The list of potential round two opponents has been narrowed down to two, and we have a lot of history with both clubs. Calgary and San Jose are playing game 7 on Tuesday night. We won't play either team in the next round, but that outcome will determine our opponent. If San Jose wins, we're headed to Motown. If Calgary wins, we're going to Dallas.
It's certainly not surprising that we'd see either team. This is the 12th season the team has been in Denver, and will be the 10th time the Avalanche have faced either the Stars or the Wings in the playoffs (in what will be their 27th series). We've gotten past the first round 9 times; in those 9 postseasons the Cup year of 2001 is the only time we haven't seen one of those two teams at one point.
Overall, we're 2-2 against Dallas and 3-2 against Detroit. Strangely (or coincidentally), we're 1-4 against the Wings and Stars in Conference Finals, but 4-0 against them in the first or second round.
With the Stars, we'd have another tight series much like our first round series. I think we have a better chance of beating Dallas (not a knock on the Stars as much as it is praise for the Wings), but, frankly, there's a big part of me that is anxious to see how our team would do against the Wings. While I'm a tad weary of resurrecting a rivalry that hasn't been a "blood feud" for years, I personally would like to throw our team out there against the best and see what happens. Even if it means enduring the media blowing the rivalry way out of proportion for the umpteenth time.