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Oh-so-close Shot that hit post typified Avs' final series
Posted: Sunday May 28, 2000 08:24 PM
DENVER (AP) -- Fittingly, their season ended with a shot in the waning seconds that ricocheted off the post, spinning crazily but refusing to cross the goal line. The Colorado Avalanche came oh-so-close to reaching the Stanley Cup finals, mounting a rally from a three-goal deficit that fell one short in a 3-2 loss to the Stars in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night in Dallas. "I can't believe it," Avalanche forward Adam Deadmarsh said. "A half inch to the right, it's in." Deadmarsh fought for position in front of the net and tipped Ray Bourque's shot with 12 seconds left. The deflected puck went past goalie Ed Belfour but hit the left post. "I'd rather have it miss the net than hit the post," forward Chris Drury said. "It's a tough way to see your season end." By contrast, Dallas appeared to get lucky bounces on all three of its goals. "We said all along that both teams are so evenly matched that a bounce would probably decide the winner and the loser," Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said. "Their power play gave them two big goals. "We came out flying in the second and third periods and kept applying pressure and got some good traffic in front of the net. But we were short by a couple of bounces. "The Stars' three goals, they were all deflections. But give them credit. When you go to the net, good things happen." Colorado, which also lost to Dallas in seven games of the conference finals a year ago, felt it had the talent to win its first Stanley Cup since 1996. It wouldn't happen, and there were multiple reasons: a suddenly toothless power play, offensive slumps by Joe Sakic and Sandis Ozolinsh and, finally, brilliant play by Belfour, who outduelled Patrick Roy. There were no signs of trouble in the first two rounds of the playoffs, when Colorado dispatched Phoenix and Detroit, each in five games. They the Avalanche advanced to meet the defending Stanley Cup champions and promptly won Game 1 in Dallas. Dallas squared the series in Game 2, and Colorado went up 2-1 in Denver on Roy's second shutout in three games. The Avs would win only once more. The Avalanche outshot the Stars 110-56 over Games 3, 4 and 5, but they were outscored 7-5 and won only one of the three games. Game 4 in Denver was especially frustrating; Colorado outshot the Stars 39-15 but lost 4-1. Trailing 3-2 in the series, they staved off elimination with a 2-1 win in Game 6, but their early 3-0 deficit in the seventh game proved insurmountable. "We shouldn't even have been in a Game 7," defenseman Adam Foote said. "We could have closed out that series earlier. There's a couple of guys who didn't lay it on the line." Foote, who broke a bone in his left hand early in the second period but continued to play, declined to identify the transgressors. Foote said he hoped his team learned some lessons from the last game. "You've got to get dirty and grind, that's playoff hockey," he said. "You don't see pretty goals in the playoffs. Look at their three goals. One was a crazy deflection, another came over three guys' heads and landed in the net, and another went off a knee. "Too many times we were looking for the cute pass and looking for the perfect shot. You're not going to get that in the NHL. You go to the net hard, and hopefully one goes off your knee every so often." Of his team's playoff exit, Roy said, "Destiny was just not there, I guess. I thought we had the team to do it." Colorado's power play, which began the playoffs by going 7-for-23, went scoreless in its last 18 man-advantage situations. "That was huge," said Sakic, who scored only one goal in the final 14 playoff games. Ozolinsh also struggled, but Hartley disclosed he has been hobbled since the second game of the Dallas series by a bruised foot. A day after the loss, still-stunned Colorado players reflected on what possible changes this team might undergo in the offseason. "I've never played on a team with such tightly knit guys, guys who wanted to win so much for each other," Shjon Podein said. "You'd hate to see anybody go. But when you don't accomplish what you set out to do, sometimes changes are made." General manager Pierre Lacroix must make decisions about at least 10 players who will become free agents, including Sakic, Ozolinsh and Bourque. "Colorado was a joy, and I'm definitely interested in coming back," said Bourque, who requested a trade from Boston to a contender in March but who remains without a Stanley Cup in 21 NHL seasons. "I thought we had a good enough team to get there. I still think we have what it takes."
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