TAMPA, FL –
Colorado Avelanch returns to the top of the hockey mountain after dethroning the two-time defenders of the championship.
After a goal and an assist by Nathan McKinnon, Avalanche won the Stanley Cup for the third time in the franchise’s history and the first in more than two decades, beating Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in game 6 last Sunday night.
This is the first title for this major group, led by McKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog, Miko Rantanen and Cale McCarthy and followed years of disappointment in the playoffs. Avalanche lost in the second round each of the last three seasons after being eliminated in the first round in 2018.
“It feels amazing,” McKinnon said. “Some difficult years mixed there, but it’s all over now. We never stopped believing.”
With a mix of speed, high-class talent and the experience gained from those defeats, Colorado broke through this time – winning every part of the championship, eliminating the team that lifted the Cup in the last two years. As Avalanche fully expected, it was not easy.
After an early reversal by Makar, leading to a goal by Stephen Stamkos, who put them in a hole and a few more punches and bruises, the Avalanche equalized when McKinnon beat MVP for 2021 in the playoffs Andrei Vassilevsky with an almost perfect shot and continued with another big goal until the deadline for trading acquisition Artturi Lehkonen. They locked things up by holding on to the puck and didn’t let Tampa Bay even shoot the puck against Darcy Kumper in the third period.
When they did, he was there. Brought from Arizona in an exchange last summer to strengthen the most important position in the sport, Kumper was stable again and made his most important save in less than seven minutes when he slipped to deny the experienced winger Nikita Kucherov.
Like Lightning many times, exchanging high drafts and prospects to charge for the best chance of winning the Cup, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic was not afraid to give an advance in March to acquire Lekonen, defender Josh Manson and veteran striker. Andrew Coliano. They became the perfect addition to the Colorado core, which showed a lot of promises for the playoffs and so far had not led to a championship.
Sakic, who captained Colorado’s first two teams in 1996 and 2001, used a familiar recipe to beat his team. Like Pierre Lacroix, the architect of those Avalanche teams that were so successful after the organization moved to Denver, Sakic gave priority to skill, speed and flexibility.
This speed struck every opponent along the way, from the opening of Nashville through a tenacious six-game streak against St. Louis, another swing by Edmonton and then Tampa Bay, which prevented elimination once but ended with two wins less to become the top three. NHL champions since the early 1980s of the New York Islanders dynasty.
“They are a team that wants to become a dynasty,” Makar said. “We’re a team looking to start a legacy.”
This legacy finally includes a championship, thanks in large part to permanent coach Jared Bednar, who in his sixth season has found a way to focus his team on the mission he has had on hand since the start of training camp. This mentality helped Avalanche overcome the hump and Bednar became the first coach to win the Stanley Cup, the American Hockey League Calder Cup and the ECHL Kelly Cup.
Bednar won the chess game with John Cooper, also a Stanley and Calder Cup champion who is considered one of the best tactics in the NHL. But things have started to turn against Lightning, facing its toughest competition since their success began in 2020.
The injuries, which took the top center of Brayden Point and limited other key players, turned out to be too much against an accumulated resistance, created to withstand almost everything. Depth allowed Avalanche to overcome losing defender Samuel Girard to a broken sternum and complete Lightning sequels without Cup Final Game 1, Andre Burakowski isolated from injury and excellent winger Valery Nichushkin limping on an injured right leg while center Nazem played through right thumb fracture.
Avalanche beat Lightning before the exhaustion took too many casualties and before the terrible opportunity to face elimination in Game 7. Instead, they will return to Denver to celebrate with the Stanley Cup.
Although not as emotional as the last two years, when Stamkos won the trophy, Colorado’s victory at the end of the series marks the end of another NHL season during a pandemic – the first return to 82 games in the normal playoffs of 2019. It was not without its stumbling blocks, including the postponement of dozens of games and the withdrawal from the Olympics – and Commissioner Gary Batman failed to even hand over the trophy to Landescog because it tested positive for coronavirus, leaving Deputy Bill Daly to do the honors.
Avalanche and Lightning have dealt with the sometimes harsh ice conditions that took place in late June, something that should not happen until the league returns to its usual schedule. When that happens, Colorado will have a chance to defend its crown and try to follow Tampa Bay in maintaining a permanent contender for the Cup.
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AP sports writer Pat Graham of Denver contributed to this report.
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