I was checking the standings today and I noticed something that seemed incredibly interesting. If the season had ended coming into today, the Avalanche would take on the Kings in an intriguing 4-5 matchup.
Several aspects of this matchup create great story lines: 2 teams no one believed would be comfortably in the mix; Anze Kopitar taking on Paul Stastny in a battle of the Western Conference's answer to Sidney Crosby as far as top young centers; Ryan Smyth taking on the team that essentially waved the red flag on this season by dealing him to the Kings; Johnathan Quick vs. Craig Anderson in a battle of the 2 goalies Team USA will have to choose between for the 3rd spot on the Vancouver Olympic team...
What really gets me excited (I know, we're a looooong ways off here, but humor me, would ya?) Is the collection of ridiculously young talent in this matchup - Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Teddy Purcell, Drew Doughty and Quick for the Kings, while the Avs asnwer back with Stastny, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly down the middle along with Kyle Quincey on the back end.
Even if these teams don't end up squaring off this year, if you're looking for the future (and quite possibly the present) top teams in the west, start watching the young, surging teams in Denver and Los Angeles.
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