L.A. Is Merely Fodder for Colorado

Heavy snow is in the forecast for Denver today. And if that’s not an omen for the Colorado Avalanche, then there’s no such thing.

You don’t need a weather report to know the Avalanche is rolling downhill fast, building into a terrifying mass, burying everyone and everything in its path. The Avalanche wiped out the Kings, 3-0, in Game 4 on Wednesday at Staples Center, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

“I’m very happy with the way things are going for our team,” Colorado goalie Patrick Roy said in your basic understatement. “The first period [Wednesday] was not our best, but we rebounded in the second and third. It’s the way we’ve played all year, eh? Very patient hockey.”

The Avalanche will not be stopped Friday in Game 5. This series is history. Bring on the St. Louis Blues, who lead the Dallas Stars by three games to none in the other Western Conference semifinal.

Come to think of it, never mind the Blues. Bring on the New Jersey Devils, most prognosticators’ favorites to emerge from the Eastern Conference. Let’s skip the conference finals and go directly to the Stanley Cup finals.

At this rate, the Avalanche will soon be hoisting its second Cup since relocating from Quebec City before the 1995-96 season. In the end, the Kings were merely a tuneup for the Avalanche, which is well on its way to bigger and better things.

Question is, can the Avalanche get better?

“We’re not overconfident,” Coach Bob Hartley said. “We’re playing good hockey, but so are the Kings.”

Colorado certainly was not flawless in Game 1 of this series, losing in overtime to the Kings, 4-3. Roy was horrible, giving up three soft goals. He responded by shutting out the Kings in Games 2 and 4.

Center Joe Sakic, who will receive a healthy number of votes for the league’s most-valuable-player award, did not play in Game 4 because of a bum shoulder. Expect more from a healthy Sakic in the next round.

Defenseman Ray Bourque, 40, ticketed for the Hall of Fame, has been almost invincible on the blue line. His hunger for his first Cup title in his 22nd NHL season is evident. It will undoubtedly grow as the Avalanche advances.

But there is so much more to the Avalanche, so much depth and skill that it’s difficult to imagine a repeat of their Game 7 losses in the conference finals to Dallas the last two seasons.

Center Peter Forsberg worked his magic with the puck, making the most of his few chances in this series. Forsberg is the league leader with 13 playoff points, which includes an assist Wednesday.

Defenseman Rob Blake hasn’t been the impact player we’ve come to know--at least in this series, anyway. Look for Blake to improve his play in the next round. He can be more effective on the power play and, certainly, will be more at ease to land heavy checks against unfamiliar opponents rather than his old buddies with the Kings.

Forwards Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay skated into the spotlight in Games 3 and 4, more than making up for Sakic’s absence Wednesday.

Drury lifted a backbreaking goal over King goalie Felix Potvin late in the pivotal second period in Game 4. Hejduk and Tanguay also scored goals. In Game 3, Drury was blanked, but Hejduk had a goal and two assists and Tanguay had two assists.

The plain fact is that few teams can match the Avalanche’s depth. The Devils come close in terms of all-around talent and experience, and goalie Martin Brodeur might some day erase Roy’s playoff records for victories (128), shutouts (17) and games (204).

The raw figures are impressive, to be sure. But what has stood out most of all in the Avalanche-King series has been the efficiency with which Colorado has played. And won.

There’s no question, Colorado is capable of keeping 18,000 fans on the edges of their seats with flashy plays. But the Avalanche has showed in this series that it can win by playing a grinding style you would expect to see from an expansion team.

In the final analysis, this series has resembled a man playing tennis against his garage door. The man makes all sorts of terrific shots, but the door wins every single time because it cannot make a mistake. It is flawless.

Colorado absorbed all sorts of potentially crushing blows in the first four games and emerged victorious three times. Instead of knocking itself out to create scoring chances, the Avalanche has waited for mistakes and pounced.

Outshot, 10-3, after the first period and by 16-12 after two, the Avalanche never looked flustered Wednesday. There was no sense of panic. Drastic changes were not made. Nor were they needed.

One goal was all Colorado needed. Tanguay got it 3:55 into the second period.

“It proves how much character and leadership there is in this dressing room,” he said. “It’s something we’ve focused on from Day 1. We’ve worked on our character, focus and discipline. We saw it in the last two years when we saw Dallas winning the Stanley Cup and we saw New Jersey winning the Stanley Cup.”