"Big European" Red Wings look like early Cup favourites.

At the Manitoba Writers Guild book awards at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on Saturday night — where my book, "The Winnipeg Jets: A Celebration of Professional Hockey in Winnipeg" lost Winnipeg book of the year to a communist rant by lefty Godfather Roland Penner — a handful of people in Tweed jackets who said haughtily "I'm not a hockey fan but…" asked me who'd win the Stanley Cup.

I said, without hesitation, the Detroit Red Wings. I either got a surprised look or a really surprised look. One woman, who appeared as if she'd been caught in the headlights said, "Oh, I didn't know Detroit still had a team." Tells you how little our literary crowd knows about, ahhh, umm, anything at all, I guess.

Anyway, I wasn't kidding. After what I watched on Saturday afternoon, this Red Wings outfit is clearly the best team remaining in the post-season.

After all, the Wings didn't just beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 on Saturday, they eviscerated them 5-1. Outshot them 40-20 (and Colorado blocked 15 more shots to Detroit's four), outhit them and completely outplayed them. That was as solid a performance by one team as we've seen in the playoffs this season, simply because the Wings beat a good team in the process. 

No, this wasn't the Nashville Predators, a marginal collection of has-beens and might-bes who were coaxed into the playoffs by Barry Trotz, the best coach in the game. This was the Colorado Avalanche, a team made up of great and near-great players such as John-Michael Liles, Joe Sakic (who can still play), Milan Hejduk, Paul Stastny, Jordan Leopold, Adam Foote and Ryan Smyth.

Yeah, they'd be better with Peter Forsberg, but not that much better.

In Game 1 of the series, the Wings built a 4-1 lead and then took their collective foot off the gas. It was a game the Wings completely controlled. They built the 4-1 lead and they let Colorado back in the game when they, the Wings themselves,  started coasting late in the second period. 

Saturday, the Wings didn't let up. They outshot Colorado 10-4 and 22-6 in the first two periods and while Colorado had more shots in the third (10-8), the Avs didn't have but one good scoring chance and they converted on that one good scoring chance — but the score was already 4-0.

The big star was Johan Franzen, one of the Wings' "big Europeans." At 6-foot-3, 220-pounds they call him "the Mule," but he plays like a thoroughbred.

Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Kronvall, Tomas Holmstrom, Jiri Hudler, Pavel Datsyuk, Nick Lidstrom and Valterri Flippula were damn good, too.

Remember, these Wings play "big, European hockey," and this year it could be unbeatable. They are large, fast, skilled and tough and if they stay awake for 10 more wins, they'll win the Stanley Cup in a romp.