Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .
When the NHL set up the Red Wings against the Avalanche as the only game on its schedule on its first night of play following a two-week break, part of the thinking was that a nationally televised (Versus, and TSN2 in Canada) rivalry could be a showcase.
That rivalry has lost some of its fierceness in recent years.
The Avalanche careened to the bottom of the Western Conference standings in 2009, attendance slipped and it seemed possible there could be more Michigan expatriate fans in Red Wings sweaters in the Pepsi Center than Colorado fans in Avalanche sweaters for tonight’s second meeting of the season between the teams in Denver.
Last season, the Red Wings made the Stanley Cup Finals for the second year in a row and remained the poster organization for working its way through the implementation of the salary cap in 2005.
So who would have thought that on March 1, the Avs would be one of the NHL’s 2009-10 success stories, tied with the Vancouver Canucks in points at the top of the Northwest Division and in what would be the No. 6 playoff spot?
And that the Red Wings would be one point out of a playoff position, hoping to avoid the ignominy of missing the postseason after posting 112 points or more in the four seasons following the lockout year?
The Red Wings are only eight points behind the Avalanche, and both teams have 21 games remaining. The one certainty seems to be that the Wings won’t catch Chicago to win the Central Division. The Avalanche still could end up with the No. 3 spot by winning the division, or conceivably fall out of a playoff spot altogether.
And that stretch run begins tonight.
The Avalanche has come out on top in two of the three meetings against the Wings this season — winning 4-3 in a shootout at Detroit on Oct. 17 and 3-1 in Denver on Oct. 24, and falling 4-2 at Detroit on Dec. 31. Tonight’s game is the final meeting of the season.
After Sunday morning’s practice at Family Sports Center, Avs goalie Craig Anderson said in reference to Colorado sitting ahead of Detroit, “At the start of the year, I doubt that anyone would have predicted that.
“We’ve played well against them all year and definitely have earned the position where we’re at right now. We need to play the way we were playing to stay ahead of these teams.”
Said Avs coach Joe Sacco: “That’s just the way things have worked out. We’ve played pretty good hockey. That’s a Detroit team that has gone through a lot of adversity because of injuries this year. I still believe that they’re obviously a very good hockey team, a very dangerous team.”
Anderson will make his 54th start of the season tonight, and he pronounced himself recharged after the break, which actually lasted 10 days before Colorado resumed practice Wednesday.
“Mentally, you got away from the game, the stress of it all,” he said. “To get away and relax, and get some good sleep in, and not really worry about coming to the rink was terrific. Now it’s time to put the work boots back on and get back to work.”
Avalanche center Matt Duchene, who comes out of the break as the runaway leader in rookie scoring and Colorado’s leading goal scorer with 20, said of the Wings: “They’re a great team, and when we’ve played them, we’ve had a tough time with them. They’re very fast and they really push the pace. To be honest with you, it’s hard for me to believe that they are where they are in the standings, because those have been some of our toughest games.”
Duchene’s history as a childhood Avalanche fan in Ontario was been well-documented, and he was anywhere from 5 to 11 years old during the rivalry’s most notorious run.
“I don’t think I ever really hated them,” he said of the Wings. “But I always cheered against them because of the Avalanche being their archrivals. I was a Montreal Canadiens fan too, so I always cheered against the Leafs. You can’t cheer for your rivals if you’re a true fan.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
Detroit at Colorado
7 p.m. tonight, Versus, KKHI 101.9 FM
Spotlight on Kris Draper: At age 38, the Detroit center’s minutes are down to about 12 per game, but he will be remembered as one of the most effective role players in the NHL’s post-expansion history.
Red Wings: Detroit beat Ottawa 4-1 in its last game before the break but is 4-5-6 in its last 15. . . . Jimmy Howard has supplanted Chris Osgood as the No. 1 goalie and has started 23 of the last 25 games. . . . The Red Wings have left points on the table by winning only four of their 12 shootouts this season. One of the shootout losses was to the Avalanche on Oct. 17 in Detroit.
Avalanche: Avalanche defenseman Kyle Cumiskey won’t be available tonight after a recurrence of concussion symptoms last week. He did do off-ice work, though, over the weekend. . . . Colorado can at least temporarily take over the Northwest Division lead with a point tonight. . . . As of Sunday, the game wasn’t close to selling out. Coming out of the NHL’s two-week break, the Avalanche is ranked 27th in the league in attendance, at 13,610. Detroit’s official figure is 19,455, ranking fourth. Terry Frei, The Denver Post
