Floppa back to Colorado? According to Dever Post...

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

"Peter Forsberg, won't you please come home?

Forsberg broke Colorado's heart. Again.

He came back to town for the first time as a visiting player, and halted a remarkable late-season playoff drive by his former team, bumping the Avs from the playoffs for the first time since they moved to Denver in 1995.

So one impossible dream ended for the Avs, with a 4-2 loss to Forsberg and Nashville.

But let an even better hockey fantasy for Colorado fans begin.

Can you envision Forsberg wearing an Avs sweater again?

He can.

With that wry smile you certainly remember and the twinkle in his eyes that made "Foppa" so beloved in Colorado, Forsberg told me late Saturday night he is receptive to the idea of returning to the Avs next season.

"I have to decide if I'm going to keep on playing, first," said Forsberg, whose injury-plagued career was never more frustrating than this year, when his troublesome right foot sometimes made it too painful to even lace up his skates. But he emphasized giving it another go in the NHL has definitely not been ruled out.

If Forsberg can return to full health, he'd also like to mend the hearts that were broken when the Avalanche let him go as a free agent in 2005.

At age 33, with his contract again ready to expire, he looks at Denver as one place that could entice him to leave his homeland of Sweden and return to the world's No. 1 hockey league for a 12th season.

"It's one of the destinations, if I'm going to play in the NHL, that I would think about. Definitely," said Forsberg, when asked directly if he would consider coming back to Colorado.

On a night when winning is all that mattered to the Avs, the franchise paused in the opening period to salute Forsberg, a member of both teams that brought the Stanley Cup to Colorado.

During a break from action on the ice, Colorado management showed a video montage of Forsberg highlights, then generously allowed 17,462 fans in the arena to give him a standing ovation.

"I was really touched," Forsberg said. "All I can say is great words for this organization and this city."

Think maybe the Avs were trying to recruit Forsberg?

And "Foppa" can still work magic with a simple wave of his stick.

Needing nothing less than a victory against Nashville to keep their long ago left for dead playoff hopes alive, the Avs carried a 2-1 lead into the final period, only to watch Forsberg make that advantage go poof and disappear.

On what proved to be the game-winning goal by Predators teammate Paul Kariya, Forsberg made a sweet pass so beautiful it could have brought tears of nostalgia and regret to anyone in the house.

Were you watching, Pierre Lacroix?

Up in the owner's box, Stan Kroenke sat sipping a glass of red wine. For a billionaire who builds new sporting facilities and can afford to invest in pro franchises from St. Louis to jolly old England, how much could it hurt to give Forsberg one more contract?

Despite the emergence of young players such as goalie Peter Budaj and center Paul Stastny, not to mention a 14-1-2 record in a stretch of 17 games that almost got the Avs back in the playoffs, this team did not do enough for anyone to feel this team deserved a postseason berth.

"We fought hard, and tried to hang in there, but we fell short," said captain Joe Sakic, sure to be more frustrated when he learned hapless Edmonton beat Calgary, the team Colorado was chasing for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs.

The Avs can look in the newspaper this morning and see the 93 points next to their name in the standings. No team in league history has done so much and not qualified for the postseason.

But any way the Avs do the math, they're out, Calgary is in and the folks in Hockeytown can breathe easy, knowing their beloved Detroit Red Wings have dodged a date with Colorado in the opening round.

"It's great to be back," said Forsberg, genuinely sorry his return contributed to Colorado's demise. Denver still feels like home.

"Sometimes, you don't know what you have until you leave," Forsberg said. "We'll see what happens."

If there is a hockey god, "Foppa" will be skating again next season. And it will be in Colorado, where he belongs."

- Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post

Ok, I can understand the pain of losing a player like Floppa, but geez, move on already.

And, if they were to win, how would a Wings/Avs series have played out? Should we be breathing easy? Or would the Wings have mercifully ended the Avs season quickly? I guess we'll never know now.

Edited April 8, 2007 by Hockeytown0001

[Viperar 16]

interesting

[Airborn 0]

interesting

Classy move by the orginization and fans to give him a standing ovation.

[KronwallCRUNCH 5]

::yawn::

Floppa's career is close to over- I do like the timing of this article though, could be a nice distraction in the Nashville locker room

[Vincanni 1]

Not gonna look into this too strongly, whether Floppa really wants to come back to Colorado is yet to be seen. He said he might not even play and then only suggested it's one of many possible destinations, for all we know he was just being diplomatic. Do you really think he'd tell a Colorado intervieweing "Nope, not gonna come back to Denver, screw you guys."

As for breathing a sigh of relief, I believe 75%, maybe more of our fans (myself included) wanted them instead of Calgary.

Edited April 8, 2007 by Vincanni

[Creasemonkey 30]

A good number of us were pulling for the Avs, actually. Purely for the reason that they don't have the goaltending that Calgary does, and we've all seen that goaltending can absolutely carry a team in the playoffs. Kipper beat us almost single handedly last time. This writer is slightly delusional that anybody would have rather had Calgary. That said, Kipper doesn't have the team in front of him that he did last time we faced them, and we also don't have the team that couldn't solve him. Wings in 6. And if it had been the Avs, it would have been Wings in 5. That's about the only difference.

[Zetter is Better 0]

A good number of us were pulling for the Avs, actually. Purely for the reason that they don't have the goaltending that Calgary does, and we've all seen that goaltending can absolutely carry a team in the playoffs.

And because we would have maybe reheated the rivalry and beat them.

[Guest Tunbo Batman]

wow, this reporter obviously makes hot, wet manlove with Forsberg on a regular basis (in his head).

reality check : we don't care about Forsberg anymore. he's 90% done.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

let him. i hope he screws up the whole locker room atmosphere and chemistry. then i hope he leaves, showing that nashville paid WAY too much.

The Preds will be really pissed if Forsberg sucks and leaves after giving up so much, I personally think it'll be very funny.

[StevieBoy 2]

First off, he probably should not come back to any team next year. His injury history is fact of that. He doesn't actually play with a team enough to make enough of a contribution.

Second, Nashville will probably try to hold on to him.

Third, because of #1 above any team would be insane to pick him up.

Fourth, attendance and excitement for the Avs in Denver is at an alltime low. WIth them out of the playoffs it could get bad. I think this is an attempt by the local media to try to get the fans excited at a time when their team missed the playoffs for the first time, are not going to games in the masses they were previously, and are letting season tickets expire.

[betterREDthandead 58]

First off, he probably should not come back to any team next year. His injury history is fact of that. He doesn't actually play with a team enough to make enough of a contribution.

he's 90% done

BS. Take off the red-tinted goggles. Forsberg played in 57 games this year and racked up 55 points. I'd say that not only is he in the lineup more often than not, he's still a very high-level contributor.

[ChelisChick 174]

According to the Tennessean interview with Forsberg after Thursday's game, he said he was planning on taking the entire summer to decide whether to continue playing or not.

I would love to see him come back to the Preds, but I don't think that will happen. If he feels like he can play for one more season, I imagine he would like to finish his career in Denver. And I can't blame him for that.

Kinda OT, but there was a scary moment at the Preds/Blues game Thursday. Foppa went down against the boards after a pretty hard check and his ankle twisted up underneath him. You could've heard a pin drop in the arena when he limped back to the bench.

Edited April 8, 2007 by ChelisChick

[BlueMonk 102]

But any way the Avs do the math, they're out, Calgary is in and the folks in Hockeytown can breathe easy, knowing their beloved Detroit Red Wings have dodged a date with Colorado in the opening round.

This is pretty funny. I'd say a sound majority of Red Wings fans was pulling for Colorado to grab the 8th spot. Really bush league reporting by Kiszla, not that I'd expect anything else.

[Guest Tunbo Batman]

lol, wow this guy is real delusional. OH NOES NOT T3H Powerhouse Colorado!!!!! ruuuuun!!!!!

lol.

[Viperar 16]

This is pretty funny. I'd say a sound majority of Red Wings fans was pulling for Colorado to grab the 8th spot. Really bush league reporting by Kiszla, not that I'd expect anything else.

sometimes i see the avs as a little brother who you love to mix it up with, but all in all theyre kinda family in a sense too due to rivalry

[Elshupacabra 0]

why in the hell do they call him Foppa? I've never really understood that one

EDIT: Nevermind, I looked it up,

Forsberg is (like many other Forsbergs) well-known in Sweden by the nickname "Foppa", which contrary to popular belief does not have any definite meaning like "puck wizard", but is just a Swedish hypocoristic of his last name.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Elshupacabra