http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/det.gif -vs- http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/nhl/teams/20080123/80x60/col.gif

Detroit
54-21-7, 1st in Central

Colorado
44-31-7, 2nd in Northwest


Detroit wins season series 4-0-0

Series tied 0-0

Series Schedule
1. Thu, Apr 24 – at Det, 7:30 pm EDT (VS., TSN)
2. Sat, Apr 26 – at Det, 3:00 pm EDT (NBC, TSN)
3. Tue, Apr 29 – at Col, 10:00 pm EDT (VS., TSN)
4. Thu, May 1 – at Col, 10:00 pm EDT (VS., TSN)
*5. Sat, May 3 – at Det, 1:00 pm EDT (NBC, TSN)
*6. Mon, May 5 – at Col, 10:00 pm EDT (VS., TSN)
*7. Wed, May 7 – at Det (TSN)

I'm going to try and get tickets out here and boo the Avs.

Not gonna lie - I'm worried about the Avs. Theodore is finally playing how the Avs expected him to play, and he's back in 2002 form. I hope that doesn't continue.

The Avs are old, but they have some good talent on that team. Let's hope our secondary scoring can step it up. Kronwall needs to be huge as well. And Cleary needs to get out of this slump.

I'm just hoping for fights, bad blood feud 7 game series would do wonders for hockey's ratings.

I think we can dominate them if we play physical like we did against Nashville. The only reason we lost any games at all was because of a few defensive blunders (and Lebda hasn't made those blunders that Lilja did). We also lost because Hasek really only made average saves. I think with the same level of play as the last two games in round 1, we'll be fine.

I'm hoping Maltby is back soon as well. I'd like to see him out there hitting Foresburg left and right. I really like how aggressive Helm has played.

We owned them during the regular season, I think we shut them out like 3 out of the 4 times we played or something like that...

I just hope we don't get any injuries. Hopefully Kronwall stays physical like he did Vs. Nashville and guys like Hudler & Filppula stay hot...

Theodore is pretty hot, but they haven't played in awhile...

I like Wings in 6

Hopefully Osgood stays hot. That should be our biggest concern right now.

So, where exactly are 160$ tickets to a wings playoff game? My buddy called me, said that's how much his tickets cost, asked if I wanted to go and said he'd give it to me half price as a late birthday present.

So, where exactly are 160$ tickets to a wings playoff game? My buddy called me, said that's how much his tickets cost, asked if I wanted to go and said he'd give it to me half price as a late birthday present.

lol

We owned them during the regular season, I think we shut them out like 3 out of the 4 times we played or something like that...

I just hope we don't get any injuries. Hopefully Kronwall stays physical like he did Vs. Nashville and guys like Hudler & Filppula stay hot...

Theodore is pretty hot, but they haven't played in awhile...

I like Wings in 6

In fairness, none of those were with Sakic. They also played most, if not all of them without Stasny, Foresburg, Foote and Salei.

In fairness, none of those were with Sakic. They also played most, if not all of them without Stasny, Foresburg, Foote and Salei.


Good point. Also, I'm not sure how many of those we faced Budaj instead of Theodore as well.

I won't put much stock into those meetings.

lol
He was trying to give the ticket to me straight up, but I know he can't afford that so I'm paying half.

I haven't been this excited for a hockey series in a long time.

Maybe this can wake Hockeytown back up.

Bah.

Wings in 5.

Foppa's out with a groin pull for tonight's game.

Why isn't Stewart playing?

Why isn't Stewart playing?
He is in LA with his wife and his newborn baby. He should be back for Game 2 though.

Does he not understand this rivalry? Wings/Avs before family. Stewart has got to learn that sooner or later.

Also congrats to him.

Down 1

Fuck.

Not for long. Zetty scores. 1-1

Pretty play.

On SportsCenter yesterday, Barry Melrose picked the Avs due to Theodore's play.

Where'd that 2nd one go, straight up in the air?

I've got this on NHL Radio (still at work), but that 2nd goal sounded like another fluke.

Details?

I was switching back and forth but the shot hit the goal tender and everyone was looking around and then it looked like it fell out of the air, hitting the back of the goal tender and bounced in the net.

^fwiw

Franzen with the redirect.

3-1. Now don't go to sleep on these guys.

Delayed on the Avs. The game couldn't have started much better.

Hellz yeah.

Lovin this

4-1

goalie change for the Avs

No Wings for me tonight. Fucking Versus. How can you not have playoff hockey available to everyone?!

Does he not understand this rivalry? Wings/Avs before family. Stewart has got to learn that sooner or later.

Also congrats to him.
He'll learn when you learn to spell his name correctly.

I've got this on NHL Radio (still at work), but that 2nd goal sounded like another fluke.

Details?


The way the Wings are outplaying the Avs, there are no flukes right now. They're faster, more physical, and smarter right now - it's a clinic so far.

I hope the series stays this way.

4-2. Nice slapper. barely snuck it in. fucker

I have a friend sending me updates via text. This sucks.

Damn 4-3 now. PP coming up for the Avs too. I wasn't expecting a high scoring series like this, thought the rivalry would bring out the defense more.

Ozzie is not playing well. Should we try Howard?

I missed the first two periods, somebody wanna give me a rundown of the game so far?

1st period, all Wings. Prolly should have been a bigger lead at the end of 1.

I missed some of the 2nd.

It looks like our defense is sagging so much the blue line isn't even challenged. But I've been missing some of this period too.

Why the fuck does Babcock insist on trapping with a 1 goal lead?

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was a fantastic save.

Wow what a save by Ozzie

Say what you want about the way they came back on us, but its 1-0 Wings

True.

But the Wings have to start playing 60 minutes. These guys are not the Preds, they have far too much skill and experience for us to be fucking around.

By the way: Shocker - Melrose picked the Avs to win the series in 6.




ps He was 4 for 8 in first round series, the worst out of the six ESPN analysts. Even Linda Cohn picked better than him.

Cohn's a puck bunny.

Cohn sucks at everything she does. She must give good head because that's the only reason she's still employed by ESPN.

She's a huge Rangers fan.

Also, I heard that The Avs goalie, Joe-say, was playing with the flu last night and once he got pulled he left the building, puking.

She's a huge New York homer - it's obnoxious.

Theodore was sick and the Avs are making excuses... which is lame. If he's sick, don't play him. And they're making injury excuses as well. Whiney bitches...

First of all, the game. I had the honor of paying $130 a ticket for pretty goods seats. I have to admit I was expecting a 7-2 blowout after the first period and change, but instead was pissed in the whole 3rd period. I can't remember the last time I have been so frustrated while the home team is playing with the lead.

Observations:

1.) Lilja was a defensive liability. Bad, bad penalties at really crap times. It didn't cost us much, but certainly cost us mometum which was paramount down the stretch.

2.) Ozzie got stranded at times. Our third defensive pairing was slow and at some times appeared asleep at the wheel. That won't fly going forward.

3.) The fans are back in it. The Joe was rocking its collective ass off last night.

4.) WE CANNOT SLEEP IN THIS TEAM! On paper they have more firepower than we do. Rookies and yougsters aside, they boat Sakic, Smyth, Brunette, Hejduk (sp). Any one of these cats could wake up and really run up a tally.

All in all, the game was sweet, and I can say that I almost lost my voice when Ozzie made that save with 8.4 left on the clock. Unfortunately, the Flyers were not so lucky.

Two more things: $150 will get you second row seats behind the goaltender. Also, Linda Cohn is pretty OK in my book. Chicks that dig hockey are the cat's pajamas. Sure, she's a Rangers homer, but any commentator/ announcer who says they don't have a favorite team obviously doesn't like sports at all. Either that or they're lying their asses off.

Carry on.

I'll be at the game tomorrow, right behond the goal the Wings will be shooting on for the first and third period.

Fuckin dinkin around with puck in our own zone and bang...the Avs score.

We haven't screwed up much but we did there.

4-1 Wings

Rollin the Avs so far. Today the Wings really looked like they are ready to take the cup.

Beautiful game. Keep it up in Colorado.

Great game today! It's amazing how when they skate, throw the puck at the net and control the zone down low how much they can dominate a game. Playing like that they have the chance to get one in Denver. I loved Franzen's wrap-around goal. I hadn't seen one like that, getting all the way around the net and putting it up stairs, in a long time (granted my choice of where to live probably affected that too).

I couldn't have picked a better game to go to. The Joe was rocking like crazy! We dominated them the whole game. 40 shots to 20? Insane.

I'm going to the game tonight. Nose bleed seats, but for 60 bucks (for the pair), you can't beat that. Hope the Wings keep pouring it on.

- Ryan Smyth is OUT for tonight's game.

- Forsberg and Hannan are PROBABLE.

There are a lot of tickets real cheap on ebay for this thing. I won mine without anyone else bidding on them last night. Avs fans are WEAK.

cXBprSOYyYM

Smyth is out? That's a true blessing. He's the one guy that really worries me.

3-2. Don't let them back into this...

After all these years, Forsberg is still a douche.

Is there a better duo in hockey than Pavel and Hank?

What a sequence. Zetterberg just sneaks around the back side and BOOM!

Is there a better duo in hockey than Pavel and Hank?

They were just toying with them out there.

btw: Kronwall is my Red Wing.

Looks like it's the Pavel Datsyuk show tonight!

LOL - I can't believe Forsberg got a penalty for that.

Avs fans are morons BTW. The whine and cry at every single penalty, though I have no idead what Forsberg did to get interferance (I didn't see anything and they never showed a replay). He was giving me crap about my Coffey jersey saying shit like "I've never heard of him. The only 77 that was any good was Borque. Wasn't Coffey a Flyer most of his career?"

What an idiot. Coffey spent 4 seasons in Detroit, Borque spent 1 in Colorado. Coffey broke Orr's record for goals in a season by defenseman and is second all time in goals, assists and points for a defenseman (but has a higher per game average than Borque). Also, he only played 2 years in Philly. Stupid Avs fan. If you're going to talk smack after losing you can at least know what you are talking about.

Avs fans are a bunch of punks!


That being said, I envy the fact that you live in Colorado now, Chris. That's one of my top three locations of where I would love to live.

The Pepsi Center is great, especially since the Pistons and Wings won both games I went to. Seriously, the place has like 15 different kinds of food counters, unlike here where you get Pizza or Hot Dogs and that is it. You can get boneless wings, tacos, philly steak sandwhiches, burgers, all kinds of shit. Too bad the teams that play there are a bunch of punks.

Avs fans are a bunch of punks!


That being said, I envy the fact that you live in Colorado now, Chris. That's one of my top three locations of where I would love to live.

This is your list right?

1. Sacramento
2. Sacramento
3. Denver

So will we play Dallas?

So will we play Dallas?

Eventually. They are up 3-0 as well. I'm happy with that because we never have to travel to the west coast. I wouldn't mind SJ drawing it out an extra game or two though.

Yes. Unless San Jose pulls off the first 3-0 comeback in 30-something years.

And yes - Sacramento is first on the list... just because that's the new WTF trend - posting from California.

Is San Diego second? Because it should be first.

If we're going with my actual list, it would be:
1) North Carolina
2) Denver/Colorado Springs
3) Phoenix

San Diego is the greatest place on Earth. It's perfect weather, perfect scenery. But where would I go for vacation? Everything (besides Hawaii) would be a step down. That's the one advantage to living in Michigan. Going anywhere for vacation is better. Except Ohio. Especially Cleveland. Fuck you, Zekyl.






Just kidding, Zek - but seriously fuck Cleveland.

North Carolina looks good. Low home prices, iirc. I'm so burned out on these home prices out here. Especially when its your business. it sucks

If we're going with my actual list, it would be:
1) North Carolina
2) Denver/Colorado Springs
3) Phoenix

San Diego is the greatest place on Earth. It's perfect weather, perfect scenery. But where would I go for vacation? Everything (besides Hawaii) would be a step down. That's the one advantage to living in Michigan. Going anywhere for vacation is better. Except Ohio. Especially Cleveland. Fuck you, Zekyl.

Just kidding, Zek - but seriously fuck Cleveland.

Colorado Springs is filled with wierd religeous people, just as an FYI in case you ever do move.

Phoenix is a rip off right now. Their housing market exploded the last 10 years and now the prices are rediculous. I would imagine in the next few years that there will be a lot of good deals, but you'll probably have to wait a long time to build up equity there. it's a nice place though (visited an uncle in Scottsdale last year).

I like Denver better though. Just as much sun and still have all 4 seasons.

Good article pointing out some things I've noticed, and more:


Red Sox? Rally? That may be too big a stretch for these Avs

DENVER -- The way I remember it, when the Red Sox lost the first three games of the 2004 American League Championship Series to the Yankees, Boston catcher and captain Jason Varitek was moved to say: "Our backs are against the wall, and we just need to finish our checks and take it one game at a time."
And with New York holding that 3-0 lead in the series, didn't Yankees shortstop Derek "Tiger" Jeter pause between filming commercials to opine: "Them Red Sox is done like dinner"?
What? It didn't happen that way? Perhaps hockey has affected my memory.
The Red Wings have the Avalanche in that position heading into Thursday night's Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals in Denver.
So far, perhaps in part because Nashville rebounded after dropping the first two games to at least throw a scare into Detroit in the first round, the Red Wings haven't allowed their minds to wander against Colorado.
And it leaves Detroit coach Mike Babcock believing that sweeping the series would be a huge benefit.
"Every time you play, there's chances for injuries and fatigue, and the fresher you get, the better chance you have," Babcock said after the Red Wings' Wednesday practice. "To me, it's a race to four. Everybody says it's the best-of-seven, but in the race for four, the quicker you get there, the better the chance to be successful."
The Avalanche have been overwhelmed, and that probably would have been the case even if Colorado's injury woes hadn't continued.
Ryan Smyth (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=876) didn't play in Detroit's 4-3 Game 3 win, and Paul Stastny (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=3467) was done for the night after suffering a knee injury in the first period. Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said Wednesday that Stastny should be considered "probably unlikely" for the rest of the series and Smyth was "doubtful" for Game 4. And those injuries came just as Peter Forsberg (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=284) and Scott Hannan (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=343) were returning to the Colorado lineup.
For the Wings, the most significant development in the series is the further emergence of Johan Franzen (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=3099) as an elite player, a power forward and effective counterpunch and complement to magical linemates Pavel Datsyuk (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=1223) and Henrik Zetterberg (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=1964). The big Swede has six goals in the first three games, and a couple of them have been awe-inspiring.
In Game 3, with Datsyuk scoring two goals and Zetterberg one, they were allowed to zip the puck around and back and forth until Jose Theodore (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=934) -- who had struggled in the first two games, in part because of the flu -- could have been excused for feeling dizzy and nauseated again, and perhaps even a little angry.
"They're elite players coming into the prime of their careers," Babcock said of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. "They have great will and determination. And that to me is what separates you from being a regular player to being a star, is how much drive you have, and how much heart and how much passion you have. They're elite in that way. I thought they were magic throughout the game, but even better in the third period. Every time something went wrong, they went out and turned the game in the right direction for us."
Amid all the talk about the possible rekindling of the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry (and that talk, at least so far, has proved to be a silly reach), perhaps the most overlooked aspect of all has been that Colorado not only is overmatched against this specific Detroit team, but it also doesn't match up well.
Going into the series, it wasn't entirely out of line to say Detroit's 4-0 edge over the Avalanche in the regular season was irrelevant, given that Joe Sakic (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=812) didn't play in any of the games, Stastny and Smyth were out for two, and Colorado made significant changes at the trading deadline. Yet, now that it has been nearly 14 months since Colorado posted a victory of any kind over the Red Wings (a 4-3 overtime victory in Detroit on March 4 of last season), the cumulative evidence can't be ignored.
More so than most teams, the Avalanche's offense tends to comes almost exclusively from down low, from cycling, from Smyth's and Andrew Brunette's work at the net, from Stastny's setups, from Sakic's stealthy shots, from Milan Hejduk's magical hands. Colorado has tended to have trouble getting the puck up ice and deep against anyone; against the Red Wings, the weakness becomes more pronounced. With Detroit so adroitly maintaining possession and moving it up ice (this is a team that makes tic-tac-toe passing an art from end to end), Colorado hasn't had much of a chance.
"They have a great hockey team," Sakic said. "They deserve to be up 3-0, the way the series has gone. They've outskated us, outworked us."
Quenneville said he was satisfied with his team's effort in Game 3 but not with the execution that left Theodore defenseless at least a couple of times. "We can't give up the high-quality, cross-ice pass, empty-net one-timers that they're pretty good at," he said.
So now it comes down to Colorado looking for a miracle. The Red Wings' Game 4 challenge comes down to whether they can maintain the hunger to make this a sweep, or whether they'll cruise through Thursday night with a diminished drive, allowing the Avalanche to save some face and win one at home before Colorado management begins grappling with the postmortem and what-next issues facing the franchise.
(Do the Avalanche re-sign Jose Theodore, Adam Foote (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/players/profile?playerId=282) or Forsberg? Will Sakic retire or sign another one-year deal as he continues taking it a season at a time at this stage of his career?)
"For myself, it's all about pride," Theodore said after practice Wednesday. "You go out there and you just want to make sure you fight and be able to look at yourself in the mirror and really say, 'I left everything out there.' I think for a lot of guys, that's what we did [in Game 3]."
Foote rejoined the Avalanche after spending nearly three full seasons with Columbus, playing the Red Wings 31 times a season (or maybe it only seems like that) in the post-lockout scheduling format.
"I knew how they played," Foote said. "I knew how they like to get to the middle of the ice, and they're entering pretty easily right now. We have to play better in the middle of the ice and not let them have it."
That's easier said than done.

I noticed it a lot in the game I went to here. The Avs frequently turned back around the red line when they couldn't bring the puck up ice the way they wanted to. I didn't notice it on TV as much, but sitting in the stands you could see the entire ice surface and see why they turned back every time. I think the Wings are just too fast for them, a problem we had not too long ago (when we were loaded with aging vets against younger faster teams).

Definitely could see that when I was at the Joe for that 5-1 game. We were all over the ice and they were really struggling to keep up with our pace.

End this bitch tonight.

End this bitch tonight.

3-1 after 1. Looking good for the sweep.

http://www.wildbirds.org/images/broom_big.jpg

At the rate Franzen is going, Holland is probably going to be more concerned about signing him than Zetterberg.

Loved the sound of that last one off the post. TING!

Sick goal by Zetterberg to go up 5-1.

The Wings are making this look way too easy. They're just toying with Colorado out there.

I'm shocked when they take a shot and dont' score.

So whats Ozzie's record since replacing Dom? Pretty good anyway. Its almost safe to say Detroit has a hot goal tender in the playoffs.

6-0 in the playoffs.

Franzen with hat trick #2.

Unreal.

9 goals in a 4 game series. that is insane. apparently it broke gordie howe's record of 8 in a series from 1949.

That's the second Gordie Howe record Franzen has broken this season.

Injuries or not for the Avs, this has been one of the best series I've ever seen the Wings played. Sweep and Avs; two words that just sounds so good together.

Sick goal by Zetterberg to go up 5-1.


Just caught the highlights on SportsCenter. That was one of the prettiest goals I've seen in awhile...

I hate the Versus announcers. They were so pro-Colorado it was annoying. The two Colorado goals that were scored, they went nuts. And the entire game all they did was talk about the Avs injuries.

Announcer 1: "And I have heard no excuses from the Avs about their injuries."
Announcer 2: "Yeah no excuses. What a great team. A great franchise."
Announcer 1: "Yeah great team.Fantastic."
Announcer 2: "...And if it wasn't for these injuries, they'd probably be winning!"
Announcer 1: "I know! Great team!"
Announcer 2: "But the Avs don't make any excuses."

Man, what a game to go to. In the third period there were more Wings fans than Avs fans there. We kept on chanting let's go red wings. amazing.

I'm glad to just be watching them. I havent been able to follow them over the last couple of years. This is great.