Avalanche return to NHL's peak after years of playoff heartache

Colorado stars credit past failures for helping them dethrone Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Florida－Nathan MacKinnon could not find the words. Gabriel Landeskog cracked a smile and a joke.

After years of playoff disappointments, the Colorado Avalanche are back atop hockey's mountain after dethroning the two-time defending champions.

Behind a goal and an assist from MacKinnon, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history and first in more than two decades by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the final Sunday night.

"It's just been building over time," playoff MVP-winning defenseman Cale Makar said about the Avalanche's journey. "I've been here only three years. A couple of tough exits in the playoffs. It was just all leading up to this."

It's the first title for the Avs' core group led by MacKinnon, captain Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Makar, and it follows several early postseason exits－in the second round each of the past three seasons and the first round in 2018. The 2016-17 team was the worst in hockey, finishing with just 48 points.

"It's hard to describe," said MacKinnon, who led the way in the clincher by blocking shots and taking big hits in addition to his offensive production. "Some tough years mixed in there, but it's all over now. We never stopped believing."

With a mix of speed, high-end talent and the experience gained from those defeats, Colorado broke through this time－earning every bit of the championship by knocking off a deep and gritty team that hoisted the Cup the past two years.

"To beat them is probably a little more satisfying, to be honest, because they are champions," said veteran forward Andrew Cogliano, who hoisted the Cup for the first time at age 35. "They know how to win. And, ultimately, when you can beat the champions, you know you really earned it."

Like the Avalanche fully expected, it wasn't easy.

An early turnover by Makar led to an easy goal by Steven Stamkos, putting Colorado in a hole and several more bumps and bruises followed. The Avalanche tied it when MacKinnon beat 2021 playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy with a near-perfect shot and went ahead on another big goal by trade-deadline acquisition Artturi Lehkonen. They locked things down by holding on to the puck and held Tampa Bay without a shot on Darcy Kuemper until midway through the third period.

When the Lightning finally did, he was there. Brought in from Arizona in a trade last summer to shore up the sport's most important position, Kuemper was solid again and made his most important save with under seven minutes left when he slid over to deny Nikita Kucherov.

His teammates finished the job and Colorado improved to 9-1 on the road this postseason.

Much like the Lightning went all in multiple times by trading high draft picks and prospects to load up for the best chance to win the Cup, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic was not afraid to ante up in March to acquire Lehkonen, defenseman Josh Manson and Cogliano. They became the perfect complement to Colorado's core that had showed plenty of playoff promise but until now hadn't produced a championship.

Sakic, who captained Colorado's first two title-winning teams in 1996 and 2001, used a familiar recipe to get his team over the hump. Much like Pierre Lacroix, the architect of those Avalanche teams that had so much success after the organization moved to Denver, Sakic prioritized skill, speed and versatility.

That speed overwhelmed every opponent on the way to the final, from an opening sweep of Nashville through a hard-fought, six-game series against St. Louis and another sweep of Edmonton. It was a different challenge against Tampa Bay, when the Avalanche needed to absorb counterpunches from the back-to-back champs to close it out.

Tampa Bay ended up two victories short of becoming the NHL's first three-peat champion since the early 1980s New York Islanders dynasty.

"It stings just as much as the first time," Stamkos said, referring to the Lightning's loss to Chicago in the 2015 final.

Before the series, Makar said he and his teammates were trying to end a dynasty and begin a legacy. That legacy finally involves a championship, thanks in large part to steady coach Jared Bednar, who in his sixth season found a way to focus his team on the mission at hand from the start of training camp. Bednar became the first coach to win the Stanley Cup, American Hockey League's Calder Cup and ECHL's Kelly Cup－all after that miserable 48-point showing in his first season behind the Colorado bench.

"He stuck with it also," Rantanen said. "He had a tough first year in the league and I did too. I can't believe we're here six years after."

Bednar won the chess match with Jon Cooper, also a Stanley and Calder Cup champion who is considered one of the best tacticians in the NHL. The Lightning fell into a 0-2 hole facing their stiffest competition since their run of success began in 2020 and then went down 3-1 before forcing Game 6.

Asked how other teams might be able to copy the Avalanche's success, Landeskog quipped, "Get a Cale Makar somewhere." Indeed, Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring 29 points in 20 games.

Injuries that sidelined top center Brayden Point and limited other key contributors proved too much against a stacked opponent. Depth allowed the Avalanche to overcome losing defenseman Samuel Girard to a broken sternum. That was even with standout forward Andre Burakovsky sidelined by injury and Valeri Nichushkin hobbling around on an injured right foot, and center Nazem Kadri playing through a broken right thumb.

The Avalanche prevailed before attrition could take too much of a toll. Now they'll return to Denver to celebrate with the Stanley Cup. A parade is expected on Thursday.

Agencies Via Xinhua