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As Joe Sakic announces his retirement Thursday, we look back at our favorite moments from the Avalanche captain.

The winners have moved on to the second round, but what about the losers? We measure the degrees of anger for those with early trips to the golf course.

This isn't about advancing, or making the finals, but about winning the Cup. These are our Stanley Cup odds.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are desperately trying to make the playoffs, but will moving Rick Nash to center hurt or help the cause? Terry Frei checks in with the star forward and his coach to see how the experiment is going.

The Lightning have made plenty of moves this offseason, enough to reach the playoffs this season and leave a certain club from the Atlantic as the odd team out.

The rest of the NHL should take notice as to how the Red Wings were able to win it all yet again, writes Terry Frei.

So has the NHL gotten the most out of the "dream" Stanley Cup finals matchup between the Penguins and Red Wings? Terry Frei says not exactly.

It's not necessarily Marty Turco's fault the Stars are down 3-0 against the Wings in the West finals. But the Dallas netminder hasn't exactly helped his team's cause.

Mike Ribeiro's slashing of Chris Osgood only validated the Dallas Stars' palpable frustrations as they fell into an 0-2 hole. But for the Red Wings, the task is straightforward: maintain focus and discipline.

Believe it when it's said the Avs and coach Joel Quenneville came to a mutual agreement to go separate ways, writes Terry Frei.

When the Stars and Red Wings take the ice Thursday, a true on-ice Western Conference rivalry will be renewed.

This offseason, Joe Sakic will have a much more difficult time deciding whether to come back to the NHL. Whenever he does make a choice, it will be on his own terms.

As the Avalanche try to stave off elimination, perhaps the most overlooked aspect of their series versus the Wings is that not only is Colorado overmatched against Detroit but it also doesn't match up well.

As the NHL playoffs roll along, there is more potential for under-the-radar players to step up and help their teams get to a Cup. Here are players to watch as the second round begins this week.

When most people heard the Red Wings and Avs were meeting in the second round, there were oohs and ahs over the matchup of past rivals. But Terry Frei says that storied history won't play a factor this time around.

We're at the seminal point of the season when the stars really shine. Well, not so fast. The Wild and Avalanche are tied 2-2 in this grueling best-of-seven series. And, the teams' respective offensive studs, Marian Gaborik and Paul Stastny, have been held pointless.