This was ugly.
An embarrassment.
It needed a mercy rule half way through.
I know the Avs were hurting real bad and never really had a chance to avoid getting swept tonight. But they were still at home, in front of fans who have been exceptionally supportive over the years. And they knew that it might be franchise icon Joe Sakic's last game.
The least Colorado could have done was show up. Get the puck once in a while. Maybe close up a lane instead of opening it. If nothing else, the Avs could have made the Red Wings work rather than checking their watches to see how long until they could leave. They were probably trying to bore Detroit into submission, which wasn't a bad idea since the Red Wings put the game out of reach before it was 30 minutes old.
That's a bummer for Colorado goalie Jose Theodore, who is in his contract year. He wasn't the No. 1 at the start of the season, but he won the job back half way through and then seemed to set himself up for a nice new deal with a great stretch run to the playoffs and first round against Minnesota.
But Theodore came undone in the second round, which he began while suffering the effects of the flu. That might be part of the reason he looked so beatable, but when it comes time to negotiate, the lingering impression will be his final game of the season when he was pulled for the third time in the series.
It won't matter that Detroit is a very good team playing exceptionally well these days. Or that against the Avs, who were missing Peter Forsberg, Ryan Smyth adn Paul Stastny, they looked like King Kong trampling through the streets of the city. Theodore wasn't good.
But he didn't have much help. The Red Wings essentially toyed with Colorado in the 8-2 finale win. They seemed to always have the puck on their sticks and Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk created scoring chances almost at will. Then there was Johan Franzen, who scored three times to finish the series with an amazing nine goals.
Overwhelming is the best way to describe it. Detroit's next opponent will obviously be better than the depleted Avs were, but if the Red Wings can keep their at this level or even close, they'll be tough to beat from here on in.
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To be fair, it was kind a brutal game to watch after while- so brutal in fact that some of the diehard Wings fans on the realtime game blog actaually expressed a bit of remorse for Colorado. But I reminded them that in 1996 we had just as many injuries on our first two lines. Yzerman's back, Draper out with broken jaw,face etc... - we were beat to hell, and we stayed in the game and the series.
The Avs can hide behind the "injury" excuse all they want, we know the truth- It is an embarrassment that Colorado caved in on themselves like the volitile snow they purport to be. The real question is: Was that game the end of an era? I started this series, emotionally wiped from Nashville, and thinking there was no way I could take 7 close games with Colorado- and By the end of last night, I thought the only way I could relive favorite rivalry is on Youtube.
GO Wings!