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head coach: Marc Crawford

roster: C - Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Stephane Yelle, Jari Kurri, Tom Fitzgerald. LW - Valeri Kamensky, Rene Corbet, Eric Lacroix. RW - Claude Lemieux, Adam Deadmarsh, Keith Jones, Jeff Odgers, Shean Donovan, Brad Larsen, Warren Rychel. D - Sandis Ozolinsh, Sylvain Lefebvre, Uwe Krupp, Adam Foote, Alexei Gusarov, Jon Klemm, Aaron Miller, Eric Messier, Francois Leroux, Wade Belak. G - Patrick Roy, Craig Billington.

injuries: Wade Belak, d (achy all over, indefinite).

transactions: None.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Colorado   82  39  26  17    95  231  205  
x-Los Angeles82  38  33  11    87  227  225  
x-Edmonton   82  35  37  10    80  215  224  
x-San Jose   82  34  38  10    78  210  216  
Calgary      82  26  41  15    67  217  252  
Anaheim      82  26  43  13    65  205  261  
Vancouver    82  25  43  14    64  224  273  

x - Clinched playoff spot
y - Clinched division

game results:

4/06 Los Angeles     L 3-1
4/11 at Los Angeles  L 4-3
4/13 at Anaheim      T 2-2
4/16 San Jose        W 4-1
4/18 Detroit         W 4-3

team news:

by Greg D’Avis, Colorado Correspondent

Time will tell if the Avalanche's season-ending flurry is a fluke or a strong team rebounding just in time for the playoffs.

After a seven-game winless streak - their worst performance since the really bad days in Quebec - that had them on the ropes, as well as rumors of team-wide dissension, the Avalanche posted two strong performances to hold off the surging Kings (which may have meant the difference between the second seed and fifth seed in the West, and therefore playing the Oilers or the far stronger Blues in the first round) and go into the playoffs on a strong note.

But to reach new heights, one must first falter. And boy, the Avalanche were just faltering all over the place for a while. Once indestructible atop the Pacific, they'd seen the boys in black and silver (and occasionally purple), the Kings, suddenly appear REALLY close in the rearview mirror. With only a few games left, Los Angeles had a chance to overtake Colorado and send the Avalanche tumbling a few notches in the Western Conference.

A (week long) home-and-home with the Kings gave the Avs the opportunity to put the pesky Californians under for good. The first game was tailor-made for a big win - the Avs were steaming mad after their first four-game losing streak since who knows when, they had something to prove, and with the return of Peter Forsberg, they were at full strength. But not full motivation. Old pal Stephane Fiset, who seems to thrive on making things lousy for his old team, shut the offense down completely as the Kings won.

Afterwards, the Avs had a five-day vacation to contemplate life, look at the starry nights, and maybe, just maybe, remember how the hell to play hockey. And trust me, it was a strong, confident team that strode into the Great Western Forum and promptly got behind 4-1, including surrendering two shorthanded goals in less than a minute. The Avs got two back, but spent most of the final period starting fights of frustration and subsequently lost their sixth in a row. Despite outshooting the Kings 43-19, Fiset again outplayed Patrick Roy and things looked even tighter.

So the division championship would wait till another day - perhaps the game against the Ducks, who were missing their two top scorers and their top goalie. And, to the Avalanche's credit - they didn't lose. They just tied. Noted goal scorers Brent Severyn and someone named "F. Banham" - does anyone know who he is besides his parents? - beat Roy.

After the game, Crawford lit into his now-winless-in-seven team - specifically Joe Sakic, Forsberg, Valeri Kamensky and Sandis Ozolinsh, basically the core of his team. The tirade, combined with Claude Lemieux's benching a couple weeks back, heightened rumors of dissension on the team - schisms between Crawford and general manager Pierre Lacroix, as well as the French-speaking portion of the team and the non-Francophones. So all was not well.

Finally, against San Jose - with those pesky Kings still breathing down their necks - the Avalanche looked ready to play. And they came out swinging. The Forsberg-Kamensky-Lemieux line destroyed the Sharks, accounting for every point. The win finally clinched the division and the second seed in the west, and more importantly, for the first time in weeks, the Avalanche looked like a hockey team.

So all that was left was a meaningless game against Detroit - both teams knew their seeds, so who cared, right? It's Colorado-Detroit, man. Even without Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood - both of whom sat - these two teams could just pick players off the street and it would still be a blood match. And even lacking some of the marquee players (including Detroit's Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan), it was still a hell of a game, and while it was chippy and emotional, it lacked the circus atmosphere of previous games (no fighting majors - who'd a thunk?).

Last time these two teams met, Claude Lemieux earned a spot in the doghouse by his non-presence. This time, he started things off right with a first-period goal, then scored again to regain the lead after Detroit tied it up. When Joe Sakic scored at the start of the third, and with backup goalie Craig Billington playing strong, it looked to be all over.

But then Darren McCarty - who seems to thrive on making Colorado fans miserable - scored twice in the final two minutes, once with goalie Kevin Hodson pulled, and all of a sudden Detroit was in control. Avalanche fans were shut down. Tombs get louder. But a mere 15 seconds later, Peter Forsberg - showing that his groin injury was all gone, thanks - took a perfect pass from Kamensky, lifted it past Hodson, and bedlam ensued. The place went crazy, and proved once again that no game between these two teams can be meaningless.

So what does it mean? Sure they beat Detroit - in a game that was for bragging rights and nothing else. But after all the problems, the Avalanche are showing their strengths. Sakic, Forsberg, Lemieux and Kamensky are all going into the playoffs at top form. Except for role player Wade Belak, all players are healthy. And more importantly, in the final two games, the Avalanche showed character in overcoming adversity to win, first the division and then a close one against the Wings. Weaker teams would've rolled over and died after the Wings rallied to tie. Colorado fought back and won.

Miller Time

A forgotten man most of the season, defenseman Aaron Miller has been a frequent player in recent weeks and looked strong doing it. As rookie Eric Messier's ice time has dwindled, Miller's been playing near every game and playing smart and physical. Heavy checks, smart defense and unexpected offense at odd times - Miller, who was the team's best defenseman in the playoffs against the Red Wings last year, has to be making the team glad he wasn't dealt to the Rangers at the deadline.

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