Last year it was tough to be a member of the Colorado Avalanche and it wasn’t any easier to be a fan.  As many of you know the Avs finished 15^th in the West and to make things worse they were ten points behind the closest team (That is like being 5 games back if you are still in Baseball mode).  The off season didn’t, in my opinion, offer much hope for this year. While they did acquire some talent in Matt Duchene, they lost a great leader who possessed a lot of talent with the retirement of Joe Sakic.  Their goaltending last year was generally horrible and the acquisition of a largely untested goalie was too much of an unknown to offer much relief for next season’s doubts.

Currently the Avs are 4-1-1 and have provided some great entertainment.  Perhaps my preseason doubts were unfounded?

How quickly things can change.

After watching the first few games I have a renewed sense of optimism for the coming year. The team looks good overall and as long they can keep up the hard work I think we will be in for a great season (They can roll over and play dead on January 31^st however).  Specifically, I wanted to point out a couple of the good things I have seen over the past few games. First, Matt Duchene is really good. He still makes some mistakes that drive me crazy as a coach, but as long as the more experienced players stay committed to offering this young player some pointers he will provide some great offense.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I dislike Cody McLeod. Well, I have to give him some credit. I was shocked to see how hard he was working on the ice. I never thought he was an unskilled player; rather I was of the opinion he did not understand the game and wasn’t very interested in working hard. He proved me wrong on all fronts.  He has been skating hard, well positioned and most importantly he has not lost his cool and thus managed to avoid stupid penalties. So Cody, keep up the good work. The Avs can really benefit from it.  Last, I have renewed hope in the goaltending. Chris Anderson is no doubt a scary goalie for a fan. He looks unfocused and out of control. I call this the Dominik Hašek school of “flop around in the crease like a dying fish out of water” goaltending.  You are going to have occasions when this style fails and he is so out of position a goal is inevitable. However, as a former defense man and defensive coach you can adapt to this style of play. As long as the defensemen are aware this is how their goalie will play they can mitigate some of the negative consequences with a modification in their style of play. I think a look at the number of shots he has faced the season vs. the goals he has allowed shows the team is making it work.

Any Avs fan should be excited. They are off to a great start and there are plenty of reasons to keep watching the balance of the season.

Beer?  Check.  Pizza?  Check.  Altitude?  Check.  Nachos?  Check.  Tissues?  Check (it was Joe Sakic’s

Who the heck is this kid?

retirement, after all).  DirecTV?  Check.

Tonight, my family and I sat down to watch what was possibly the biggest night in the Avalanche’s season — opening night with our brand new roster and the retirement of Joe Sakic‘s famous #19.  We had everything together for a fantastic family night in and the Joe Sakic Night party.  We were ready in case Pierre Lacroix made us cry (again) and were ready to play our Avalanche drinking game for the first regular season game of the 09-10 season.  But, after an hour and a half of Joe Sakic festivities, something bad happened.

The Miss Colorado pageant came on.  And didn’t go away.

Like many Coloradans, my family and I have DirecTV.  You know, satellite television.  High-def, plasma, the whole nine yards.  We thought we were totally 100% set for the game.  We have NHL Center Ice.  I double (and triple) checked the game listings in my friendly Denver Post as well as the official Avalanche website.  Joe Sakic retirement ceremony at 6:30pm on Altitude, Avalanche vs. San Jose 8pm on Versus.

But once the retirement ceremony ended and the beauty queens were STILL wrecking havoc on my NHL season opener, I started to freak.  There was no John-Michael Liles.  No Craig Anderson.  And, perhaps worst of all, there was no Matt Duchene.   There was no hockey.  For when we finally turned to Versus on our DirecTV network, we found this message:

Over the weekend The Avs Hockey Podcast posted a link (via their Facebook page) to an article from The Hockey News titled “THN.com Top 10: Joe Sakic numbers”.  THN.com did a good job on finding ten numbers that could summarize the characteristics that made Sakic such an important player in the NHL and for Colorado.  My personal favorite was number 10.  When I was still coaching youth hockey I used Sakic as the example for who my players should aspire to be.  This is just another reminder that while we all in Colorado will miss him the league, as a whole, will be losing a player of great influence.

Ten years ago, the Denver Broncos and Colorado Avalanche were each at the pinnacle of their respective organizations.  The Broncos were the team to beat in the NFL after winning back to back Super Bowl Championships.  The Colorado Avalanche set an NHL record with nine consecutive division titles, in route to winning two Stanley Cups.

Ten years later, fans, journalists, and members of each organization are suffering from the worst condition in sports: they are all living in the past.

Comparing a current athlete to former athlete is the second laziest form of journalism (second to Charles Barkley’s NBA “expertise” on TNT), unless some creativity goes into it.  Take for example, in today’s Denver Post, Lindsay H. Jones compares 1st round draft pick, Knowshon Moreno to Terrell Davis.  In a lethargic article written about Moreno winning a touchdown celebration for NFL rookies, Jones couldn’t resist from drawing the obvious link between the two, that they both played at the University of Georgia, and tying it to the fact that T.D. was notorious for his Mile High Salute touchdown celebration.  —I’m glad that the Denver Post is paying Jones’ to work around the clock to dig up some hard hitting facts and information on the Denver Broncos.  I would have been more impressed if an article was written about the seven degrees of separation between Moreno and Kevin Bacon (Moreno won an autographed jersey of Michael Jordan, who starred in Hanes commercials with Mr. Bacon, himself…and that’s only three degrees). —Not only is it unfair for Moreno to draw comparisons to Davis, it is disrespectful to the greatest running back in Broncos history to compare him to a player that has yet to take a snap in the NFL.

Fans are the first to compare a young player to one of their favorites from the past.  Take for example, John Elway.  No one will argue that Elway is the best football player and biggest sports figure in Colorado sports history.  No one in Denver will ever forget his nine Pro Bowls, two Vince Lombardi Trophies, and Super Bowl MVP award.  But its time to move on.  He took his last snap over 10 years ago.  Must we, as fans, continue to compare every quarterback that suits up in the orange and blue to the great Elway?  Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, and Jay Cutler all drew comparisons, and criticisms with Elway.  I’m sure Kyle Orton will draw similar criticisms.  When Broncos fans stop using Elway as the standard for quarterback play, it will be a step in the right direction in moving out of the 90s.

Fans and journalists are not the only ones living in a world of nostalgia.  Earlier in the week, the Denver Post reported that former goalie Patrick Roy was offered the head coaching job for the Colorado Avalanche.  Columnist Mark Kiszla responded in a column, advising Roy not to take the position.  This is the first, and will probably be the last time that I agree with Kiszla.  Since Pierre Lacroix stepped out of the General Manager role with the Avalanche, the organization has made little improvements or adjustments to the post-lockout, new salary cap era of the NHL.  Take, for example, bringing Adam Foote, and Peter Forsberg back to Denver two years ago.  While I was excited at the time, bringing back an older Foote, and oft-injured Forsberg at the end of their careers was a move that did not help the Avs long term.  Bringing Roy back to coach the Avs would have a similar effect.  They may sell a few more season tickets, but the team is just not as talented as it was in its glory days.  The NHL has changed a lot since the Avs were winning division titles.  In order to reestablish themselves as a legitimate threat in the league, they need to pay attention to the business model of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Redwings.  They need to develop talent from within, instead of overpaying for players past their prime.  They need to focus attention to the future, instead of trying to resurect the Avs teams of ten years ago.  As much as it pains me to say, Coach Patrick Roy is not the answer for the Colorado Avalanche.

Picking 4th will be the Atlanta Thrashers and 5th will be the LA Kings.

John Tavares of the OHL is widely regarded to be the top pick this year.  In the mock drafts held earlier this season, the Avs hypothetically picked center Evandr Kane as their first pick, third overall.

The result’s of today’s lottey will be announced on live television tonight at  6pm Mountain Time on Versus.  If you don’t get Versus, you can also watch the live stream at NHL.com.  And of course, I’ll be back tonight with the results.

Breaking news Avs fans, Francois Giguere just got canned.  Avs President Pierre Lacroix made the following statement to the press earlier:

“The results of this season are unacceptable. We feel a new direction is needed which re-emphasizes those standards of excellence our fans have grown accustomed to since 1995. We will work diligently towards reclaiming our identity that made our brand so special and unique.

“We are too proud of what we have accomplished in this market to ignore where we are and what happened in just a very short period of time. Ownership and the dedicated Avalanche fans throughout the region deserve better results.

“The immediate future of this franchise is my primary concern so it was important to act now and start the process of restoring this franchise to where it belongs.”

Lacroix will be taking over GM duties until someone new is hired.

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!  The Avs staff will not be making any more announcements until some decisions have been made, but I couldn’t be happier with this outcome.  I agree with Monsieur Lacroix: the results of this season were unacceptable and we need to start rebuilding from the top.

Eleven games last night in the NHL, and most teams have now played 81.  The season is ending for some… but not for all.  Read on to see who isn’t polishing their golf clubs yet.

Nashville 4, Detroit 3 SO: Of course we all know Detroit is in, and Nashville isn’t quitting yet.  The Preds are now tied for 8th place with St. Louis with one game remaining for Tennessee and two left for the Blues.  For things to work out for Jason Arnott and the Preds, they will have to win their last game against the struggling Wild.  The game for those who didn’t catch it was actually pretty fantastic.  J.P. Dumont scored with one minute remaining in the 3rd to force overtime and Arnott finally got the puck past Chris Osgood during the 4th round of the shootout.  I love seeing Detroit lose.

Washington 4, Tampa Bay 2: Jose Theodore was back and just in time to have the honor of playing his 500th NHL game.  Alex Ovechkin was pointless in his third straight game and the rest of the Caps seemed pretty cautions as well as they beat down Tampa Bay – who just can’t seem to catch a break.

Pittsburgh 6, NY Islanders 1: Please don’t make me recap this game. I am starting to hate the Islanders.

New Jersey 3, Ottawa 2: Martin Brodeur played much better this game and was named the 2nd star of the game.  With this win, the Devils clinched the Atlantic Division title for the third time in four years.

Florida 3, Atlanta 2: It took quite a bit of math and scrolling through multiple sheets of standings for me to figure out that the Panthers now eliminated from the playoffs.  But if you decided to read the recap on NHL.com you would have read it in the first sentence.  But either way it’s the same — the Panthers are officially out of the race despite winning their game tonight.  Montreal and the NY Rangers both hold the tiebreakers over Florida, Montreal having won the series against Florida during the regular season and NY having more wins.  Kind of sad after how hard they worked, but if they can’t win it they can’t win it.

Buffalo 5, Carolina 1: More playoff hopes dashed.  Buffalo is officially out, despite Ryan Miller having one hell of a game.  Buffalo knew they had to win tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive and played like it.  But it was once again NY who polished things off for the Sabres.

NY Rangers 2, Philadelphia 1: Hands down, best game of the night.  With one goal, Ryan Callahan secured his team’s postseason dreams and shattered those of Florida and Buffalo.  Henrik Lundqvist had one of the best games of his season, turning aside 37 shots and only letting in a power play goal from Danny Briere.  I am liking the Rangers more and more each time I see them play… with the standings the way they are tonight they would face the Caps and that would be one hell of a season.  I’d love to see what Sean Avery could do with A.O.

Boston 5, Montreal 4 SO: What a great game to watch as there is a great chance they will meet again in the first round.  By forcing overtime and earning a point the Montreal Canadiens clinched a playoff spot.  The eastern conference is now closed for business.

Dallas 3, Colorado 2 SO: Is there anything more depressing than a shootout during the 81st game of the season between two teams not going to the playoffs?  Of course the twist of the knife is that one of the teams — make that the losing team — is the Avs. TJ Hensick was the only one to miss a shootout attempt after one of my favorites, John-Michael Liles, forced overtime.  Last game for the Avs is Sunday against St. Louis, which is a must-win for the Blues.

Vancouver 1, Los Angeles 0: Roberto Luongo earned the 8th shutout of the season, but he only had to stop 20 shots.  I don’t know if it was defense on the part of the Canucks or if the Kings just didn’t feel like playing — but they didn’t even get as many shots during the game as Calgary did in the first period against the Canucks on Tuesday night.  Remember when the Kings were actually looking pretty good in the beginning of the season?  The Northwest Division Title is still up for grabs.  Vancouver could win it by winning their last game and Calgary losing both of their last two which are both against Edmonton.  I think the Flames will overtake the Canucks.

Phoenix 4, San Jose 1: If I didn’t know any better while watching that game, I’d say that the Sharks were playing for a playoff spot — not competing for the President’s Trophy.  The Sharks can’t be overtaken in the West, but they can be beaten in the East for the trophy if Boston wins their last two and the Sharks tank their last one (again).  Young goalie Al Montoya had a fantastic game and ruined the Sharks’ last game in their own tank until the first round.  Too bad Phoenix wasn’t playing like this all season… or was it just a lucky game?  San Jose’s shootout against the Avs makes me think something has to change in the Shark’s locker room.

Well these recaps seem to be getting shorter as the season ends.  There are still spots to be had in the West, and with St. Louis, Nashville and and now Anaheim all fighting for them there are still plenty of exciting games left.

**Avs Update: Joe Sakic is done for the season. His injury has gotten the best of him and he won’t be returning this weekend.  It’s quite possible that he’s going to announce his retirement after the Cup finals… Wow what a recap that will be.  I’m not going to speculate at all on what will happen because anything is possible.

See you tomorrow hockey fans!

Last night, with seven playoff spots left still up for grabs, 26 different teams fought pretty damn hard to move in, move up or move closer to a chance for Tavares.  Here is a recap of what went down in the most important games last night.

NY Rangers 3, Montreal 1: Montreal could have locked up a playoff spot with a win at The Garden.  The Rangers didn’t yet clinch a playoff berth, but instead earned two extremely important points over the Canadiens. The win was crucial for the Rangers, who are now two points ahead of Florida and has the lead in wins if there were to be a tie.  Was it just me or did Carey Price play like he was extremely nervous?  The Montreal goalie (who was the topic of my first ever TAS article), after letting in a horrible 2nd goal that shouldn’t have been a goal at all, wasn’t up to his normal par.  Price wasn’t covering the puck when he should have been and seemed to not be paying attention to where the puck was going to be — only looking at where it was that moment.  Not to discredit the Rangers’ effort… after some speculation on exactly how great Chris Drury is Monday on TAS,  it looks like Drury is showing up to the Rangers games after all.  Drury had two goals and six shots on goal, truly living up to the C on his sweater.

Toronto 4, NJ 1:  This game didn’t matter much for Toronto or NJ.  The Devils had already cliched a playoff spot and the Leafs — although not giving up on a playoff run — were an extremely long shot. Martin Brodeur played another horrible game, letting in 4 goals, while the offense for NJ didn’t make much of an effort. Jamie Langenbrunner had the only goal — a power play goal in the 2nd period.  Toronto picked up two ill-timed points to bring them to 79 and keep them out of the playoff run.  The only news here is that NJ did not yet clinch the Atlantic Division title.  NJ could be overtaken for the title if Philly wins their last three and the Devils lose their last two.  It’s all going to depend on Brodeur and if he can play at the level he was playing less than a month ago.

Philadelphia 2, Florida 1: Philly clinched a playoff spot tonight with their win over the Panthers. Martin Biron played incredibly solid for the Flyers, stopping a total of 30 shots on goal.  No more worries for Philly — at least not until the first round starts.  Florida, however, couldn’t be further from the safe feeling in the Flyers’ locker room.  With 89 points and sitting 9th, they could easily still make the playoffs.  They would have to win their next two and the Rangers would have to lose their last two.   I don’t see it happening… but this is the time of the year when anything can happen.  Right Vancouver?

Pittsburgh 6, Tampa Bay 4: Ahhh, Tampa Bay.  Gotta love em, they’re going down swinging.    Sitting [un]-comfortably in 14th in the East with 66 points, the Lightening racked up over 30 penalty minutes — including two fighting majors and a misconduct to David Koci — trying to beat down the Pens.  Honestly, I’m surprised TB got as many goals as they did, mostly thanks to Paul Szczechura and Jeff Halpern. The Lightening came alive towards the end of the 3rd period, causing me to watch the last 3 minutes standing up and wondering if I would have to re-type this paragraph, which I did end up having to do.  The Pens locked up a playoff spot and are still sitting pretty in 5th, and Jordan Staal got his 23rd goal of the season — an empty-netter.

Ottawa 3, Boston 2: So not too much happened here, except that Boston fell behind in the chase for the President’s Trophy.  It will probably be going to San Jose, which is fine with me, as long as it doesn’t go to Detroit (it won’t).  Ottawa won’t be making the playoffs but earned two points anyway to stay in 11th.

Carolina 9, NY Islanders 0: Come on Isles… we all know you need Tavares, but was letting in nine goals really necessary?  Tank… Carolina is already in the playoffs and this wasn’t much of a fortune-teller game. Eric Staal got his 4th a hat trick of the season.  Big whoop.

Washington 4, Atlanta 2: Again not a huge game but here it is nonetheless.  The Caps thought they would gloat so much that they didn’t even bother starting Jose Theodore, instead Simeon Varlamov stopped 29 shots. Alex Ovechkin had an assist.  Atlanta stays out of the playoff picture — and will.

Chicago 4, Nashville 2: Chicago locked up a playoff spot a while ago, but Nashville needed this win more than any this season so far.  This loss switched the places of St. Louis and Nashville, now with St. Louis in and Nashville out (before counting the fact that St. Louis won last night).  The only thing the Preds can hope for is for the Blues to bomb their last two games and for them to win… but I am still going to stick with my St. Louis pick for the last place in 8th.

Minnesota 3, Dallas 1: Minnesota is still hoping for a playoff spot, and it’s not totally out of the question yet.  At least not mathematically.  The Wild earned a much needed two points tonight against the Stars to get up to 85 points, now only one point behind 8th spot.  But with St. Louis and Nashville fighting harder than ever for the last spot in the West, things don’t look great for Minnesota.  The Wild will have to win their next two games, Nashville would have to lose at least one and St. Louis would have to lose two.  This 8th spot in the West is going to be quite the nail biter.  Pay special attention to Marian Gaborik, who was all over the board last night with the first goal and two assists.

Los Angeles 2, Edmonton 1: The combination of Edmonton losing and St. Louis winning last night sealed the Oilers’ fate outside the playoff picture.  They could have made a run for it if all of the other teams in the running for 8th had lost — but no more.  Fernando Pisani was the only Oiler able to score on Jonathan Quick.  This is pretty typical for the end of the Oilers’ season, as shown the last few years.  Maybe they’ll have some better luck next year and will be more than mediocre.

St. Louis 4, Phoenix 1: St. Louis was already in the playoffs just by way of Nashville losing, but the win last night against the flailing Coyotes didn’t hurt art all.  The Blues are now in sole possession of 8th in the West, thanks to multiple contributions from Brandon Crombeen, Keith Tkachuk, Alexander Steen and Jay McClement. Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled after two periods and Al Montoya replaced him… and didn’t fare much better.  Sorry to Minnesota, Nashville and all the other teams still vying for that 8th spot, but St. Louis is staking claim on what is rightfully theirs.

Vancouver  4, Calgary 1:  Calgary had the opportunity to clinch the Northwest Division title with a win over Vancouver in regulation, but unfortunately for them that didn’t work out.  Vancouver stays in the playoff race in 5th and is now tied with Calgary for points.  The only way the Flames will take the division (and my money says they do) is if they win their next two and Vancouver wins only one, or if the Flames win only one and Vancouver loses both.  Only time will tell… but I’m still sticking with Vancouver to be out in the first round. Roberto Luongo, who I wish we could have in Denver, played famously, stopping 46 shots on goal.  I mean, who could actually stop Jarome Iginla’s wrist shot?

San Jose 1, Colorado 0 – SO: Well I was pleasantly surprised by the only overtime game of the night.  It was quite the battle of the goalies when the #1 team in the league shutout the 29th team in regulation. Peter Budaj truly held is own against Evgeni Nabokov with some the story of the night, making some spectacular saves.  The Sharks looked absolutely nothing like a team in the running for the President’s Trophy.  Making the same mistake Vancouver made a few nights ago, the Sharks missed some easy passes, and didn’t play with any heart. Joe Pavelski was the only player to beat Budaj, or any goalie, last night.  The trip to the Shark Tank was the last road game of the season for the Avalanche.

That wraps up the wrap-up from last night.  Only three games are on tonight, but be sure to check them out.  Columbus is still trying to move up in the standings in the West against Chicago, while the  best in the East will face Montreal, who could still potentially drop out of the playoffs completely.

See you tomorrow, hockey fans!

Who will be hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup this year?

-by Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

With 7 days to go and 7 playoff spots still technically still up for grabs, it’s going to be a great week for hockey fans across the nation (except in Colorado, Long Island and Tampa Bay).  Here’s a guide for who should be in and who could be out a week from now.  First off, check today’s standings here to see who has clinched spots already.  Let’s start with the more exciting conference during playoff time, the East.

Who’s already in: Boston, Washington, NJ and Carolina have all clinched spots.

Philadelphia — Why they’ll make it: Philly has gone through a few rough seasons, but for the most part they are a pretty tough competitor.  They are usually a contender for the cup every year – and always give someone a run for their money.  With only four games left, Philly is a great team to watch; tomorrow night they’ll face the Florida Panthers who are also in the race, after that there will be two games against the Rangers, a possible contender for the first round vs. Philly, and they also have a game against the Islanders.  Not only will Philly make the playoffs, but they could possibly uproot NJ for the Atlantic division title if NJ doesn’t shape up (they are 3-6-1 in their last 10).

Pittsburgh — Why they’ll make it: The Pens have come too far not to make it.  God knows they got far last season and let’s just hope they get there again.  I don’t know too many people who are rooting for a team like this to fail.  With such a stacked team full of talent, they have finally been able to perform together as a team this season rather than just focusing on the talent of Crosby or Malkin.  They look great and I like them a lot this playoff season.  The Pens have three games left: Tampa, the Islanders and Monreal.  You’ll be seeing more of Crosby & Co. this year.

Montreal — Why they’ll make it: Honestly, because I don’t see any other team being able to knock them out.  Not that Montreal hasn’t been playing well – they have been pretty consistent as of late (5-3-2 in their last 10), and not that they don’t deserve it.  Montreal is a team that doesn’t have too many NHL-wide superstars and recognizable faces.  Of course in Montreal they are larger-than-life, but Montreal is a team that is truly a team.  They know how to work together and get it done.  But to get knocked out, Buffalo would have to make quite a jump, winning all the rest of their games and Montreal would have to lose the rest of theirs.  Don’t see it happening.  Montreal has four games left and they should all be great playoff previews (except Ottawa): NY Rangers, Ottawa, Boston and Pittsburgh.

NY Rangers — Why they’ll make it: The Rangers are a rough-and-tumble team and sealed that title by bringing back Sean Avery.  As I said with Montreal, I don’t see any team overtaking the Rangers.  They have been playing great this season and haven’t had any significant losing bouts like most other teams have suffered (5-4-1 in their last 10).  The Rangers have four more games: Boston, Montreal and they’ll face Philly twice in their last two.

And now for the always-close Western Conference.  Who’s already in: San Jose, Detroit, Calgary, Chicago and Vancouver have all already clinched playoff spots.

Columbus Blue Jackets — Why they’ll make it: A few weeks ago I never thought this team would be sitting pretty in 6th.  The fact of the matter is that, with 3 games left, they’d have to lose them all to drop out – but there are plenty of teams in the West that can make that happen.  With Rick Nash leading this team, I’m going to say they’ll stay in the playoff race.  Their last three games will be extremely interesting.  First up is Chicago, who is already in the playoffs and looking pretty fantastic.  They still have something to prove and will give Columbus a hell of a time.  Next up for Columbus is St. Louis, another team fighting to get in to the playoffs.  Don’t miss that game for sure – both teams are about the same caliber and this last week of the regular season is really going to up the ante.  Last but not least for Columbus is Minnesota; although not in the playoffs right now, I wouldn’t bet on them to give up anytime soon.  It’s still possible for them to make it, so tune in to that game as well.

Anaheim Ducks — Why they’ll make it:  Not too long ago people were picking Anaheim to go all the way; as of now they could easily drop out of the playoff picture. This race in the West is pretty typical of the end of the season; playoff spots in the West are usually a much closer race than those in the East.  But the fact of the matter is only 8 can make it.  Anaheim has looked great this season and has a great defense lined up but took their position for granted.  Now they are winning (8-2-0 in their last 10) and they can’t stop – there are three hungry teams right below the line who could easily up-end them if they don’t stay strong.  But my bet is they will.  Anaheim only has two games left, both versus non-playoff teams (as of today) – Dallas and Phoenix.  I’m betting on Anaheim to get to the 2nd round.

Nashville Predators — Why they won’t make it: Simply put, because St. Louis wants it more.  Nashville is 5-2-3 in their last 10 where St. Louis is 6-2-2.  Nashville is going to have to do better than that if they want to outpace St. Louis.  Both teams are tied with 86 points – and I’m betting on St. Louis to end up in 8th.  St. Louis is getting huge contributions from smaller-name players, and Nashville is barely hanging on.  With three games left, the Preds have some tough teams to face, including Chicago and Detroit.  Their last game is against the clawing-their-way-up Minnesota Wild.

In some fantastic local news, the Avs played solidly against Vancouver last night to snap their embarrassing losing streak (2-7-1 in their last 10).  Its games like this that make me believe in the inevitable Vancouver collapse (as I spoke about back in February).  This is a team that is 5th in the league and should be playing well against the sickly Avs this far into the season.  But those Canucks get a bit cocky, as coach Alain Vigneault commented after the game, “It’s certainly not what we expected… In everybody’s mind this was a game that would put us one step closer to a championship in our division…”  How’s that for assuming?    Budaj damn nearly had a shutout until Pavol Demitra finally scored with 4:38 left in the 3rd.  I’m still betting Vancouver will be out in the first round – they won’t be able to keep it together.  The Avs had contributions from some household names such as Milan Hejduk as well as players so new they don’t even have pictures up yet on NHL.com like T.J. Galiardi.  Next season should be interesting – also next Tuesday, the 14th, the draft lottery will be held.  Let’s go Avs!

**Reminder: last Avs game of the season is this Sunday at 3pm versus St. Louis.  Sad, sad day my friends.