Wild vs. Avalanche

By virtue of the Wild's 4-3 shootout loss to Colorado on Sunday, they will host the Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs starting on Wednesday. It will be the first time these division rivals have met in the playoffs since 2003, when the Wild stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Avalanche in 7 games en route to the Western Conference finals. For many Minnesota fans, seeing Colorado is a relief considering the other potential matchup was Calgary, a team that has owned the Wild during the year in winning 6 of 8 contests. But it may be a situation where you have to be careful what you wish for. The Wild went 5-2-1 versus the Avalanche during the year but many of those wins came while the Avalanche had key players out due to injury. Colorado is now healthy and they are a franchise that is no stranger to the playoffs.

Led by potential future Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg, along with young stud Paul Stastny, the Avalanche are loaded with firepower up front, even though the numbers tell a different story. Colorado finished 15th in the NHL in goals and next to last in Power Play %, but they had to deal with the aforementioned injuries and have only had Forsberg on board for 14 games after he elected to return to the NHL. Both Sakic and Forsberg have hoisted a Cup before and are notorious for strong playoff performances. Stastny is one of the NHL's brightest young stars after posting 71 points in only 64 games. The fantastic trio is complimented by veteran sniper Milan Hejduk's 29 goals and the Avalanche have enough offense to make a run in the postseason. The goaltending duo of Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj is solid if unspectacular, and whomever gets the nod is unlikely to carry the Avs to a series victory. Colorado is a good matchup for the Wild but this series has all the makings of a 6 or 7 game battle. After being physically manhandled by the Ducks in last year's first round, the Wild added much needed toughness with the additions of Todd Fedoruk, Sean Hill, and Chris Simon. Hopefully the Wild take a page out of the Ducks playbook and punish a skilled Colorado team with physical play, a trait often synonymous with a deep playoff run.