DENVER – The Detroit Red Wings visit the Colorado Avalanche at Denver’s Coors Field on Saturday. The outdoor game looms large for two teams preparing for a playoff push.
The Avalanche appear in their first outdoor game in team history, while the Red Wings are old hands at this, last having appeared in the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium.
Both team
s provide intriguing storylines, not only for this match-up, but also for the rest of the stretch run.
The host team currently holds the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, though their division mates the Minnesota Wild are hot on their heels. The Central has proven to be a gauntlet of a division for the past three years and this year is proving no exception. With Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis comfortably settled into the division’s three guaranteed playoff spots, and Winnipeg lagging behind, the Avs find themselves in a three-team fight for the two wild card slots.
Minnesota and Nashville both seem formidable in this race. After a down year last season, the Avs hope to bounce back and prove that coach Patrick Roy’s formula can bring a Stanley Cup to Denver.
Semyon Varlamov – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Colorado boasts a ton of talent, on the ice, behind the bench and in the front office, where Joe Sakic runs the show. The team was able to draft well after down years, bringing in such young talent as Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog. The additions of goaltender Semyon Varlamov and winger Jarome Iginla gave the Avs steady veterans at key spots. Their division has given them no favors, however, as the Central seems to want to swallow up both wild card slots in the Western Conference.
Detroit, on the other hand, seems in no danger of relinquishing their postseason streak, even after a move to the Eastern Conference.
Henrik Zetterberg – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Red Wings have their core in place, with players such as Pavel Datsyuk and captain Henrik Zetterberg showing the youngsters what is expected of them in Detroit. The team has been able to bring in a wealth of young talent, led by Dylan Larkin, the 19-year-old American. A key member of the Red Wings, Larkin will probably be one of the leaders of the young North American team in the World Cup of Hockey. His experience on the Coors Field ice should serve him well on that stage later this year.
The renewal of this great rivalry on the outdoor stage in Denver will be quite the spectacle. Both teams are looking to revisit the heights of the glory years of this match-up, with both teams having hoisted the Cup multiple times in the late 90s and early 2000s. Tomorrow’s game, combined with tonight’s alumni game, should be a nice start to what both squads envision as a long playoff run this season.
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