Said Foote to the Avalanche faithful and his teammates after his final game at Pepsi Center, “Thank you for your support, and I love you all.â€
the Avalanche have made their bi-weekly trip out of the 8-team Western Conference playoff field. The ongoing flux of West contenders should have Colorado back in the hunt by week’s end, but the second half of their east-coast road swing stands in the way.
After forwards Daniel Winnik & Chris Stewart went down with early injuries, Mauldin saw a lot of ice time versus a Wild club that has stymied Colorado in recent seasons.
The Avalanche continued a budding rivalry from last year with a fast, tight thriller versus the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.
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.
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 Vancouver Canucks matched the Colorado Avalanche goal-for-goal through three periods of hockey Tuesday night. But it was the Avalanche fighting for their playoff lives, and Colorado brought the fight to the Canucks’ doorstep early and often.
There are some players who are elites and some player who are merely good. The difference between them is when the season comes to its end, the good player maintain while the elites raise their game. I’ve yet to see Anderson raise his game.
I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the Avs’ failure to keep the pressure on early in the second period. Vancouver gave the Avalanche every opportunity to put the game away and the Avs, rather than failing to capitalize, passed on more than one chance to rush Luongo and put the Canucks in a deeper hole.
Despite an early-season demotion to Lake Erie (AHL) and a shoulder injury at Dallas, the Avalanche expect great things from young Master Stoa in coming seasons.
