations - conspiracy my ass, Wings fans - and headed in to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

The second period opened with the Lappy line and once again, they didn't disappoint. They pushed the puck deep into the Wings zone and then Laperriere got in front of Osgood to help create havoc in front of him, allowing a Ruslan Salei point shot to find the twine.

2-0 and the feelings of "Is this real life?" were starting to kick in.

The question was quickly answered with four penalties, two 5-on-3 sequences and two Red Wings PP goals in the span of 2 1/2 minutes. Tack on a beauty Marian Hossa goal at 8:58 and real life was rearing its ugly head with a 3-2 Wings lead.

Then the third period started and everyone was thinking "It can't happen again." But happen it did. Andreas Lilja took a penalty just nine seconds into the period which ended at the 1:01 mark when Marek Svatos got a stick on a Wojtek Wolski shot to even things up at 3-3.

Marian Hossa put the Wings up 4-3, Ben Guite tied it up. Jiri Hudler put the Wings up 5-4, Milan Hejduk tied it up. Who would have thought the Avs would have the gumption to keep battling back against the Wings?

The Avalanche held off a late onslaught from the Wings to take it to OT. An OT which proved fairly uneventful so it was off to a shootout.

I won't detail all the shooters since it went five rounds, but suffice to say that Wolski is still money and when Leopold scored to end it, I leaped out of my chair with more joy than should be afforded to simply cheering for the winning team in a sporting event.

Tonight, I'm going to revel in the honeymoon phase of this win. Because when I wake up tomorrow, it will be to a bleak, uncertain future.

Boo-ya!

(AP)

Random Thoughts
The Avalanche still get undisciplined when caught for an extended time in their own zone. The wingers leaving their d-men to go "help out" leaves a wide-open cycle game for the opposition.

The Hossa or Franzen question should be answered by now. If it has to be one, it has to be Hossa.

The Wings announcers were bemoaning the "bounces not going their way" early in the first period. I guess it's not just Granato. It's merely a common refrain from the losing team.

But hey, what can you expect from an announcing squad who sound like they're on downers all game long? Here's some gems:

"Probably a hold on Colorado." - Nope, Interference on the Wings.
"It's a 2-2 tie." - Nope, it was 3-2 at that point
"Wings have three games in hand on the Sharks." - Nope, Sharks have three in hand on the Wings.

Please, please, please let me have the Altidudes next game. At least they have energy and factual statements.

The conspiracy theories should be able to be put to bed after Mikael Samuellson jumped on Ben Guite, ground his face into the ice, then popped up scot-free to help create a screen on the 5-4 goal. If that one had stood up to be the winner, I would have been pissed. But I wouldn't have blamed Bettman.

But hey, Ruslan Salei got away with a high stick in the final minutes so...conspiracy back on!

Line of the night
Ian Laperriere, CodyMcCormick and Ben Guite were the line of the night tonight. Granato wisely opened the first two periods with that crew and they rewarded him both times with early goals.

Not content with just scoresheet contributions, they drew a penalty which led to the Avs third goal and were busting their asses all night.

If Giguere wants to trade Lappy, I won't be happy unless a first-rounder comes over to the Avs.

And I would guess Guite didn't appreciate being benched in favor of players like Darcy Tucker and Tyler Arnason. Hopefully he's shown Granato that he should stay in the lineup.

Goaltender of the night
No question here, Andrew Raycroft gets the nod with a 40-save performance. But it's not like Chris Osgood gave him any competition with his own 23-save performance.

I still find Andrew Raycroft overplays a lot of shots but who am I to complain when he gets the job done?

On conspiracies and injuries
You know what, I'll just let the headline speak for itself.

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
Avs beat Red Wings, again

Avalanche @ Red Wings Game Preview

So close.

The Avalanche took it to the Canadiens on Friday but with under five minutes remaining, the Avs did what they do best - give up a goal at the most inopportune moment.

The worst part? I knew it was coming. Literally seconds before the go-ahead goal was scored, I said "Colorado is notorious for giving up a late goal." And sure as hell, they make me look like a genius. So sad but it is the story of the season for this squad.

Odds are...
Today, they take on the Detroit Red Wings at a sold out (?!?!) Joe Louis Arena. What are the odds that the Avalanche can again take down their nemesis? The bookmakers have it at greater than 3-to-1 odds that the Avs will lose. Ouch. It's not often you see odds that high.

But can you blame them? There's obviously no way to know the outcome of a game for certain (that's why it's called gambling) but how can anyone truly believe the Avs will beat the Wings today?

Foote back
The Avs did get a spot of good news recently. Not only will Adam Foote be back in the lineup today but Paul Stastny has been spotted on the ice (in the Notes section). Too little, too late but it will still be nice to see Stastny back in the lineup.

Take it to the bank
There are two things to know for certain if the Avalanche come out ahead today: 1) the season is still over; 2) Red Wings fans will blame Gary Bettman.

Game time
The game is a mid-afternoon game, starting at 5:00pm ET, 3:00pm MT. I'll be getting the Altitude feed though since it's an away game, it won't be in hi-def.

Normally I'm ticked at not getting an HD feed but this time, I'm relieved. Why? Because I watched most of the Columbus-Detroit game Friday on the local feed and do you know who's whinier than Wings fans? Wings announcers.

Related Links
Avalanche-Red Wings Game Notes
Avalanche-Red Wings Game Preview

Zetterberg Gets 12-year, $72M Extension

Unbelievable.

$6M/year for a player of Henrik Zetterberg's calibre is highway robbery on the part of the Wings.

They may yet get Marian Hossa and Johan Franzen in under the cap as well after this hometown discount.

What he said...

As the one drawback to following Kukla's Korner, I'm subjected to the thoughts of Bill Houlihan and his A2Y 19 "get on the stress train" crew.

Contrary to what some people might think, I'm a pretty open-minded guy. I like hearing other sides of debates and will often change my mind once new information comes to light.

So being subject to the disrespect he and his lapdogs spew out to the rest of the league - and most notably to Avalanche fans - is something I willingly accept.

I'd rather dig through their crap to find one or two gems than to ignore the prospect of gold entirely.

But this weekend it was like wading through the septic tank of Elvis in his latter years.

There were 14 All-Star related posts put up by Bill since January 21. And each one contained the same ideas.

Bettman hates the Wings.
The cap is a conspiracy to destroy the Wings dynasty.
Crosby is Bettman's love child
Lindstrom can't stand on his broken elbow.
Datsyuk can't get the sand out of his vagina.
Bettman hates the Wings.

Over and over and over and over and...

When I first heard that Datsyuk and Lidstrom would be unofficially suspended for not playing in the All-Star game, I had to agree with Bill.

I thought the league was saying the two injured Wings were going to be forced to play in a meaningless game and that's just plain stupid.

When it came out that the league simply wanted those two to be part of the All-Star weekend, meet and greet fans and put a smile on to promote the league, I changed my mind.

When it turned out that this wasn't a made up rule and that it was instituted last year after Brodeur no-showed the ASG, it cemented my thoughts.

But I didn't say anything.

I can only bang my head against so many walls each day and I chose not to bang it against that one.

Thankfully, Greg Wyshynski summed it up better than I ever could.

And of course the first response to his post spoke perfectly to the point Greg was making.

Related Links
Confessions of an All-Star game lover

Avalanche Nearly Blow Lead against Detroit, Win 4-3

Due to a stacked UFC 92 card, I've only watched the first period of the game. But curiosity got the best of me and I did check on the final outcome.

After an early 3-0 lead, the Avalanche hung on and skated away with a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings.

As I haven't watched the final 2.3 periods, I won't pontificate too much on why the Avs gave up a a 3-0 lead.

But I will say this. Do you know who whines about terrible ref jobs?

The losers.

Hopefully I'll find the time and energy to catch the rest of the game tomorrow. But if I don't, it still won't change the fact that the Avs beat Detroit. Again.

Avalanche vs Red Wings, Game Preview

The holiday season has come and gone.

The presents are unwrapped. The chocolates have been eaten. The turkey has been stuffed and devoured.

But one thing hasn't changed.

Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny will be absent from the Avalanche lineup for the foreseeable future.

One man's loss is another man's gain
Oh, one more thing has changed.

Tyler Arnason is the new #1 center.

If that doesn't strike fear into the hearts and minds of Avalanche opponents, I don't know what will.

Did I say opponents? Sorry, I meant fans.

I didn't get much for Christmas. I didn't ask for much either. I must have suspected I would need a more important gift.

And now I want to cash it in.

Santa, if you're still around please help Tyler Arnason rise to the occasion and make us all not unproud.

Hensick also slides up
Along with the Arnason promotion, T.J. Hensick has moved up from a fourth-line winger position to become the second-line center.

Based on practice reports, he will center a line with David Jones and Wojtek Wolski.

Svatos and Salei slide back in
Marek Svatos and Ruslan Salei will make their returns tonight.

Svatos really needs to step up and provide some offensive support. It will be tough sledding as he will likely find himself on the third line tonight but he needs to find a way to get it done.

Third line pickle
Cody McCormick sat last game and may sit again while the Avs give Chris Stewart more time to showcase his skills.

If Stewart stays in he would likely play on a line with Ian Laperriere and the returning Marek Svatos which would leave Darcy Tucker on the fourth line with Ben Guite and Cody Mcleod.

If Stewart draws out, Granato would likely renew the McLappy line leaving a Tucker and Svatos to play on a line centered by Guite.

So no matter how you dice it, the third line will be quite the interesting mix.

UPDATE: AD informs us that McCormick is out.

Budaj back in net
Peter Budaj gets the start in goal and will presumably go up against Ty Conklin as Chris Osgood is still recovering from a busted vagina.

Lidstrom possibly out
Nik Lidstrom took a puck to the ankle last night and will be a gametime decision tonight.

The sweats have already started over there.

The Avs will need every advantage they can get tonight so pray to Vishnu that Lidstrom's foot is swollen bigger than [go ahead and finish this one off in your head while I keep things PG-13 ;)]

UPDATE: AD informs us that Nik Lidstrom is out for tonight's game.

Game time
The puck drops at 9:00 ET at the Pepsi Center. Denver natives, get down there and support your team!

Related Links
Avalanche report: Arnason, Hensick take center stage against Red Wings
Avs promote Arnason to first line with Sakic, Stastny out
Arnie the new #1 center
Scouting the Avs

Avalanche Wheel Past Wings, Win 3-2

(outspokinbikes)

Wow. I'll come back and edit in an actual recap later. For now, I'm going to make step outside and make sure the world still exists.

Recap
The Avalanche took advantage of two quick goals in the first five minutes to finally defeat the Red Wings by a score of 3-2.

After 8 straight losses to the Wings, the Avs finally get that monkey off their back. And they did it right in Detroit's kitchen too.

The first goal was the result of a turnover by Johan Franzen which led to a Wojtek Wolski breakaway. And we all know what Wolski can do when he's in alone.

Arnason fed Wolski a super slow pass and Wolski used it to full effect to pull off an abbreviated Forsberg-esque move to put it past Chris Osgood.

The Avs then went on their first powerplay of the game and Paul Stastny made it count. He wheeled in down the left side and rifled a shot over Osgood's glove to make it 2-0 before the ice was even frozen.

The Avs had the obvious early jump but the Wings started picking up as the period drew on.

In the second period, it was all Red Wings.

But Andrew Raycroft was there to match them every step of the way.

Don't adjust your monitors. You read that correctly. Andrew Raycroft played very well tonight.

The third period started off with a penalty shot for the Avalanche. And since the grind line was on the ice at the time, the best option to take the shot was Jordan Leopold. And he did not disappoint.

Leopold went in, looked like he was going to shoot and then pulled it backhand and roofed it on Osgood. 3-1 and the living was easy.

At this point, my Slingbox started malfunctioning. Or my router. Either way, I was in and out of the game.

From what I saw the Avs kept up the pressure and speed, opting not to fall into a defensive shell. Which would have been obliterated by the Wings no doubt.

The Wings had their last push with Osgood out of the net but the Avalanche did not falter and walked away with the 3-2 win, silencing the 12 fans at Joe Louise arena.

Standouts
Scott Hannan played an excellent game tonight. Too often he's been utterly invisible but tonight he was making some excellent defensive plays, especially during the many fate tempting penalty kills for the Avs.

He didn't get credited with any hits but he made some effective rubouts along the boards.

David Jones looks one hundred times more stable on his skates than at the start of the season.

Early in the second Jones drove around a Wings defender, took a solid hip-check, stayed on his feet and nearly banged the puck in past Osgood.

He still isn't scoring at the pace I'd like to see but you can't fault his effort these days.

Andrew Raycroft looked like a different goaltender tonight.

He made some solid positional saves and when he was out of position he made some excellent reflex stops to cover up for it.

Raycroft certainly didn't show enough to unseat Peter Budaj as the #1 keeper but I now have more confidence in his abilities.

The quivering masses yearning to be free
The A2Y crowd will be crowing about the previous string of games where the Red Wings absolutely dominated the Avs - and probably complaining about Bettman fixing the game. But that doesn't matter today because the Avalanche beat the Wings.

I almost deleted that last paragraph because I know the perverse pleasure they get over being the "top dog". But that's ok. Because the Avalanche beat the Wings.

Lines
Smyth-Stastny-Hejduk
Wolski-Arnason-Hensick
Stewart-Laperriere-Jones
Mcleod-Dupuis-McCormick

Clark-Hannan
Salei-Foote
Liles-Leopold

Final Note
How glad is everyone to not hear Johan Franzen referred to as "the Mule" every 10 seconds? I actually don't recall anyone using his nickname. Until now. Whoops.

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
Happy Birthday, Bill!
Avs down Red Wings 3-2

Avalanche @ Red Wings Game Preview

The title says it all, doesn't it?

Well, that and Andrew Raycroft starting in goal.

Yep, to face the ol' winged wheel we're sending in the second stringer. That's some poor timing right there (though I do have a theory).

You know what else is poor timing? Landing the wrong way during volleyball, hearing a loud pop and heading to the ER in shorts in -40 weather.

Not only is it a recipe for a severely sprained ankle - and cold to boot - but combined with the distinct possibility of a rough loss tonight, it's a recipe for self-pity.

So what do you think, Avs? Can you keep me off the self-pity bandwagon?

You didn't bend to my anger against the Hawks so maybe the compassion approach will work.

If not, I'm all out of ideas.

Game time
The game starts at 7:00 ET, 5:00 MT.

Related Links
Avs-Wings: Foregone conclusion
Why the Red Wings make me sad

Red Wings Sign Hossa

(Marian Hossa in his former job as a bus boy)

The Detroit Red Wings have won the Marian Hossa sweepstakes signing the winger to a one-year contract worth $7.4M. So much for not paying anyone more than Nik Lidstrom, eh? I think that line of reasoning is a bit specious anyways. EDIT: Can't function this morning apparently. Lidstrom is getting 7.45 but I thought he was getting 7.25.

I actually had a brief email back and forth with a TSN personality last night in a similar vein. He - or she - said that Huet making more money than Martin Brodeur was ludicrous; as if that's the main reason that contract is insane. In terms of capabilities, yes it's crazy. But in terms of a market place, it's not a true comparison. Brodeur signed an extension 2 1/2 years ago and a lot has changed in the NHL market since then. That's why long-term contracts, while more or less guaranteeing job security, won't always guarantee that you get paid what you're worth based on the market.

Anyways, I'm getting a bit off track so back to Hossa signing with the Red Wings. Yesterday, the Wings picked up Ty Conklin for $750,000 to backup Chris Osgood. Most people expected Conklin to sign for at least $1M based on his run with the Penguins. Instead, he was cajoled onto the Cup winning team for a bargain price. Well done Detroit.

Then Marian Hossa, who I'm sure had about 8 kajillion different offers to look over yesterday, decides to head to the Cup winning team as well. If you're the kind of guy who wants to chase after a Stanley Cup, it makes sense for both sides. The Wings need to sign Zetterberg next year and he won't be cheap. This does nothing to change their cap hit for next year. For Hossa, he goes to a team that is virtually unchanged from the one that steamrolled their way to the Championship this spring.

And I guess if the Wings don't win the Cup next year - and God willing they won't - Hossa will bolt to the next team he feels is a contender.

Top 10 Reasons to Hate the Detroit Red Wings

In case anyone is bored on a Sunday and is dreading seeing the Wings hoist the Cup over their heads in a few days - sorry Pens fan - here's a Top 10 list for you from Simply Drew:
Top 10 Reasons to Hate the Detroit Red Wings.

But don't worry Wings fans, Uncle Joey still loves you.

Avalanche to Poach Coach from Red Wings?

Could the Avalanche be trying to poach from the enemy? Terry Frei thinks it's a possibility and that Todd McLellan, the Red Wings assistant coach, could be a solid fit for the vacant head coaching position for the Avalanche.

McLellan was snagged by Frei after the Wings morning skate Monday and asked if he would be interested in the Avalanche head coaching position. The response? "I would be very interested."

And the match made in heaven didn't stop there as he followed up with these romantic words: "So I'd like to coach a high-tempo, fast, puck-possession type team."

Now I'm very interested. McLellan is in charge of the Wings forwards including their powerplay so how could you not be intrigued?

Read the whole piece from Frei as it really delved deep into McLellan's past including a stint in the WHL where he set foot on the ice against our very own Joe Sakic.

EDIT: I'd love to hear from the folks who feel Tony Granato would be the best option. I'm not a big fan of Granato stepping into the head coach role - heck, he's struggled at times as an assistant - but I'm open to hearing why I might be wrong.


Related Links
Wings assistant coach could be the Avalanche's next coach
The men behind Mike Babcock

Avalanche Swept by Red Wings

(Credit)

The game wasn't even half over and I was already writing a "recap" post. The Wings torched the Avalanche 8-2 to end Colorado's season. But not Joe Sakic's career. He will be back next season.

Coaching
How is it possible that up to this point, TJ Hensick and David Jones had the least ice-time of the Avalanche forwards? Just ridiculous. Those two were the only players left that had any jump to their step and their asses are planted on the bench. Inexcusable.

Goaltending
Theodore made big saves against the Wild. He did not make any saves against the Wings. Blame the defence as much as you want but Theodore was not good enough this series.

2-on-1's are tough but it looked like Theodore was flowing through mud on the two that beat him today. And that first goal? There's the backbreaking goal I was talking about the other day. It just came one day later than I thought it would.

Defense
Ill-advised pinches, lazy turnovers, non-existent outlet passes. The quality of play was just not there from these guys.

Yes, the Wings are a talented, tenacious team but the defence should have been able to do better than this.

Octopuses
Who was the idiot that brought the octopus in and tossed it on the ice when the Wings were up 6-1? Not only are you an idiot for carrying an octopus around with you, but you're an idiot for not having a modicum of decency.

I would never flaunt a blowout in another teams building, not even Joe Louis.

Retirements
This is it for Forsberg. No way he comes back to play next year when his body couldn't even hold out for a dozen games this season. It's unfortunate but you have to admire the man's competitiveness in trying to stage a comeback.

As for Sakic, as I said above, I don't think this is it for him. He still has a season left in the tank.

Offseason game plan
A bit early to discuss that, at least for me. I have thoughts on what needs to change but I'll wait until the loss stings a bit less.

Up next?
For me, the World Championships kick off tomorrow. If the Avs were still in, it would mean double-duty in terms of fandom. As it stands, I'll be able to devote my entire heavy heart to hoping for a World Championship Gold on home ice.

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary

Playoff Gameday: Avalanche vs Red Wings - Game 4

Could this be it for the Avalanche team and fans this season? Will tonight's game end in the agony of a sweep at the hands of the team's "bitter rivals", the Detroit Red Wings?

I will boldy say "No!"

I was off most of the afternoon giving a talk at the U of S to get high school students interested in the tech world - and believe me there's lots to be interested in - which left me a bit behind on my actual work.

So I don't think I'll be saying much other than:
Stastny - out
Smyth - out
Wolski - out
Forsberg - out
Svatos - out
Clark - out

Is there anyone left to suit up?

And finally, I will not allow myself to believe this is Joe Sakic's final year.

So this isn't much in terms of a preview from me. Fortunately the Avalanche fan base are blessed with a great group of bloggers who have put out some amazing posts today which should keep you reading until game time. And not only amazing posts, but some pretty clever titles.

So I'll encourage everyone to check out their words and make sure to clear a 3-hour timeslot from 9:30 ET to 12:30 EDT. The game doesn't start until 10:00 EDT but use the first 30 minutes to align the beer and chips on the coffee table, put the kids to bed (if applicable) and settle into a nice ass-groove in your favorite chair/couch.

From that point on, cheer like hell and help will this team to a victory tonight. Because nothing hurts worse than getting swept.

Related Links
ColoradoAvalanche.com Preview
TSN Preview
19 Reasons to watch tonight
The wheels on the bus fall down and down
O Captain! My Captain
On effort
Peter Forsberg out for Game 4'
Theodore's goal: Playing for pride
MHH Gameday Open Thread
On the Wings Preview

Red Wings Take 3-0 Series Lead Against Avalanche

(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Well that's the season folks. The only question remaining is whether the Avalanche will go out with a bang or a whimper.

For now, I'm going to go whimper into my pillow and will recap in the morning.

UPDATE: I whimpered too long and woke up late. So here's a few quick notes and hopefully I'll find time for a recap at lunch.

UPDATE 2: It looks like I won't get time today to do a full recap so following the notes below, I've put up my raw game notes, swearing and all.

Edited Notes
- Hlinka was out, Forsberg was in
- Forsberg was almost out again after the first period but gutted it out
- caught the first 10 minutes on RDS...my French is non-existent these days
- once Dallas was over, I was treated to ol' Pierre McGuire
- Foote and Sauer were broken up with Foote-Leo and Salei-Sauer
- Sauer doesn't shift from backwards to forward quickly enough and that's why he tends to get victimized by forwards on the outside
- Hensick drew in and played a whale of a game
- David Jones was on fire but still couldn't finish
- Chelios had a brutal game
- Theodore is now 2-16 with 14 straight losses in the second round
- On Datsyuk's 2nd goal, he didn't deflect it or get a rebound...he actually knocked the puck out of the air before it got to Theodore and put it in

Raw Notes
forsberg, sakic, jones
hejduk, stastny, brunette
mcleod arnason hensick
mccormick, guite, laperriere

Hannan, Liles
foote, leopold
salei, sauer

Watching in French

Switch up at D with Foote and sauer broken up
Hensick draws in

Wings fly in fast!

Lappy crunches someone

Hensick gets one!
pnealty was coming, arnason hangs, hensick fires and mcleod tipes it in!

this is how I wanted them to come out!
osgood looking a bit shaky
tossing rebounds, not gobbling up close pucks
mccormick tossing his body around

detroit gets first powerplay
sauer and foote together for kill

oh joy, it's pierre
"all due respect to dallas, all due respect to pittsburgh, all due respect ot montreal" - STFU (1st Det goal)

datsyuk ties it on a nice play

Franzen gets em up by wide open behind Leopold

forsberg gone from bench midway through

2nd
Forsberg back
Stastny not coming back

Kronvall still hates Jones

Chelios getting picked apart

Sauer doesn't turn from back to front fast enough - hesitates like he's thinking about whether he should do it or not - or is just clumsy

Hensick playing great! Energizes crowd single-handedly

Datsyuk scores
I don't think Theodore ever stopped it. I think Datsyuk did and potted it.

McCarty penalty for holding - free hand
Bruno! Great pass from Hej and Liles blasts it to front and Bruno with awesome tip-in

energy line has good shift after goal
hensick lines comes out after
detroit ices it
forsberg, hejduk, sakic out right away with no word from Q
Forsberg tries his spin shot but it's blocked
Forsberg takes a penalty! Fuck! Just reckless. double-minor. pussy dive by Samuelson
Beauty PP goal

Forsberg sakic hejduk together since start

That is a brutal idiocy for calling Forsberg on goaltender interference
Even-up call on Zetterberg after

too many men on Colorado - yeesh
Wings then had too many but no call

Lappy with a break but hesitates too long

penalties on Forsberg - no good in the box!

3rd
Quenneville 3-10 all-time vs Red Wings
Theo 2-15, 13 straight losses in 2nd round

Osgood settling in now

Detroit too many m en
nothing for Avs PP
Detroit too many again
Need to capitalize on this mistake!
Bruno in front off Sakic, step and shot!

Forsberg demolishes Kronvall
Foote crunches Zetterberg out of crease

Definite hi-stick on Wings on Leopold
Franzen hauls Forsberg down but no penalty - didn't touch puck!

Hudler clangs iron

Theo out but can't gain zone

And...that's the season

Related Links
NHL.com Event Summary
Detroit exposes Avs fatal flaw
Where'd I put that shaving kit
Brutal officiating
On the Wings Recap
CBC Blog Recap