Avs' foe to be determined tonight

By Rick Sadowski, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 21, 2008 at 10:51 p.m.

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Photo by Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

Jose Theodore believes he can stay sharp through practice sessions.

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Dallas or Detroit?

The Avalanche's second-round opponent will be determined tonight when the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames meet in Game 7 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

If the second-seeded Sharks prevail at home, the Avalanche will face the top-seeded Red Wings in the postseason for the first time since 2002 and sixth time overall.

A win by the No. 7 Flames would make them the lowest-seeded survivor and pit them against Detroit, sending the sixth-seeded Avalanche to face the No. 5 Stars for the fifth time and third time in the past four postseasons.

"We're looking at both teams right now," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said Monday after practice. "We'll visit with both scenarios as we go and wait and see what happens. We'll watch the game with some interest."

No one was about to disclose a preference, but the Avalanche went 2-2 against Dallas in the regular season - 2-0 at home - and lost all four meetings with Detroit, three by shutout.

"It doesn't really matter right now," defenseman Kurt Sauer said. "Whatever's going to happen is going to happen. We just have to be ready for whoever it is. I don't think it matters who we play. We're going to have to go through everybody. This is playoffs and you only end up with one team at the end.

"They're both tough teams, they both hit hard."

The NHL isn't expected to release the second-round schedule until after tonight's final game, but the Avalanche probably would begin its series Thursday for a four-day break between series.

"You want to be rested, but you don't want to be over-rested," Sauer said. "You want to have the bodies feel good and also have the head still in it. You don't want too long a break. I don't know if there's a perfect time. It's basically how everybody feels at the end of the series."

Same old, same old

Despite the layoff, goalie Jose Theodore expressed confidence he can stay sharp by practicing.

"Oh, for sure," he said. "There's no other reason why I go out there. Every time I go out, even if it's for 20 minutes or 40 minutes, you work on the stuff that you need to to stay sharp. Everybody's different, but for me, practicing is really important."

Maintaining the same daily routine is also important, Theodore said.

"I kind of keep it simple - go home, rest and watch some games on TV," he said. "The people around the team and my family is really happy, but at this time of the year, I'm not going to be changing what I've been doing since January. I just keep doing the same thing."

Stay on the line

Ben Guite fielded a few more phone calls than usual last weekend to congratulate him for Saturday's series win and for his first-period short-handed goal.

"I spent most of (Sunday) returning phone calls and texting e-mails," he said. "It's fun to know that people are watching. It's fun to know that people I haven't heard from in a couple of years are still watching and seeing what I'm doing. It's pretty cool."

The Avalanche scored only two short-handed goals during the season and hadn't gotten one since Milan Hejduk's on Nov. 30 at San Jose.

Taking it easy

A half-dozen players didn't practice Monday: Andrew Brunette, Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg, Scott Hannan, Ian Laperriere and John-Michael Liles.

They're expected to be on the ice today.

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