In my house, the hockey season ends when the Avalanche stop playing. While I haven't watched any hockey since May 1st, I'm told there's still some rogue teams out there playing some exhibition games for some little silver trophy. And I wonder if we need to re-evaluate the Avs postseason a bit because of what's happening in the NHL.
The Red Wings - you know, the team that unceremoniously ripped the Avs to shreds in round two - seem to be rolling over the Dallas Stars in the Conference Finals. The Wings have won 9 straight games in the playoffs. If Dominik Hasek hadn't decided to take a couple of mid-game siestas, the Wings could conceivably be carrying a perfect record in the postseason, which would have been a completely different take on Ray Bourque's old "16W" t-shirts.
If the Wings keep this up, does it change our opinion of the 2007-2008 Avalanche...or of the coaching job by Joel Quenneville? Avalanche fans have such a bitter taste in our mouths after getting stomped by Detroit and it seemed like overnight the team shifted from Cup contender to a team in need of a rebuild. Against the Wild, the Avs seemed very much like a team capable of a Cup run. Four humiliating losses was all it took to toss that positive outlook out the window.
Now that the Wings are manhandling another solid team, does it paint the Avs in a bit better light? It's looking more and more like there isn't another NHL team that can compete with Detroit (and yes, it's painful to write that). Should we be cutting the Avalanche - and Quenneville - a bit of a break, especially considering all the injuries we suffered?