There are so many storylines in the postseason series between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche in the postseason serie. One of them is former teammates going up against one another. Mikko Rantanen is going up against Colorado for the first time in his postseason career, while the Stars are going up against their former backup goaltender, Scott Wedgewood. At the beginning of the season, it didn't look like Wedgewood would get traded from the Nashville Predators. I was wrong when he got traded to the Colorado Avalanche shortly after the season began.
It's the nature of the business in the NHL these days. Teams aren't willing to pay a pretty penny for backup goaltenders. When negotiating with Wedgewood the second time, the Stars should have realized he wouldn't give them a second team-friendly deal. He signed a two-year contract for a million dollars each season when the Stars were salary cap-strapped. It gave him a home for a few years while saving the Stars some money.
After Wedgewood put up impressive numbers during his short tenure with the Stars, other teams decided to get into a bidding war for his services as a backup goaltender. When the Stars knew he wasn't going to re-sign, they signed Casey DeSmith and Magnus Hellberg as the second and third goalies. While DeSmith has proven to be a bargain this past regular season, some players on the Stars were sad to see Wedgewood depart from Dallas.
Players like Thomas Harley and Nils Lunkvist became close with Wedgewood while he was in Dallas. While Lundkvist won't get the chance to go up against Wedgewood in the playoffs, Harley will have to put his friendship with Wedgewood aside and lead the Stars to the second round. It will be painful for some of the players, but it's the nature of the playoffs. There's a reason why people use the phrase "survive and advance" when talking about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I'm glad Scott Wedgewood found a team that wants to play him. He deserves it after what he went through at the beginning of the season with the Predators. However, the Stars need to put their friendship aside with him during this series. The Stars have a job to do, returning to the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately, Wedgewood and the Avalanche are in the Stars' path toward that goal. It's time to put the friendship aside and send the Avalanche on summer vacation.