The Avalanche completed a remarkable turnaround regular season under first-year coach Patrick Roy on Sunday night with a 3-2 overtime loss in Anaheim and will open first-round Stanley Cup playoff action Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center.
One year after finishing last in the Western Conference and next-to-last in the overall NHL standings, the Avalanche posted a 52-22-8 record and 112 points to win the Central Division title and the No. 2 conference playoff seed behind the Ducks (53-20-8, 116 points).
Not too shabby.
"This is outstanding. We couldn't ask for any better," Roy told reporters after Sunday's game. "This is probably the most surprising division championship that this team ever had. Nobody expected to see us where we are, to finish ahead of Chicago and St. Louis. It is something very special. From the get-go our guys came to camp and they were ready and they wanted to be different and they wanted to see a change.
"They played hard. Every day they've been jumping on the ice, they are working hard, they're focused and they wanted to have a good year and they certainly deserve a lot of credit for what they've been doing and it certainly makes us coaches extremely proud of them.
"There's two key words for us: trust and respect. Everybody's been trusting each other, everybody's been respecting each other and we respect the game. We had a good start and here we are 82 games later, No. 1 in our division and second in the conference."
The division title is the first for the Avalanche since 2002-03, Roy's final season as a player. The Avalanche finished first in the Northwest Division that season with a 42-19-13-8 record and 105 points. Colorado lost to the Wild in the first round of the playoffs after taking a 3-1 series lead, losing 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 on a goal by Andrew Brunette.
The Avalanche has home-ice advantage for the first time since 2003-04 when it finished second in the division and defeated Dallas in a five-game series before losing in six games in the second round to San Jose.
The Avalanche this year tied the franchise record for wins in a season with 52, originally set in 2000-01, and set a franchise record with 26 road wins. Colorado's 56 road points were the most in the NHL this season and its 112 points are the second-highest total in team history.
The Avalanche went 4-0-1 against the Wild this season, but every game was close. Colorado won 3-1 Nov. 29 at Minnesota and 3-2 in a shootout Nov. 30 at the Pepsi Center; lost 2-1 in a shootout Dec. 14 at the Pepsi Center; won 4-2 at Minnesota on Jan. 11 and 5-4 on Jan. 30 at the Pepsi Center.
The Wild put on a late-season push, going 6-0-1 before losing 7-3 Sunday to Nashville in a meaningless game. Minnesota finished fourth in the Central Division with a 43-27-12 record and 98 points. The top five teams in the division are in the playoffs.
Here's the schedule (best-of-seven):
April 17, Thursday -- at Colorado 7:30 MDT April 19, Saturday -- at Colorado 7:30 MDT April 21, Monday -- at Minnesota 5 MDT April 24, Thursday -- at Minnesota 7:30 MDT April 26, Saturday -- at Colorado TBD April 28, Monday -- at Minnesota TBD April 30, Wednesday -- at Colorado TBD
Defenseman Jan Hejda sustained an upper-body injury in the second period and didn't return. His status for Game 1 won't be known until at least Tuesday since the Avalanche will have Monday off.
Roy said center John Mitchell (concussion) won't be available at the start of the series -- "I'd be very surprised," he said -- but that defenseman Tyson Barrie (upper body) and left wing Cody McLeod (sprained ankle) will play. There was no word on center Matt Duchene, who hurt his left knee March 29 against St. Louis and missed the final eight regular-season games. He was originally expected to be out for about four weeks and it will be 19 days since he got hurt on Thursday when the series opens.
*****
Brad Malone and Stefan Elliott, who played in his first NHL game this season following his recall from Lake Erie of the AHL, scored to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead. Patrick Maroon and Saku Koivu tied the game with third-period goals and Nick Bonino won it at 1:33 of overtime.
Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere went the distance in what probably was the final regular-season game of his NHL career. Giguere, who is expected to retire this summer, made 33 saves against the Ducks, the team he backstopped to the Stanley Cup in 2007. Giguere won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003 when the Ducks lost to New Jersey in the Stanley Cup final.
“I’ve had the best time of my life playing here,… Giguere told reporters. “Winning the Cup here was something I’ll never forget. It was a very special night. Whenever I come here, it feels like coming home. And it was nice to show my kids where they were born, so they were very excited about that."
As for retirement: "I haven’t announced it officially,… he said. “I’m definitely leaning toward that way. But for me, the focus is the playoffs and when the time comes we’ll decide what’s next.…
After the game, classy Ducks star forward Teemu Selanne, who has said this would be his last season, escorted his former teammate Giguere around the Honda Center rink and they received a rousing ovation.
"I was so happy for him to play that game," said Roy, who called Giguere after Detroit defeated St. Louis to clinch the division for the Avalanche, telling him he'd play against the Ducks. "He wanted to play that game for a while. It's nice to see the reaction of the fans. He did so well for this franchise. It's nice to see what Teemu did with him as well, bringing him on the ice and doing a lap with him. I thought that was very special."