Round 2

Round 2 of the playoffs start tonight. Here’s a preview of the Anaheim/Colorado series.

This is a highly evenly matched series. In the 4 games these two teams played during the regular season, all were decided by one goal. Colorado holds the advantage having one three games during the season. Also, this game sees the return of Steve Konowalchuk, who has missed most of the season with a wrist injury. We are glad to see him back! Go Avs!

What Anaheim has:
-Teemu Selanne. The former Av is in the middle of a renaissance. He has had one of the best seasons in recent memory and seems to be on a roll. In the series versus Calgary, Selanne had a team-high 3 points and 6 points.
-Scott Niedermayer. Undoubtedly the Ducks’ best defensemen. He will key in shutting down Joe Sakic and his line. Too bad for Anaheim that Niedermayer can’t play the whole game as there are many other scorers to look out for.
-Francoise Beuchemin. To coin a phrase from my best friend, “Who? He plays what?” This guy came to Anaheim in the Sergei Fedorov trade to Columbus, an after thought really. But since coming to Anaheim and getting back into peak physical shape, he has been having a career year. He plays alongside Scott Niedermayer and has been instrumental in shutting down other teams’ top lines.
-Ilya Bryzgalov. This guy has been huge for the Ducks in net since taking over for J.S. Giguere. After shutting out Calgary, I think this guy is positioned to steal a few games for the Ducks.

What Colorado has:
-Joe Sakic. I said he would come up big and he did. He’ll do the same for the Avs in this series.
-Rob Blake. He had 2 goals and 1 assist in the 1st round. Look for him do to more of the same. Also, he blocked 21 shots and is still healthy.
-Jose Theodore. He has shown us flashes of pure brilliance. I think he should continue to play well, getting better each game. Not to mention, he is communicating well with his d-corps and things seem to be moving more smoothly.
-Brett Clark. Surprise, surprise. He had 2 goals and 1 assist in the 1st round and logged nearly as much ice time as Rob Blake. Not to mention him beautiful (and completely legal) check of Mike Modano that stunned the Stars in game 5.
-Wojtek Wolski. I really can’t say enough about this kid. He was named the OHL MVP this week and had 1 goal and 3 assists in his first 5 NHL playoff games. I think he is going to become more and more comfortable as the playoffs go on.

Why Anaheim wins:
If the Ducks can keep their defense strong and keep up with the speedy Avs they should have a good chance. The key is to keep the Avs from scoring. Anaheim is not a high scoring team per game (in the 7 games of the first series, the Ducks scored a total of 17 goals giving them a goals per game average of 2.42. The Avs scored 18 but scored at least 3 or more in all but one game where they only scored 1 giving them a goals per game average of 3.6) so they have to keep the Avs off the board.

Why Colorado wins:
Jose Theodore needs to play better in the early part of this series than he did in the Dallas series. While he never allowed more than 4 goals against, he allowed at least 2 in each of the 5 games. Also, the defense has to be as good as it was in the last series. Not to mention, the forwards need to do their job on the fore check and in the scoring department. The key will be for the Avs to score as much as they can as early as they can and support Jose.


The series begins tonight in Anaheim.
Gm 1: Fri, May 5 8:00 p.m. Colorado at Anaheim Altitude,
OLN, TSN
Gm 2: Sun, May 7 1:00 p.m. Colorado at Anaheim NBC, TSN
Gm 3: Tue, May 9 6:00 p.m. Anaheim at Colorado OLN, TSN
Gm 4: Thu, May 11 8:00 p.m. Anaheim at Colorado OLN, TSN
Gm 5: Sun, May 14 1:00 p.m. * Colorado at Anaheim NBC, TSN
Gm 6: Tues, May 16 TBA * Anaheim at Colorado Altitude,
OLN, TSN
Gm 7: Thur, May 18 TBA * Colorado at Anaheim Altitude,
OLN, TSN
* if necessary
All times mountain