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Stars, Avalanche open season with playoff rematch

Oct 4, 2006 - 2:49 PM Dallas (53-23-6) at Colorado (43-30-9) 10:00 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- In 2005-06, the Dallas Stars had their outstanding regular season ruined by the Colorado Avalanche.

The Stars renew acquaintances with the Avalanche on Wednesday when the teams open up their seasons with a playoff rematch from last year.

Dallas won the Pacific Division title last season and earned the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. But the seventh-seeded Avalanche jumped out to a three-games-to-none lead over the Stars and eventually wrapped up the conference quarterfinal series in five games.

Colorado was eliminated by Anaheim in the conference semifinals, but returns a talented roster that includes Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Marek Svatos, who was on his way to a possible Calder Trophy last year before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in March.

The Avalanche also will bank on Jose Theodore, who began to settle in after coming over in a midseason trade with Montreal. The 2002 Hart and Vezina Trophy winner went 4-5 with a 3.04 goals-against average in the playoffs after appearing in just five regular-season games with Colorado.

The Avalanche lost some key personnel this offseason - including Alex Tanguay and Rob Blake - but they won't be getting any sympathy from the Stars, who lost Niko Kapanen and Janne Niinimaa to trades and Jason Arnott and Bill Guerin to free agency.

Dallas once again will rely on Marty Turco, one of the top netminders in the world. The two-time All-Star ranked third in the league with 41 wins a season ago despite playing in just 68 games. He has increased his win total in each of his first five NHL campaigns.