By the five-day stubble on their chinny-chin-chins, the Avalanche players on Wednesday all but qualified for the NHL playoffs. Never mind the complicated four-step tiebreaking scheme that made it possible for the team to declare itself playoff-bound. After points, wins, points in games between tied teams and goal differential, the only tiebreaker remaining was a best-of-seven board game showdown, like Bill and Ted vs. the Grim Reaper in “Bogus Journey.”
The Avs could jump as high as No. 3 in the Western Conference or sink as low as No. 8. But that’s neither here nor there. What matters is, they’re in.
Stop washing game socks and let the playoff superstitions begin. The Avs will be a part of the most exciting postseason in professional sports.
Oh, where have you gone, Uwe Krupp.
Think the Avs can’t make a run toward the Stanley Cup? When the playoffs start, goals will be at a premium. And the Avs score them in bunches; they trail only Detroit among Western Conference teams in goals scored. And Colorado’s power play is the second-best in the West, behind only the Red Wings.
The Avs’ chances rest on Jose Theodore, the recently acquired former league MVP, who will be called on to channel the raging ghost of Patrick Roy. If Theodore can keep the score down enough to give the scorers a chance, then the Avs have a shot. If not, the headline may read “Jose and the Pussycats.”
Get a preview when the Avs travel to take on Northwest Division rivals Vancouver on Saturday at 8 p.m. and Edmonton on Monday at 7 p.m.
WEAK IN REVIEW
NFL draft prognosticators are like some junior high school girls clique. Somebody floats an opinion and all of a sudden it’s the law. How else to explain Southern Cal running back LenDale White’s continuing drop in previews of the draft order? White, a Chatfield High grad, at one time was a top-10 pick. Now, with unfounded claims that he’s lazy, or worse, the “next Maurice Clarett,” White has dropped as far as the second round. Did no one see White run for 124 yards and three TDs in the Rose Bowl, against a hefty pro-like Texas defense that included consensus top-10 pick Michael Huff?
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
This Golden Age of local success continue ad infinitum. The Nuggets are in the playoffs, the Avs are all but in, the Mammoth is in, the Rockies are hot, the Crush is rolling, the Eagles advanced to their conference finals, the Broncos had a postseason and are all over the first round of the NFL draft, LoDo is on the “The Real World” and light rail is running again. What’s next? NFL commissioner Biff Elway appoints Denver as Super Bowl host? Doug Moe named Secretary of the Interior? Nothing seems odd at this point.
THE COUCH
ON: Before this season, the Nuggets last won a division title in 1988, when the division was the Midwest and the Brick House was built by Blair Rasmussen and Danny Schayes. But replace Alex English with Carmelo Anthony and the teams aren’t that much different. Ponder this on Saturday when the Nugs take on Sacramento on Altitude 2 at 7 p.m.: How would you build a combined mega-Nuggets team with players from 2006 and 1988? Would you take Fat Lever or Andre Miller? Schayes or Marcus Camby? Michael Adams or Earl Boykins? Calvin Natt or Kenyon Martin? Bill Hanzlik or Eduardo Najera?
OFF: We’ve no idea what the name means – must be some E-Days insider thing – but Colorado Mines’ Blasterblast Triathlon in Golden at 9 a.m. Saturday should be a perfect beginning to the warm-weather triathlon season. A 500-meter swim, 6.5-mile bike and 3.2-mile run comprise the individual or team races. The race is a fundraiser for the Mines swim team. Check athletics.mines.edu/Sports/Swimming/blasterblast for more information.
AROUND TOWN
This town seems completely infatuated with facial hair. Can there possibly be more breaking news about Jake Plummer’s beard? So how is it that Rockies manager Clint Hurdle has skated under the radar since last season with that silver soul patch of his? What, does he jam with Kirk Hammett on off days? With the Rockies on a nine-game homestand beginning at 7:05 tonight for a three-game series against the Phillies, continuing with a set against the Padres and finishing with three against Barry Bonds and the Giants, the Rockies’ spotlight might be too much for Hurdle to hide. The Rockies are off to their best start since 1998 and are actually getting power production throughout the lineup.
