Okay, first of all, I'm proud to announce that I've been meeting with a psychologist for the past two days and major progress has been made. I'm no longer superstitious about goalie names. The therapist helped me to realize that not saying the name(s) of the Avalanche goalie in the past two game threads didn't do jack to prevent the Red Wings from scoring a crap ton of goals. So I'm over it. Feel free to compliment Jose Theodore (or attack him) in the thread, as MHH no longer believes in silly things like superstitions.
As for Theodore, I still think Budaj should get the start tonight, but I understand the other side, and the ESPN preview (linked below) suggests that Theodore was indeed still sick in game 2, so both of his consecutive meltdowns may have been due to fever and nausea and not a simple reversion to his 2007 self. Of course, that begs the question, why the hell did Coach Q let him play? But whatever. That's in the past.
Tonight's game is the present, and Theodore will be back in net. Hopefully the team doctor returns his Pimp Cane and the shutting down of the Red Wings offense can finally get underway.
Peter Forsberg is still a maybe, as always, and at this point I don't care. If he plays, great, if not, whatever. If he doesn't, though, don't expect to see Jaroslav Hlinka on the ice again. TJ Hensick skated with the team in practice yesterday and it wouldn't shock me to see him in the lineup. Not that it would help, since he grew up a Detroit fan and could very well be a traitor in our midst. If he scores a goal against the Wangs, I'll put my suspicions aside.
Finally, Coach Q says there's a chance that Scott Hannan will return tonight, which means he probably won't return. Jeff Finger was somewhat serviceable in game 2, so I assume he will continue to fill the open spot if necessary, only this time when he hits somebody maybe it will actually break up a play or two. His four hits on Saturday didn't do jack to stop the Detroit onslaught.
UPDATE: Seriously, what next? Even though Coach Q said Ryan Smyth's no-show in practice yesterday was nothing to worry about (link above), Helene St. James at Freep.com reports that Smytty will miss tonight's game with a foot injury. Holy god kill me now.
It hasn't been a good week for Denver sports. The Avs are down two games to none, the Nuggets just got swept by the Lakers, and the Rockies have lost four in a row and have one of the worst records in baseball. In the NFL draft, the Broncos oh my god I don't care about football. Anyway, a rough week for Denver.
Can the Avs turn it around? For the love of Roy, please let them win this game. Getting beat again might drive me to drink for the first time in twelve years, and as Bill Bixby used to say, "you wouldn't like me when I'm drunky."
So let's get a decent game 3 thread going. Remember, goalie names are not off-limits tonight, Detroit fans will be deleted/banned if they're hostile (it's my house, my rules), and for the love of god, don't feed the trolls.
The game is a late one tonight, starting at 8:00 PM Mountain time, 10:00 PM Eastern and will be on Versus after the Penguins get done beating the Rangers again. That Chris Drury is such a diver.
ESPN preview.