PapaFunk

It's pretty obvious you are basing your comment on the Avs play in the past 2 games where the goaltender was puking all day before the games and the defense was missing 2 key players. I understand though, the Avs have looked weak all this year against the Wings, but it is only because every game they have been plagued with injury. It would just be nice to see the Wings play a healthy Avs team.

How can you live in Denver and be a wings fan

If the Wings don't dominate this series with the amount of injuries to the Avs roster, they are pretty sorry.

In 2001 Forsberg tried to play with a potential ruptured spleen after doctors told him he could possibly DIE if he played. So, yeah, if he can't go you know he can't go. It is one thing to have a sore ankle, but a pulled groin is agonizing and impossible to play through.

If the wings can't beat the Avalanche with their season's top goal scorer out (Svatos), 2 of their other top 2 forwards out (Smyth, Wolski), 2 of their best defensemen out (Clark, Hannan)...then it is pretty sad. On top of that Forsberg, Foote and Hejduk have all been playing with injuries for the past 2 weeks. With a healthy roster...even with 2-3 guys out, The Avs would match up evenly or slightly better against the Wings. Too bad no games this season have had even rosters.

Not really, Laperrier got blatantly punched in the face after the whistle, and Foote could have been seriously injured and is bleeding from an illegal hit...so, no.

Lucky for the Wings the Refs seem to be on their side this series. 2 obvious no calls against and a penalty call against the avs for absolutely nothing that lead to a goal.

I think the Avs will come out hungry tonight and have some energy after last game and being able to come so close to tying it. I say 3-2 Avs Avs lines in the OP are funked up...Most likely, given that Wolski is out and Forsberg will probably play (my inside source): Smyth-Sakic-Brunette Forsberg-Stastny-Hejduk McCormick-Arnason-Jones Lappy-Guite-Mcleod If Forsberg isn't in the line-up Jaroslav Hlinka (last season's leading scorer in the Czech elite league) will probably be on Third line, with Jones on First and Smyth on Second

What do you base your analysis of their similarities on? I have seen both players for quite some time and thing they are pretty different when it comes to styles. Wolski has much better stick handling skills, has a better shot, better moves, but Hudler is quicker and better at finding openings. Wolski is a much bigger loss than Hudler would be.

With a healthy line-up these teams are equal Last night Theodore was almost puking in his mask while he was playing They lost one of their top line forwards 4 minutes in (Wolski) and had to play with 11 forwards the rest of the game. Hannan (of of their top Shut Down D men) played limited minutes due to an injury. Forsberg one of their top playmakers was out. With all these factors they still came back and probably should have sent the game into OT in the last 8 seconds of the game, except Ozzie made a beast save, and Liles didn't place the shot perfectly.

Wolski will most likely be out the rest of the series with an upper body injury. This is too bad for the Avs as he is a real threat offensively and rounded out the Sakic-Brunette line perfectly. I wouldn't get too excited though as they are probably going to go with Jaroslav Hlinka now who was the Czech elite leagues (best league in Europe) top scorer. He hasn't been great this season, but mostly because of being shuffled around. He is a fast skater with incredible stick handling and great playmaking ability. His only issue is his size and he does seem to be pushed around a bit out there. It will be interesting to see how he fits in.

Please tell me you are joking.

Lines for the Avs: Wolski - Sakic - Brunette Forsberg - Stastny - Hejduk Smyth - Arnason - Jones McCleod - Guite - Laperriere Foote - Sauer Hannan - Liles Leopold - Salei Theo

I think this is because the Avs beat the #3 seed who was the top team in the division and the Wings seemed to struggle against the #8 seed who had 2 of their top forwards out in a game they nearly lost.

Correction, Colorado's power play sucked in REGULAR SEASON. They are currently over 20% in the playoffs so far, which is one of the best out there. I could care less what they did or didn't do before the playoffs, the fact is right now the Power Play is very capable.

You can watch the game online in a variety of ways. Sopcast: PeltVision: sop://broker.sopcast.com:3912/39461 VLC req TVU: VP4: tvu://66289 , lajdas: tvu://67451 Webstream: RichSportsOnline , Versus Direct: mms://a1729.l2168647534.c21686.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/1729/21686/v0001/reflector:54953 Paste the link(s) starting with sop://broker.sopcast.com... into your browser, Sopcast will open automatically. Same procedure required for the TVU links and the Versus Direct link (opens in WMP). VLC req means you'll have to watch the stream through your VLC Player! To use VLC, download VLC at videolan.org and install it , then start the Sopcast stream and let it buffer. Then open VLC, go to Open Network Stream, select HTTP option, and type in 127.0.0.1:8902 (if not working, try port 8912). You MUST leave Sopcast running; closing Sopcast closes the stream. If the stream gives sound in both VLC and Sopcast, mute the sound on Sopcast, or hit the refresh button so the Sopcast screen goes blank, but the VLC screen stays intact. The streams won't start before the game begins!!!

Thats a good point, the Wings do have really good 2 way players on Offense. However I wouldn't discount Colorado's two way ability either. Sakic, Hejduk, Stastny, Guite, Laperriere are some of the most intelligent Hockey wise two way players out there. If Colorado continues to tear it up on the PP and the Wings take too many penalties they are in trouble.

You need to actually back up what you say with some evidence otherwise you sound pretty ignorant. Why do you think Finger isn't good? Why do you think Liles isnt' good, Why is Salei their best? You gotta give some examples. And thinking that Salei is better than Adam Foote pretty much discredits your opinion unless you provide something to back it up.

Osgood is definitely more consistant than Theo...One of the few ways Colorado can blow this series is if Theo falls apart. As far as third and fourth line. If you compare and when you see Ryan Smyth - Arnason - Jones on third line against the Wings third line you will see an obvious slant in grit and scoring ability towards the Avs. In my opinion their third line could be the difference maker in this series...they are pretty damn good.

I think pretty much everyone is picking the Avs to win the series with good reason. The depth of their first three lines is incredible Wolski (one of the top rookies last year, great stick handling and shot) - Sakic - (Beast) - Brunette (one of the best position plalyers in the league, hard along the boards, good infront of the net and already has 3 goals in playoffs this year). Hejduk (one of the best Snipers in the league) - Stastny (Avs leading scorer in regular season and runner-up to Calder last year) - Forsberg (increadible stick handling, playmaking, toughness, etc....) Smyth (Incredible player infront of net, along boards, has recently gotten his game back after being injured) - Arnason (one of the most underrated third line centers, great stick handling and speed) - Jones (very tough, great hands and speed, perfect player to round out the third line). All three of those lines can score on any defensive pairing if they get enough space. I just don't think the Wings have 3 defensive pairs that are strong enough to constantly handle the onslaught of the healthy avalanche club. On the other side of the coin, they have Foote, Salei, Hannan, Leopold on defense who all are really smart defensive players who can also contribute offensively...even Liles and Sauer have been looking great on Defense for the Avs (Note Sauers beautiful 2 on 1 goal in the first game of the Wild series). I think if it was top line verse top line Detroit would have it in the bag, however, the Avs depth just keeps going and going.

You need to back up what you say with some actual evidence or support. Forsberg cannot skate anymore? Where did you get that, did you see him skating circles around the wild, Hejduk never been scary??? What? He is one of the best Snipers in the league. And goonish tactics???? Try actually knowing something about a team before you pretend you know anythingg about them.

Age wise I would have to agree with you...and his speed has slowed down a little bit...but his leadership on and off the ice, his defensive awareness and his clutch performance has never been better.

This is going to be a good series...and anyone here talking smack about Sakic not being the great he was is absurd. In the past month, he scored 2 game tying goals in the last minute of the third period to send the Avs into OT in which they won both games. He got the game winning goal in OT in game 1 of the Quarter Final Series. He lead the Avs in points in the Quarter Finals against the Wild...So yeah, he owns.

You cannot compare a center forward to a defenseman....well I guess you can, but it is completely flawed.