Tonight at Joe Louis Arena, the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche will face off once again in one of the NHL's best rivalries, in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal.  The Wings and Avs have met many times during the postseason between the years of 1996-2002.  During this span of time, the Avs have dominated, beating Detroit three times, while winning five Stanley Cups during span.  In the first round of the playoffs, both Detroit and Colorado needed six games to advance to the second round.  Detroit finished the regular season with the best record in the entire NHL.  Also during the regular season the Wings absolutely crushed Colorado.  They won all four meeting, while shutting them out the last three times.  The last time Colorado scored a goal on Detroit was on Dec. 27.

The Avs will have to rely on two key players for this series,  captain Joe Sakic, and goaltender Jose Theodore.  Sakic had 13 goals and 27 assists for 40 points during the regular season.  He also leds the Avalanche with six playoff points, and scored the overtime winner in game 1 against Minnesota.  He will need to stay hot and guide the Avs with his leadership.  In round one, goaltender Jose Theodore also helped the Avs knock off the third-seeded Minnesota Wild, with a good goals against average of 1.88.  Currently Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Avs as +165 underdogs heading into tonights game.

The Red Wings will have to reply on their big guns, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.  Both these guys are tremendously skilled and hard working players.  Datsyuk had an excellent regular season, notching 31 goals and 66 assists.  He also had 3 goals in the first round playoff series against Nashville.  Zetterberg was no slouch either, having 92 points during the regular season.  These two will need to ignite the Detroit offence.  Look for this to be a gritty, rough hard fought series and go the distance. 

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