DETROIT — Believe it or not, there was a time just a few months ago when some of hockey’s most well-known experts were saying the Avalanche was a better team than the Detroit Red Wings.
“Colorado,” NBC hockey analyst Pierre McGuire said quickly, when a couple of us nosy reporters asked who would win the Avs’ Western Conference semifinal last spring with Detroit. “I like how they stack up against Detroit.”
Four games later, the Avs were done. Game 4 was the humiliating 8-2 Detroit romp at the Pepsi Center. Henrik Zetterberg was scoring on backhanders while falling down and Johan Franzen flashed his big Swedish grin for the final of his approximately 46 goals he scored in the series (actually, only nine — but still a Detroit record for one series).
This foolish reporter was actually sipping the Avalanche Kool-Aid before the series, too. And why not? The Avs beat a tough Minnesota team in the first round, had a hot goalie and had a top-six forward lineup of Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth, Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk and Andrew Brunette. The defense, with Adam Foote back, was playing great. Avs in six.
Then, standing by the Zamboni entrance where the Avs were warming up before Game 1 in Detroit, I started checking off players in uniform. Sakic, check. Same for Smyth, Stastny, Foote, etc. etc.
Uh-oh. Where was Forsberg? Just a little late, probably. Foppa always liked to keep people waiting a little.
But no. Just as everybody feared, he had pulled his left groin muscle again that day. Despite a frantic effort by the Avs’ medical staff to get it feeling better, it was a no-go. Just like that, the Avs’ hopes deflated faster than a cheese souffle in a house full of drummers.
Forsberg’s injury was just the first in a disastrous string of dominos for the Avs. Stastny hurt a knee, Smyth had a bone broken in a foot and so did Scott Hannan. By the time the series was finished, the Avs were giving regular ice time to some players who weren’t even on the playoff roster at the start.
The Wings went on to win the Cup and could easily win another one this season. The Avs come into Detroit tonight at 14-14-1, starting Andrew Raycroft in goal and their captain at home tending to back and snowblower injuries. Plus, there’s the knowledge they haven’t beaten the Wings in two years.
Not too many experts will be picking the Avs tonight.
