No city in the United States has suffered a larger population decrease, according to the most recent census, than Detroit.
Perhaps that helps to explain the hundreds, or maybe thousands, of red jerseys on hand at the Pepsi Center on Monday night.
Then again, all those jerseys might have something to do with the fact the Avalanche can never beat the Detroit Red Wings anymore — or any other team lately.
The Avs had another embarrassing night against their former archrivals, with Detroit shutting them out for the third time this season, 4-0. The Avs, losers of four in a row, served as the get-well team for a Wings team that was winless in its previous six.
In their past 17 games against Detroit, the Avs are 3-12-2 and were swept in the season series for the second time in three years. So much for a rivalry.
But the vocal Red Wings fans might not remember the game pleasantly for long. Ian Laperriere’s crushing hit on Detroit’s perennial Norris Trophy winning defenseman, Nicklas Lidstrom, might put a damper on the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup hopes.
Lidstrom suffered a right knee injury after being nailed into the boards by Laperriere in the first period, a hit that left Lidstrom stumbling around in a daze. The Wings won’t know how long Lidstrom will be out until further tests are completed.
The “blood feud” aspect of the old Avs-Wings rivalry might be back a bit, however. After a dust-up between the Avs’ Laperriere, Cody McLeod and Detroit’s Aaron Downey in the third, Detroit coach Mike Babcock and Avs assistant Tony Granato got into a verbal joust on the bench, with Babcock hurling profanity and pointing his finger at Granato.
That incident brought back memories of the night then-Avs coach Marc Crawford blew his stack at Detroit’s Scotty Bowman in the 1997 playoffs.
