Hey Mr. Zamboni Man—where do you keep your broom?

Where’s a white flag when you need one? I mean, why didn’t the few Detroit fans at the Pepsi Center last night just cover the ice with octopi after the game was over? Heck, they could have started doing so after the second period. Am I bitter? No. To be honest, I expected the Red Wings to win the series after they went up 2-0. However, I’m…less than pleased that my Avs were swept. The injury plague? Is that really why they gave up? Is it fair to say they “gave up” since John-Michael Liles did score in the third, and it was during a power play (we are one of the worst in the league in scoring during the power play)? Of course the Wings could have felt sorry for us after dominating the whole game, since Tyler Arnason’s goal in the first period. I do believe the total came to eight goals before we scored our second. The potential of the Dead Wangs pitying my Avs gets me pretty heated—while this second goal by the Avs was the last score of the game, I refuse to entertain that thought anymore. So what exactly went wrong? Why couldn’t the Avs have been the Red Sox of hockey, like Joe Sakic (and I) had hoped they would be?

Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg—How do these types of players exist, and why are they always playing against my teams rather than on them? Either one of these neanderthals could single-handedly take out He-man (by the power of Grayskull…Master of the Universe…no?). Franzen had two hat-tricks (count ‘em 2) against the Avs this series; one in Game 2 and then one last night. All that net grabbing in four games got him 10 points for the series—he now has a total of 14 for the playoffs. Then there’s Datsyuk. Assisting in a goal in every game of the series, he assisted in three of the goals last night alone (two being to Zetterberg). He found the net twice in Game 3, proving to be an important factor in the Wings’ win. The guy is even up for both the Lady Byng (again) and Selke trophies; I’m truly not surprised. After scoring only two goals in a single game in the series against the Predators, Zetterberg bounced back by scoring in every game in this series, even getting a pair of goals last night (and assisting in two others). He also increased his total points by 10 this series (now at 13 for the playoffs), and is also up for the Selke trophy. Needless to say, we helped these guys look better statistically than all others this round. We meant to do that.

Injury proned—This is just not fair. When all is said and done, five of our key guys were out: Peter Forsberg (groin), Paul Stastny (knee), Ryan Smyth (foot), Wojtek Wolski (ribs), and we shornt (thank you Michael Scott) forget Marek Svatos (knee). As if we didn’t suffer enough during the regular season when Sakic, Smyth, and Stastny were out for an extended period of time, our inability to “not get hurt to the point of sitting out games” followed the Avs into the playoffs. Even Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock, said it wasn’t fair stating, “I’ve seen injuries in the playoffs, but I’ve never seen that many injuries.” No kidding. How did we even stand a chance? Fortunately, Andrew Brunette stepped up in a big way (finally) and of course Sakic didn’t let anyone down (he assisted in both goals last night). It wasn’t enough though. Perhaps this was a saving grace. You can’t skate well on a dull blade, and the Avs have definitely become a dull blade.

Waiting for next year—At the end of the game, Zetterberg had his part in the gloating by saying, “I won’t apologize for beating them like this. I know they’ll came back at us next year.” You know what Zetter? We will. Sure we got players who are old enough to be my parents, but does that really matter? I mean Sakic is still playing unbelievably well (he’s seventh place all-time with 188 career post season points after last night). Adam Foote showed why we never should’ve let him go in the first place. Forsberg has tears in both groins, but he has the off season to heal up. Right? That ankle thing—that’s just a thing of the past. Of course ultimately, their fates are up to them and not me. Sakic won’t decide whether or not he’s coming back until the summer, and Foppa is waiting to see how well his injuries heal. Not to mention, Ian Laperierre and Andrew Brunette are also getting up there. Next season seems pretty encouraging doesn’t it? Regardless, we still have our young guys. Stastny and Svatos showed players how to score during the regular season. Wolski did better than expected (or anticipated) while standing in for Svatos. Smyth still has some years left in him, assuming he can stay away from injury. And Jose Theodore will get over this “flu” and come ready to fight next season. I truly believe a full and healthy Avs team is a force to be reckoned with. It just kills me that we started losing players against one of my least favorite teams ever, in any sport, of all time. They will bounce back from this, they will go for the Lord Stanley’s Cup again next season, and they will show those Dead Wangers how it’s really done—and yes, had the Avs been up in a series-sweeping game, they would have kept on scoring on their winged rivals too. All things considered, the Avs can say they survived an injury plagued season and still made it to the playoffs. Next season will start anew and with better karma. No way could a team have that kind of bad luck two seasons in a row…right?

I might not be happy about all of “HockeyTown” breaking out their brooms (did I mention we didn’t win a game against the Wings all season?), but I’m still a fan of the sport. With less enthusiasm, but just as much invested, I will be watching the games and waiting for the Wings to meet their demise. While my team being out gives me no one to really root for, it gives me plenty to root against. With that said—LET’S GO STARS! Mike Ribeiro—make Chris Osgood cry. Pens will take the East, and Stars will take the West (*crossed fingers*). The West will win Lord Stanley’s Cup this year (even if by some miracle the Wings get past the Stars, and they end up representing the West). MARK IT DOWN AND TAKE IT TO THE BANK.

Explore posts in the same categories: Brenda Niemeyer, EDITORIAL

Tags: Avalanche, Colorado, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit, Detroit Red Wings, NHL, NHL playoffs, Playoffs, Red Wings, sweep

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