<div align="center"> </div> 1. Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie. Chris Osgood has drawn the nod as the second-round starter for the Red Wings after he came on in relief of Dominik Hasek, who imploded in Games 3 and 4 against Nashville. Osgood has had a renaissance season in Detroit with a 2.09 GAA and .914 save percentage, but he lagged a bit during the latter stages of the regular season. He'll face a much more talented offensive team in Colorado and will have to put up with guys like Ryan Smyth invading his space in close. Given Hasek's pedigree, we're guessing it won't take much of a wobble from Osgood for coach Mike Babcock to go back to Hasek. 2. Jose, can you stop 'em? Speaking of the Avs' netminder, has there been a more dramatic reversal of fortunes for one player than the one experienced by Theodore this season? The former Hart and Vezina winner turned his game around when he was named the starter in the second half of the season, relegating Peter Budaj to mop-up duties. Then, against a Minnesota team that entered the playoffs with the seventh-best power-play unit in the NHL, Theodore was outstanding. The Montreal native stopped 188 of 200 shots and almost single-handedly denied the Wild victories in Games 4 and 5. Of course, with a player like Theodore, who has shown to be somewhat inconsistent over recent seasons, the question is whether he can keep it going. If he can, the Avs stand a good chance of upsetting the Wings. 3. The Foote factor. Adam Foote was on the ice most of the time against Marian Gaborik during the first round, and the Wild star finished the series with one lonely assist. Foote likely will see a lot of ice time against the Wings' top duo of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Foote isn't getting any younger (he's 36), but if he can disrupt the play-making abilities of the talented Red Wings forwards, it will make life easier for Theodore. 4. The Kron-Wall. We're referring to Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who entered the NHL with great expectations but has suffered a series of grisly injuries that have slowed his evolution as an impact player. He is healthy now and made his presence known in the first round against Nashville. Kronwall has been likened to legendary Detroit hitter Vladimir Konstantinov, and his efforts at disrupting the Avs' flow through the neutral zone, especially with young forwards like Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski, will be interesting to watch. 5. Breaking down is hard to do. No discussion of the Avs is complete without the open-ended question of "How long can they keep it up?" We're referring to the play and overall health of the Avs' aging core of veterans. Foote limped into the playoffs, Sakic missed 38 games this season and Forsberg took a long time to get into game shape after joining the Avs at the trade deadline. And then there's Smyth, who will go through a brick wall to make a play and often looks like he has. Through the first round, Smyth, Forsberg and Sakic had 14 points, and they will have to maintain that level of production to keep pace with a deeper, more talented Red Wings team.
