Avs choke in Oil

NHL teams

It has been a weird first round in the playoffs with all the upsets in the Eastern Conference, but Colorado's collapse is by far the biggest tank.

Give credit to the Oilers for their suberb game-plan and execution. Big factor was also the excellent play of Curtis Joseph who clearly outplayed his counterpart Patrick Roy who struggled especially in Game 7.

One has to wonder the lack of passion and emotion shown by the Avs. Edmonton's Janne Niinimaa scored to make it 1-0 in the first period and from that point Colorado seemed deflated.

The series revealed Colorado lacking the support troops under the star players and if Roy is off his game it is goodbye Colorado.

Conference semifinals.
First round action is over and the dust is settling and eight of the 16 teams are teeing off.

Conference semifinals will follow and the re-seeded pairings are:

Washington vs. Ottawa and Buffalo vs. Montreal in the Eastern Conference.

Dallas vs. Edmonton and Detroit vs. St. Louis in the Western Conference.