Stan Kroenke, current owner of the Denver Nuggets & Colorado Avalanche, will need to strike a delicate balance if he hopes to become majority owner of the St Louis Rams.
In a move that echoes the end of the Sakic era in Denver, Adam Foote is signing a new contract, committing to just one season at a time with the Colorado Avalanche.
This series really could go either way but I’m leaning toward San Jose around 66%. I think the Avalanche win this series 1 in 3 times. Finding a way to get the offense and the defense going at the same time seems to be the largest obstacle for Colorado right now.
For the Avalanche faithful who watched Andy carry this team from the season’s opener versus these Sharks at Pepsi Center (a 5-2 win) all the way to a playoff birth, through two epic games in San Jose, and back to Pepsi Center for a crucial Game 3 win, Craig Anderson has come full circle.
This one is a game to think about and then forget. Every time the Avs had a chance to put the game out of reach they made a mental mistake and let the Sharks back in. More important is the way the Sharks won… the constant comebacks will give them confidence in future games. I think that the Avs just lost this series. It will take a perfect game or a crushing comeback to save the Avs at this point.
The baby Avalanche grew playoff brass in San Jose, taking the big boys to task and stealing home ice from the playoff-challenged Sharks. Now the series heads back to Pepsi Center. The house that Joe built. The land of Roy. Peter’s playground. The Can has a history that San Jose can only dream of… Championship history.
The Avalanche blocked shots, scrapped mightily for pucks, matched the physical Sharks hit-for-hit all game long, and rolled their 3rd & 4th lines with the same regularity as their 1st & 2nd lines, especially in the first half of the game. Only 4 of 18 Colorado players failed to log a shot through this total team effort.
Peter Mueller, who suffered a concussion in the final regular season meeting between the Avs and the Sharks, will miss the first 2 games of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series.
The top-seeded Sharks play incredibly well in San Jose, and the Colorado Avalanche will need to find a way to win a close game at the Shark Tank to steal the series. For all the Sharks’ regular season success in San Jose, playoff demons lurk there as well…
It wasn’t all that long ago that John-Michael Liles was being held out as trade bait. As the Avs head into the playoffs all eyes will be on Liles and his newfound defensive tenacity.
