Detroit Free Press

THEY showered in silence. They dressed in silence. Brendan Shanahan dressed faster than most. He was on fire, ...

For years, I have been trying to get my mother into computers."You can e-mail me," I say."I can call you on the phone," she says."You can send pictures," I say."I can visit you in person," she says.Once again, as with pretty much everything in life, mother is proving to know best.

BECAUSE A flipping puck came off Chris Osgood the wrong way, because that puck wound up in the net, because the Red Wings went from a lead to a tie, a tie to overtime, overtime to a breakout, and a breakout to an Avalanche goal that ended Game 4 -- because of that, explanations abound.

Where did the air go?In a few choking seconds -- the time it takes for two men to streak down the ice with only one defender between them -- the Red Wings' season went from a roar to a gasp. A puck goes in, a light goes on, and now the Avalanche goes home needing one victory in three tries to move on in the playoffs.And the Red Wings must win three straight, or shave the beards and head for the golf courses.

HIS FIRST NAME is Doug and his last name is Brown and I don't care if you give him a beret, a goatee, a book of ...

IGOR Larionov always had been a quiet man, but this was a different silence. Here, in the year he would turn 40, he was playing out the final days of his contract. An offer he once deemed "insulting" had been pulled off the table with nothing offered in its place. He was facing an ugly truth, one all athletes face sooner or later. His reputation was exceeding his productivity.

TO: Grant Hill The Deliberating Superstar c/o The Detroit PistonsDear Grant,I trust this letter finds you well, at least as well as a man can be three days after ankle surgery. While you were in the hospital, did you remember to avoid the Jell-O? I'm sure you did. You've always been smart.Which brings me to your future, where you must also be smart. It is not my place, as an aging sportswriter who can barely make a lay-up, to advise a sleek young NBA superstar about his prospects.But I'll do it anyhow.

If 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez were going to school these days, his first question would be, "Teacher, what's a ...