Avs at Oilers 2-4, Kings at Sharks 4-0

Avs lost 4-2 last night to the Edmonton Oilers. This game was so incredibly boring I stopped watching it before the third period started and guess what? I didn’t miss much…The Avs play was lackluster and not up to par, but understandable. This game was a chance for the Avs to take their fate into their own hands. If they won, they would most likely play the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. I say most likely because Anaheim would have had to lose to Calgary for that scenario to work. If they lost, they would play the Dallas Stars. So which team would the Avs want to play? Definitely Dallas. With the way that the Flames kicked their butts earlier this week, you can bet that the Avs didn’t want to face that (and Miika Kiprusoff) anytime soon. Let’s not forget also, that Dallas’ strength this season came in the shootouts and sorry to burst their bubble, but there aren’t going to be any shootouts in the playoffs. I saw a graphic last night about how the points have changed since the addition of the shootout. Dallas would have 99 points rather than the 111 they actually have. The Avs would have 92 rather than the 95 that they actually have. That’s a pretty big difference for Dallas. I’ll come back to the playoff matches another day though.

Since the Avs game was so boring, I decided to watch the Kings/Sharks game. Again, I was highly disappointed in the play of the team I was rooting for, the Sharks that is. But again, I can understand that since this game didn’t matter in the scheme of the playoffs, there was no point in wasting energy. Also, last night was Luc Robitaille’s last game as an NHL player. I think a big part of the Shark’s loss was in deference to one of the games’ greatest scorers.

I can’t describe how excited I am that they playoffs are just around the corner. There is some very good hockey in the horizon and though I’m not quite sure how far the Avs will go, I know I will be watching hockey until the Stanley Cup is awarded!

Ps…Ryan Caldwell, former captain of the 2004 National Champions DU Pioneers played his first NHL game on April 15 for the New York Islanders. Congratulations! More on this later.