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Brunette's memories still vivid

A playoff hero for the Wild against Colorado in 2003, Andrew Brunette returns with the Avs to face his old team.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: April 8, 2008 - 11:47 PM

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WILD VS. AVALANCHE

First-round, best-of-seven series; *-if necessary

Game 1: 8 p.m. today • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

Game 2: 8 p.m. Friday • Xcel Energy Center • FSN, 830-AM

Game 3: 9 p.m. Monday • Pepsi Center, Denver • Ch. 45, 830-AM

Game 4: 9 p.m. Tuesday • Pepsi Center, Denver • FSN, 830-AM

*Game 5: 8 p.m. April 17 • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

*Game 6: TBA, April 19 • Pepsi Center, Denver • FSN, 830-AM

*Game 7: TBA, April 22 • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

MORE ON THE SERIES

Scouting the Wild

Scouting the Avs

Who to watch on the Wild

Who to watch on the Avs

The Wild-Avalanche season series

First-round series-by-series glance

More from Minnesota Wild

CENTENNIAL, COLO. — For the history of time, only one man will be able to say he scored the last goal Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy ever gave up.

His name is Andrew Brunette, and his heroics should be very memorable to Wild fans.

It was Brunette who scored the Wild's series-clinching goal in overtime against Colorado, giving Minnesota a 3-2 victory in Game 7 of the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals.

"I never got the puck. I don't know where it is," said Brunette, 34, now with the Avalanche. "I did find my stick a year later. It's in my basement in storage."

Brunette said he remembers the goal like it was yesterday.

"I knew we were in our end for 30 seconds or so and they had some chances and I was actually thinking of changing," Brunette said. "But Sergei Zholtok had the puck. I decided to stay on and turn it into a 2-on-2 coming through the neutral zone.

"[Zholtok] made a nice little drop pass and bought me a little time. I was surprised because it was the first time all series I actually had time. But I knew I wasn't going to beat [Roy] from the outside, so I just drove the net. The result was one of my greatest hockey moments.

"It was an amazing time. We were in awe of guys like Joe [Sakic] and Peter [Forsberg] and Roy. But something happened when they got up 3-1 in the series. It was like they thought it was over, and we carried the momentum."

Five years later, Brunette will face his old team tonight in the Western Conference quarterfinals playing for the team whose heart he broke. Brunette has faced the Wild several times since leaving, but he says, "I'd rather face another team. I wasn't really looking forward to playing them. I still have some nice memories and some friends there.

"It makes it a little tougher, but I'd have to face them sooner or later, so it's better off now. It's kind of different from 2003. We're the underdog, and for this franchise, that hasn't happened very often."

Brunette was upset when Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough let him leave as a free agent following the lockout of 2004-05. It's something Risebrough admits now was one of his biggest mistakes in Minnesota (Brunette goes back on the free agent market this summer).

Brunette, who owns the NHL's longest active games-played streak (453), said, "I think I'm past that. It wasn't my choice to leave, but my teammates, there are very few around still."

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