On to Round 2

So it's going to be the Avalanche that roll into town Thursday evening to start taking on the Red Wings in round two. The playoffs are always a different story from the regular season (see: Montreal-Boston, where the Habs were 8-0 during the season but needed seven hard fought games to escape the first round upset). But the four meetings between Detroit and Colorado this year make me pleased to see that Detroit isn't going to have to play Calgary. Detroit won the series with the Avs 4-0, outscoring them 11-2 with three shutouts. Clearly, Avs netminder Jose Theodore seem to have stepped up his game a bit in their first round defeat of the Mild (as our local radio station likes to call those folks out of MN), but I like that Colorado plays a free flowing more exciting brand of hockey than Calgary. Detroit will have some opportunity to create plays and not be hung up in the stifling defensive play that less talented teams like Calgary have to utilize to keep up in the league. Also, this series should provide some excitement from the old rivalry, bringing back memories of the great series between these two teams throughout the late '90s when both teams were winning cups and dominating the league. I'm excited for it all to get started! Thursday night is going to be fun!