Looking forward to what I hope can be a long run for the Avs in the playoffs.
Several reasons to think the Avalanche can do well this postseason:
1. Jose Theodore has played extremely well since the calendar turned to 2008 and it seems like there have been very few soft goals against since he became the undisputed number one goalie. Give credit to the Avs team defense for limiting scoring chances most nights and more specifically to the defensive corps that has gotten bigger and meaner since Adam Foote and Ruslan Salei came over at the trade deadline.
2. The balance we have on the forward lines is better than any time in the last two seasons. Stastny's line with Hejduk and the guy from Ornskoldsvik, Sweden have to be as hot as any line in the league right now. They seem to get solid scoring chances on almost every shift and have put up lots of points recently. When Joe Sakic is centering your second line, that just means headaches for any opponent while the third line has scoring punch and the checking line of Guite, Lappy, and McLeod can't be much fun to play against.
3. When you consider that Marek Svatos was leading the team in goal scoring when he was lost for the season a couple months ago and arguably their best defenseman to that point in the season was Brett Clark who has also missed the last two moinths of the season and won't return for the playoffs, the Avalanche might be as healthy as they have been all season.
4. The Avs were able to coax Peter Forsberg to come back to see if he still had the magic....after playing in only nine games down the stretch, Iwould say the answer has been a resounding YES. He again sits out for nearly an entire calendar year and come back looking like he had never missed a beat.
All these things could (nothing surprises me in the playoffs) point to an extended playoff run for the Avalanche this year.
GOOD LUCK & GO AVS !!