Predicting it will be a “whale of a series,” an NHL insider told Sports Headliners on Monday that the Minnesota Wild-Colorado Avalanche seven game playoff could be decided by Peter Forsberg. The source, who requested his name not be used, said a healthy Forsberg “tips” the series toward Colorado. “If Colorado wins it will be because Forsberg has a great series,” he said.
Forsberg, 34, has a history of injuries and although he’s expected to play in tonight’s opening game at Xcel Energy Center, that doesn’t guarantee he will be healthy for the entire series. “He makes everyone around him better,” the source said.
Describing him as “such a force,” the insider said Forsberg combines with Joe Sakic, 38, to give Colorado a big time offense. Forsberg was a free agent for most of the 2007-08 season and played just 17 games with the Avs. He had 10 assists in his last four games of the season. Because of hernia surgery, Sakic was on the injured reserve list much of the season, playing in 44 games with 13 goals, 27 assists and 40 points.
The NHL source, a veteran evaluator of talent, said Colorado “may have a little more firepower” than the Wild. Asked about a Minnesota weakness, he said the Wild don’t have “as much scoring depth as some teams.”
He also said Marian Gaborik ranks with the top five or 10 offensive players in the NHL and praised him for scoring “big goals.” He wonders, though, who will score for the Wild if Gaborik, Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston don’t provide the offense.
The source described the Wild, who won its first Northwest Division title this season, as the best team in franchise history. In addition to veterans like Gaborik, Demitra and Rolston, he likes this Wild team, too, because of improved young players Brent Burns, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu. The team has become physical and “nasty” with enforcers including Chris Simon, according to the source.
Then, too, the Wild have his respect because of goalie Niklas Backstrom. He said Backstrom at times during the 2006-07 season played like the “best goalie” in the NHL and now “looks like himself again.”
The NHL insider likes Colorado’s goalie, Jose Theodore, too. His stats include a 2.44 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Backstrom’s numbers: 2.31 and .920.
In the conservative, defensive style of the playoffs the outcome often is decided by goaltending. The source expects that style to dominate in the Wild-Avs series, partly because Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire is an advocate of controlled play.
Although the Wild will have home ice advantage in the series against the Avs who finished second in the Northwest Division, the scout doesn’t think it’s “crucial” that Minnesota win all its games at Xcel Energy Center. He said home ice usually isn’t that important in the NHL. An exception, though, would be the Wild playing at Calgary where they are 3-15-4 in franchise history. “That’s going to haunt you,” the source said.