Sharks represent tough challenge

Colorado should know what to expect from the disciplined and defensively sound Sharks.

Updated: April 21, 2004, 12:46 PM ET
By By Jim Wilkie | NHL Insider
Thanks to Calgary's 3-2 Game 7 overtime victory over Vancouver, the Colorado Avalanche don't have to face top-seeded archrival Detroit in the Western Conference semifinals. Instead the fourth-seeded Avalanche get the San Jose Sharks, a fast and balanced team that will be just as tough.

"For us, I don't think it really matters who we play," Avalanche right winger Milan Hejduk told the Rocky Mountain News. "We want to win the Stanley Cup, so we have to beat everybody anyway."

Colorado should know what to expect from the disciplined and defensively sound Sharks who surprised many people by running off the second-best record in the West (43-21-12-6). The big question is which version of the Avalanche will show up.


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