I know we're all very busy people here, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. Chris Osgood says there's not going to be a goalie fight between the Avs and the Wings.
I'm glad Mitch Albom thought to ask.
The Wings beat the Avs in game one, with Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood starting over Dom Hasek. Osgood was everything I've said he is: just good enough to not lose. And really, I think that's better than being a goalie like Hasek, who will blow games just as easily as he'll save them.
Of course, Colorado went into the game with some medical issues, and left with a few more. Peter Forsberg and Wojtek Wolski both missed game one and goalie Jose Theodore left the game sick.
Last night's Flyers loss to the Habs taught Philadelphia something about what I like to call the Kharma of Officiating. Also, the fans in Montreal have to be pretty rough, if people from Philadelphia are shocked by them. At least there were no car fires last night.
Also, over with the Dallas Stars, everyone finally seems to be convinced goalie Marty Turco won't freak out in the playoffs. Let's see how he does when the Sharks set up behind his net and just keep cycling the puck within two feet of his net, though.
Also, I don't get Sean Avery.

Here are some quick notes:

• Franchise goalie turned bench decoration Olie Kolzig is still pretty pissed at the Caps. Also, coach Bruce Boudreau signed some kind of contract extension. Kolzig would be a great coach. I don't see him joining the Washington staff, though. Assuming he decides to retire.
• Speaking of losing teams and goalie-related anger, the Flames players are supposedly mad at coach Mike Keenan for pulling goalie Miikka Kiprusoff late in the second period of a 4-2 game. Apparently, none of the Flames had ever heard of Keenan's signature coaching move. Seriously, though. When is Darryl Sutter coming back to the bench?
• Speaking of goalies, Jacques Demers writes what we all know to be true: hot goalies save teams in the playoffs. He also says great goalies make coaches look good. Which is almost the conceptual opposite of the Keenan Formula of switching goalies every 10 periods, no matter how they're playing.
• When will it not be considered news that siblings often play on different teams? The Rangers-Pittsburgh series features Staal against Staal. But given the number of Staals in the NHL, I think it's way more newsworthy when there's a game not featuring some combination of Staal.

When aging NHL superstars sign with teams in nice climates, I tend to think they're career is pretty much over. Look at Brett Hull in Phoenix. Look at Jeremy Roenick in Phoenix.
Of course, Roenick decided his career wasn't over and ended up unretiring to sign with the Sharks. After sitting out game six, Roenick put together a four-point night that led the Sharks to clinch a semifinal playoff spot.
How did Roenick end up with two goals and two assists? Coach Ron Wilson's text message told him to.
Also, it seems coach Ron Wilson was the first coach to get Roenick to focus on hockey, rather than his career, the media, his next controversial statement, etc. And a lot of people zeroed in on Roenick as a sleeper playoff factor after he scored 10 game-winning goals during the regular season.
Meanwhile, over in Calgary, the autopsy begins. Was it coaching? Was it goaltending? Was it the new uniforms? Or was it the usual Calgary issue of not enough offense beyond Jarome Iginla?
Over in DC, Joffrey Lupul showed, in overtime no less, the value of playoff experience. The Caps also got a wonderful lesson in playoff officiating, as a tripping call led to the game-winner.
Also, starter-turned-backup goalie Olie Kolzig seems done with the Caps, having removed his nameplate from his locker after the Caps final game. If the Caps can't sign unrestricted free agent goalie Cristobal Huet, this could be Washington's last visit to the playoffs for quite a while. How sad is Kolzig's exit? This is a guy who would have captained the team, had goalies been allowed to wear the C. This should have been one of the best seasons of Kolzig's career. Washington threw away a lot by pushing him out and it doesn't seem like they got very much in return.

Obviously, Alex Ovechkin was having kind of a quiet series against the Flyers. Of course, when this guy finds an opportunity, he really finds an opportunity. He scored the game-winner off a turnover in the Caps end. The Flyers had led the game by two goals and this was the second game where the Flyers coughed-up a two-goal lead.
Mike Wise credits Flyers coach Bruce Boudreau for keeping the Caps calmly motivated, even as they fell behind three games to one. He also credits the spirit of Dale Hunter, which is nice. I think it's more an issue of Ovechkin finally adjusting his game. He saw you can't really make your own plays in the playoffs, so he's just playing smart and waiting for chances, rather than trying to force something to happen.
Game seven should be pretty crazy.
Also, Montreal finally finished the Bruins. As Bob Ryan says, the Bruins should really be impressed they made it as far as they did. No one expected this series to be as tight as it was. Ryan also says the series really lifted the profile of the Bruins in Boston, which is pretty impressive. I guess the epic collapse of the Patriots to the Giants opened up some room in people's hearts.

Wow. Helene Elliott at the LA Times really came out swinging this morning, the day after Anaheim was bounced out of the first round of the playoffs:

When [Scott] Niedermayer returned and General Manager Brian Burke had to make salary-cap space for him this season and next, Burke had to choose between trading center Andy McDonald or defenseman Mathieu Schneider. He dealt McDonald, the team's top playoff goal scorer last spring, so he could keep his defense intact.

That was the wrong decision, not only because the Ducks lost McDonald's playmaking and scoring but because Schneider is incurably soft and untrustworthy defensively.

I see Elliott's point about the Anaheim defense as a whole, but I'm not sure you can pin the whole collapse on Schneider. The guy won a Cup with Montreal. He must have done something right at some point. To me, the defensive breakdown(s) speak more to coaching than a specific player.
Also, over in Detroit, the Wings made it out of the first round. How did it happen? There were a lot of factors, but everyone pretty much seems to agree the Hasek-ectomy made the biggest difference.
Also, Larry Brooks reports the NHL is looking into eliminating the Gretzky-esque jersey tuck, and a bunch of other minor pieces of flair, as the league looks to completely standardize uniforms. I'm wondering if anyone running the NHL remembers Gretzky started tucking his jersey to keep players from grabbing it and bringing him down. Which is the same reason many current NHLers wear their jerseys the same way. Which is to say, the jersey tuck encourages offense, which the league is supposed to be interested in. It's a strange move.