Colorado Avalanche: Playoff Experience Will Make the Difference

One year ago, the Colorado Avalanche had just cleaned out their lockers and were left wondering "What if?"

An improbable stretch run had landed them just one point shy of a playoff berth—a disappointing and seemingly unfair reward for going 15-2-2 to close out the season.

This year, they were determined not to let that happen again. Starting the season, every player and coach knew that the first 10 games would be just as important as the last 10 games.

And now they're back in. After a year-long hiatus, Avalanche fans can finally breathe in that sweet, playoff hockey air that so many had grown accustomed to over the past decade.

The Avalanche open the first round on the road against the Minnesota Wild, winners of five out of eight games during the season series between the two, and first-time division champions.

Yet only three points separate the Wild and the Avs, and the argument could be made that this is one of the most evenly matched first round battles.

Sunday's game at the Pepsi Center was a sneak peak at what is ahead. But it is almost certain that these games, this war, will be different.

The Avalanche are led by Captain Joe Sakic, the longest-tenured captain in the league. His very presence on the ice demands respect, and his patented wrist shot still leaves opposing netminders humbled.

Sakic is joined by a diverse group, ranging from 22-year-old Paul Stastny, who has never played a playoff game in his young career, to Adam Foote and Peter Forsberg, with whom Sakic won a cup on the Avalanche team in 1996 and again in 2001.

In between are the likes of playoff-tested Ruslan Salei, hard-working Ian Laperriere, and multiple scorers who are hungry to bring this team to it's full potential.

Wojtek Wolski is another key for the Avalanche. He has appeared in the playoffs before, but never as a regular in the lineup. He has proven to be a solid offensive producer, and was clutch for the Avs the last time he was in the playoffs, scoring an overtime winner against the Dallas Stars in the first round.

Players like Wolski are the ones Minnesota needs to keep an eye on. If guys like Sakic, Forsberg, and Ryan Smyth are stopped, there are always others like Wolski, Andrew Brunette, and Tyler Arnason who can and will put the puck in the net.

A defensive unit like Minnesota's must have depth and be prepared to handle this group, because you never know where the threat is going to come from.

Losing Nick Schultz to an appendectomy largely hinders that for the Wild. They will have to have someone, or a few players, step up and get the job done or they will be run over.

Andrew Brunette's story is an interesting one. He was a member of the Wild in 2003, when the Avalanche led their first round series three games to one. The Wild came back, forced overtime in game seven, and Brunette scored the series-clinching goal against Patrick Roy—the last goal to be scored on Roy in the NHL.

Terry Frei of the Denver Post asked Brunette if he wanted "to get revenge on... himself?" Brunette replied that he liked the role reversal, but that "it does feel odd doing this again from the other side."

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