Avalanche Playoffs
Season Over: Mikko Rantanen Gets Last Laugh — Avalanche Blow It in Game 7
Mikko Rantanen was stunned when he was traded away from the Avalanche on Jan. 24. And 99 days later, the superstar forward stunned the Avs with a masterful third-period performance to end Colorado’s season.
Rantanen scored an empty-net goal to finish the hat trick while adding an assist on the eventual game-winning goal to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 Game 7 victory. The Avs led 2-0 with 12:11 remaining before the collapse began. The game winner was scored with Jack Drury in the penalty box — one of the two pieces Colorado got for Rantanen when they sent him to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Now, Colorado heads into the offseason with far more questions than answers while watching the superstar they traded advance to the second round after getting the last laugh.
Still, Rantanen wouldn’t commit that getting revenge was top of mind. Even after scoring a hat trick and recording four points in the last 12 minutes. Even after leading the series with 12 points. Even after getting 11 points in the last three games, and was everything the Stars wanted when they traded for him.
It was another reminder of just how much respect he has for his teammates. And how badly he wanted to stay.
“It’s only a couple of months since I was still with [Colorado] and chasing a playoff spot,” Rantanen said after the game. “Now, all of a sudden, a couple months later, playing against them in a Game 7.”
Colorado’s goals came from Josh Manson and Nathan MacKinnon. The second tally came early in the third period to make it 2-0. It felt like the Avs were going to find a way to win a Game 7 for the first time in the MacKinnon era. It felt like they had what it takes.
But Rantanen had other thoughts.
Rantanen’s first goal was a wrister from the slot. The Avs gave him room to walk in, and he wired it past Mackenzie Blackwood to bring the Stars within a goal.
Three minutes later, Dallas forward Matt Duchene was called for tripping, sending the Avs on the power play with a chance to restore their two-goal lead.
Instead, Makar broke his stick off a shot from the point and had to track back and defend without one. He ended up getting called for tripping on the desperation play, which led to 47 seconds of 4-on-4 before a Dallas power play. Colorado finished 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
On that Stars power play, Rantanen swung around the net and completed the wrap-around with a puck that caromed in off of Samuel Girard. Dallas had not completed a two-goal comeback in the third period all season.
But it was a brand new game.
Two minutes later, Drury was called for holding, a penalty that simply can’t happen at that point in the game. He argued his case all the way to the box. It was the game changer. The one that sank the Avs.
Wyatt Johnston scored 17 seconds later to give Dallas its first lead of the game with just 3:56 remaining. Both Duchene and Rantanen assisted on the goal.
Colorado pulled its goalie to attempt to tie it up, but to no avail. Rantanen added an empty-net goal in the dying seconds to complete the hat trick and send his former team packing.
Deen’s Daily: What To Do With Drouin; Dallas on Verge of Third Straight WCF; Ken Holland to LA?
Leave or Stay: Jonathan Drouin Enters Third Straight Year as UFA
Deen’s Daily: Stuart Skinner Has Arrived; Canes Win Again; What Should Avs Do at 2C?
Avalanche Mailbag 4.0: Clearing Cap Space, Offseason Changes & Should Avs Re-Sign Nelson?
Nazem Kadri Throws Shade at Avalanche’s Management — Was There More to His Post?
Avalanche Mailbag: Let Your Frustrations Out — Ask Us Anything!
5 Takeaways: Sakic, MacFarland Discuss Disappointing End To Season
Avalanche Mailbag 2.0: Revisiting the Mikko Rantanen Saga
Avalanche Retain Jared Bednar, Fire Assistant Coach Ray Bennett Following Early Playoff Exit
Avalanche Mailbag 1.0: Coaching, Management, & What Went Wrong in the Playoffs?
Disgusted.
I’m making over $13k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is where I started
.
HERE—————⊃⫸ https://tinyurl.com/4e9eczre
Tough loss. Lack of special team play is the reason COL goes home early. Changes coming.
Nothing else to say but a the worst collapse in Avs franchise history. But this script was written when we found ways to choke away games 2 and 3 as well against a team missing two great players and Mikko looking he wasn’t sure which team he was playing for.
Jeremy, I toast to you tonight. You look like a fucking genius tonight.
I get a negative but people creating “fire Bednar” names getting positives. People on this site as weak as the Avs these days. I’m sorry you are too young to understand that watching elite talent not result in championships is acceptable. Get your participation trophies and in 2 years when we are the penguins enjoy!
I’m 99% sure that the fire Bednar dope is the clown who usually posts as “NecasDrury”. For obvious reasons, he’s not feeling that handle right now.
NecasDrury is Alexander A. He’s just got a new obsession with Necas instead of Newhook now. 🤣
Are you Alexander?
You already busted yourself with one of your edits mate. 🤣
Yes, I saw you do that.
No Mr. Crazy Bloke, you did not, seek some help. 🤣
You are right. I’m going to get help. I think I have the wrong person. Sorry.
I have major issues, i pretend to be other people constantly. I’m actually Alexander A. Also as much as i love Necas i think the great player of all time is Newhook, he’s the best ever!
You’re not convincing silly bloke.
Keep trying little fella, you’ll show’em someday. 🤣
Well my friend…I wish I had been wrong. This one really, really stings. Contrary to what some around here think. I’m not some unhinged Rantanen fan. Do I like the guy as a player, of course. The logic behind the trade, the timing of it, etc. Never made any sense to me. But in my wildest nightmares I could never have imagined THIS exact scenario. This ranks right up there or possibly above the back to back game 7 losses to Dallas in the west finals back in 99 & 00. And the 7 – 0 loss to the Red… Read more »
Yep, I’m glad you are old enough with me to remember those losses in ’99 and ’00 with the latter being after we acquired Bourque and still couldn’t find the motivation to win it. I remember Deadmarsh’s shot hitting the post when we just ran roughshod over them in the third but could not win the damn thing. Brutal loss last night though. Just brutal. I do digress with you (from reading your posts below) that the Avs would have won the series if we had Mikko. Our depth would have been so weak that I doubt we would have… Read more »
Some of the problem with ’99 is they needed to jump Hatcher and/or Matvichuk’s asses to put a stop to the cheap shots that went on in that series.
Matvichuck literally should’ve just put a saddle on Forsberg lol. The stuff defenseman were allowed to get away with back then was wild.
I remember suffering all of those losses too. It stings when your team could win and chokes it away!
At least we’ve seen the last of Drouin. He really fell off over the course of this season, which culminated with a miserable playoff showing and direct responsibility for an OT loss.
Drouin & Necas are both as soft as baby shit. And bring nothing when it really matters.
You can hate on Necas all you want but he wasn’t the problem. Makar was absolutely horrible. The worst hockey he has played in his life and at the worst time. The Avs had so many opportunities to get a stranglehold on this series and they didn’t have the skill or guts to get it done. Credit a resilient Stars team with a much tougher backbone than the Avs. They play more as a team and not like a pickup session at your local ice rink. I don’t think you go into next season with Bednar at the helm. Rightly… Read more »
Girard was better than Malinski. You can’t replace Girard who is left-handed with EJ who is right-handed. Having two left-handed defensemen caused Dallas’ 2nd goal.
If Rantanen was an Av instead of a Star the Avs easily beat a Dallas team playing without their best D – man & most skilled forward.
Rantanen almost single handedly generated all of the Stars offense in the 3rd tonight.
Difficult to say how the series could have played out with Rantanen on the Avs because the composition of both teams would have been so different. In my mind, special teams are absolutely what doomed the Avs. How do you have 3 double minor chances in the series and whiff on all of them? Would Mikko have made the difference? Hard to draw conclusions since the PP got stale toward the end of his time here so it really points to the Av’s total failure at countering a very good PK. Also, I haven’t seen confirmation but Makar had to… Read more »
That’s where I disagree with people on the depth or composition would’ve been different. Had they not moved Mikko & extended him would they be screwed from a cap perspective in the short term…yes. But with Landeskog back in the fold now. They’re screwed cap wise this summer anyways. Trading Rants only gave them an additional 1 million to spend at the deadline. So that means what? They wouldn’t have been able to re – acquire EJ? Big loss there…lol. They could’ve easily kept Rantanen for the remainder of this year. Traded for Nelson & Coyle & been cap compliant.… Read more »
I’m not disputing that everything about the Rantanen move was dumb. (You should read Aarif’s article he posted this morning behind the paywall). My point was despite personnel, the Avs would have been outschemed on special teams. The lack of adjustments on the PP was horrid. Everyone thought Necas’ movement on the PP was the answer but opposing coaches have Ray Bennett figured out
Ok..fair. There’s no arguing that the PP was atrocious. Both schematically & in continuing to trot out the same 5 man pp1 unit game after game in the back half of the series.
This isn’t the same roster devoid of talent from Nov. They had options. Why not try Nelson in the bumper on PP1. His shot & release is his best attribute. Or replace Lehky or Necas with Nuke?
The Avschave have become Toronto east. What makes game 7 so difficult is their mindset and a lacksadasical attitude about seasonal performance. They’re really like their predecessor, the Nordiques. Pretty seasonal record, disappearance during the playoffs. I hope Mackinnon and Landeskog blasted the team after the game by individuals’ names. Bednar had better sit lightly, as well. Makar was nonexistent, Nitchuskin disappeared and I think Necas was still on the east coast. They are where the Broncos were after their 4th Super Bowl loss; Elway said ” we know how to get here, now we have to figure out how… Read more »
Something needs to change. Is it all Bednar’s fault? No but he was clearly out-coached this series.
On Rantanen’s second goal, Lindgren and Girard, both left-handed defensemen, were on the ice at the same time. Lindgren, positioned on the right side, pivoted the wrong way, allowing Rantanen to circle the net and score. In the lineup, Makar, Manson, and Malinski are right-handed, meaning there was no reason to have two left-handed defensemen on the ice simultaneously. Drury and Kelly took penalties that were purely due to lack of discipline. These infractions did not physically hinder the opponent nor prevent them from advancing with the puck. Dallas players did not take such penalties. A coach is responsible for… Read more »
Best of luck getting anyone in media to ask Bedsy why Landy didn’t play in G2. Back office/bean counters likely made the call to pocket merch sales at home and nixed playing him until G3 @ home.
Bednar’s record isn’t exactly stellar. This marks his fourth playoff loss against DeBoer in as many matchups. Do you think the players aren’t aware of this? Do you think it inspires confidence to know that their coach has never beaten the opposing coach in the playoffs? Four playoff matchups against the same coach while leading three different teams is significant. In eight years of playoff appearances, Bednar has only advanced past the second round once, which happened during the Stanley Cup victory in 2022. For eight years, Bednar has had MacKinnon and Rantanen at his disposal. For seven years, he… Read more »
NecasDrury is that you?
I don’t know I would have thought the players themselves may have just not wanted to lose to Dallas again but I’m sure they were they thinking of their coach
Absolutely Brutal! The curse of the ex Av is a thing. Choking away I think three third period leads is inexcusable. They have lost the killer instinct and the ability to close tight games out. At least they won the cup in 22, the cup window seems to have taken a big hit with tonight’s loss. This one hurts!
Bednar needs to be fired. Cmac went all in best he could and improved the avs on paper. It was bednar job to get the avs over the top.
3-22 on PP is reason avs lost this series.
If avs scored on the PP they would’ve swept the stars.
Like I said in my previous post.
Hire Peter Laviolette
Peter Laviolette is not the answer.
Replacing Bednar is a priority for MacFarland and MacFarland has to bet on a good horse. I think the team should seriously look at Joel Quenneville, Bob Hartley or even try to bring Patrick Roy back. It takes a coach who is able to have an upper hand over Deboer so that the team no longer has complexes. I don’t think Laviolette has what it takes to do that.
Can McFarland replace himself?
The owner should seriously consider this.
MacFarland traded the player that just eliminated him. If this is the best he could we should probably figure out a way to get him to work for Dallas.
I agree with you. I also believe that MacFarland works for Dallas. MacFarland had a choice between Duchene and Ryan Johansen. He opted for Ryan Johansen for half the salary. In the following days, Nashville bought out Duchene’s contract and Duchene signed with Dallas for a fraction of his salary. Duchene sent the Avalanche on vacation last year when it cost a first-round pick to get rid of RJ who didn’t make the playoffs.
Well..you forgot to mention the key reason why. Ryjo was a Blue Jacket! All roads lead back to Columbus with Ole Cmac.
I abstained on the reason because people claim that Duchene didn’t want to play for the Avalanche again and that the Avalanche wasn’t on his list of teams where he would agree to be traded. Although I believe that the job of a GM is to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
Bye bye Drouin. Girard too small for playoff hockey. Malinski same. Lindgren same. Need to build up D size for playoffs. Where was Johnson? Necas also not built for playoffs. Skill guys entertaining in regular season, not for playoffs. Drury holding penalty with game tied less than 5 minutes to go was a killer. Gonna take a long while to get over this one
Drouin doesn’t have the skills to play in the playoffs and that may have had an impact on Coyle’s playing time. Girard has more than interesting puck possession statistics and hasn’t played badly. I thought Malinski played well as well. I don’t consider that the defence and the goalkeeper are the causes of the elimination. Necas is not the reason for the defeat either. The proof is that he plays with Mackinnon and that Mackinnon had a higher production rate than in recent years in the playoffs. So I would think twice before exchanging Necas. He has the talent to… Read more »
Lmao
🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Girard and Malinski are garbage.
Girard and Malinski are garbage but their stats are not garbage. It’s one way of looking at things, but not mine. I understand that Bednar is a bad coach but why would he want to run to his doom deliberately by playing this garbage instead of Johnson? Bednar was also supposed to work for Dallas, I guess.
I like Bednar as a coach and person, but his decision to play a midget like Lehkonen over a man like Nichuskin on the PP1 virtually the entire season is a fireable offense in itself. Lehkonen also was trucked on the second Moose goal, which was the killer. Yet while Lehkonen was gifted 20 minutes game after game, bangers like Coyle and Colton played only bit roles. Consider this season to be a yugely wasted opportunity.
Of all the players to have an irrational hatred for why Lehky? He didn’t have his best series. But he’s been aces in the postseason the majority of the time. And always works hard.
I also thought Nuke should’ve been put on PP1. Especially since the PP was ass all series. But if anyone deserved to be pulled off the top unit it was Necas.
This has zero to do with hatred. It has everything to do with putting your players in the best position to succeed. In this case, Bednar failed miserably. The playoffs are for bulldogs, not chihuahuas.
Ok…then maybe point your ire at Necas, Drouin, Nelson..I could go on. Lehkonen is a puck hound, competes & has scored numerous clutch postseason goals over the years.
Did he steal your wife or something? You have this weird hard on for Lehkonen.
Lekhonen was not on the ice for Rantanen’s 2nd goal. Rantanen’s first goal wasn’t the fault of Lekhonen or any other Avalanche player. A Dallas player interfered with Lindgren, which allowed Rantanen to reach the center ice and make a good shot.
You are right and wrong. It was the first goal, which triggered the, um, avalanche. I tried to correct the mistake, but it was too late, I was told. But you are also wrong — Steel moved Lehkonen out of the way on the zone entry and he failed to reverse course and challenge Rantanen in the mid-slot. Typical soft response by a soft player.
If you look closely, Lindgren already had Rantanen on the cover. In this game, the cover was man-for-man. But for Lekhonen to switch men to Steel, it involved area coverage and switching between Lindgren and Lekhonen. Neither Lekhonen nor Lindgren could predict Steel’s passage at the right time to create interference. The whole thing happens in a fraction of a second. No Colorado player is to blame for the game. I know that we always try to find a culprit, but sometimes we have to recognize the good play of the opponent or simply his luck.
For obvious reasons, the d-man always take the low man whenever possible, while the forward takes the high man. The No. 1 priority is to stop the puck-carrier, which neither veteran did despite their experience.
Lindgren was already ahead of Rantanen. Rantanen cut into the center and at the same time Steel passed and prevented Lindgren from following Rantanen for a split second. Lindgren had no reason to change his player in coverage at that time. The way the play went, Steel was rushing towards the goal and momentarily interfered with Lindgren. Look no further. In the defensive zone, there are a lot of permutations between forwards and defenders. There is no written law that says the defender takes the deepest player in the zone. But if it can simplify things for you, continue to… Read more »
That is the most embarrassing loss for the Avs in franchise history and that’s not an exaggeration. The franchise great you traded away scores a Game 7 third period hat trick (and adds an assist) to beat you after having a 2 goal lead with less than 13 minutes left. 11 points in games 5-7. 4 points in a period, twice. And he’s locked up, in the same division, for the next 8 years. An absolute disaster. Heads must roll and I honestly think it’s time for an entire organizational revamp. New coaching staff, new GM, new scouting department. We’ve… Read more »
Great summation. I’ve been complaining about McFarland for two years. Every major personnel decision he’s made since taking over the GM title from Sakic post cup win. He has completely flubbed.
There’s no coming back from this for him. Trading away a cornerstone player for a princess (Necas). He ends up on your biggest rival & he single handedly beats you in a game 7. And as you said, he’s there for 8 more years.
As always, your stiffy for Rants totally obscures the real contract situation that lead to Rantanen’s trade. And he was traded to Carolina and who thought he’d end up with the Stars? I thought MacFarland did an incredible job in acquiring two top flight goaltenders to salvage the season. The Avs were dead in the water with a real chance of missing the playoffs until those deals were made. Good for Mikko. But I hope his only Stanley Cup will be with the Avs when he hangs them up.
Whatever you’ve got to tell yourself to cope with things man. As I stated numerous times they should’ve paid him. They also traded him literally days before finding out how significantly the cap was going to go up over the next few years. But I digress….
But hey..at least in trading a cornerstone piece away. They got an ice princess & 4C (who ironically also took the awful penalty that lead to go ahead goal for Dallas) in return! Tidy work by CMac per usual.
Teams already have a good idea of the salary cap for next season before it even comes out publicly. The ice princess allowed Mackinnon to collect 11 points and post a +5 differential, not to mention puck possession time.
Let me get this straight. You’re giving Necas credit for Nathan Mackinnon’s production?? Dude you need psychiatric help. Or just stop commenting on hockey. That is the most unhinged take I’ve heard yet. And no…listen to insiders like Friedman or Lebrun. Most of the executives they spoke to were shocked that the cap was actually going up that much year over year. Maybe as a GM wait for that info to be confirmed. Before you go & make a franchise altering trade. I’m not saying CMac is a bad dude. He’s just clearly not very good as a GM. Why… Read more »
I’m not defending MacFarland. I believe he should be fired, along with Bednar. Lebrun and company don’t have all the information. Once the news was made public, Rantanen still hadn’t received the $14M he was asking for in Dallas. He tried for $13M, but Dallas refused. He ultimately secured $12M, while the Avalanche was offering around $11.65M. With Necas, MacKinnon’s puck possession stats were excellent, if not better. You have to evaluate production by line, not by individual player. That’s how a team is built. If, after Necas joined the first line, its production remained the same, that’s fine. But… Read more »
Objectively, Rantanen only had a real impact for his team in Game 7. Rantanen was blessed by the gods for this game. He benefited from interference to gain the middle ice on his first goal. He benefited from a deflection on Girard’s skate for his 2nd goal. The stars were aligned for Rantanen. In the first 2 periods, Rantanen was invisible. People seem to be saying that the coach could make the difference. Based on the number of points alone, this is the most productive series Rantanen has ever had. Could Deboer have managed to bring out the best of… Read more »
But hey…on the bright side Necas looked great when he….ummm…crashed into the boards when he tripped over himself. Impressive performance from #88 per usual.
When Necas gets blessed by the gods at some point. I’m sure we’ll all view him as the superior hockey player to Mikko Rantanen.
I’m very happy with Necas’ performance because he had a more than positive impact on Mackinnon’s production during the playoffs and he should cost a lot less than Rantanen. If Rantanen had played on a 2nd line for the Avalanche and would have been able to get that line produced, I probably would have had a different opinion of the Rantanen trade that was traded to Carolina. But maybe it all comes back to Bednar who was still using Rantanen with Mackinnon. I think the more you think about it, the more you can wonder if Bednar was able to… Read more »
Seriously are you just trolling me at this point lol? You can’t honestly believe the bullshit you type?
He believes every, single, syllable of it. 🤣
You don’t seem to know how to count. You seem to want to have your cake and eat it too. The salary cap didn’t change during the pandemic, which made MacFarland’s job difficult because everyone knows that when a team wins the Stanley Cup, all the players want to pay for it. For almost 3 years, the Avalanche did not have a 2nd line. Bednar overused Mackinnon and Rantanen by playing them 23 minutes a night. They’re forwards and you don’t play forwards in an 82 game season that many minutes when you want to win a Stanley Cup. Bednar… Read more »
The Avs never would’ve traded him to a western conference team, especially the Stars, they never expected that to happen, he was shipped off to the east. That said, with that team built differently they has to do more, that’s the coaches job and Bednar has failed again, what else can they do, trade Mackinnon, Blackwood? They have to do something. Also, as good as Landy was coming back, he was a distraction in games, they changed the lines, took focus off winning, they should’ve waited till near series or next season. Goodbye Bednar.
Rick Tocchet, your next gig is ready . . .
The GM and Sakic effed up big time. If you’re gonna trade Rantanen — and I would have gambled that he would be re-signed — then one stipulation should have been that the trade partner could not move him to a Western Conference playoff team this season. Not only did Moose find his back to the West, but he landed with their first-round opponent. The Avs’ worst nightmare became a reality in the end.
Trading your number one prospect for zero-goal Brock Nelson was another genius move by McFarland.
Ding-ding-ding-ding!
Indeed, it is a rookie mistake that Pierre Lacroix would not have made.
I think, fair or not, Bednar and McFarland both might get the sack in the coming days – solely because of the manner with which the Avs lost. Bednar is now 0-for-his career against DeBoer in the playoffs, and the superior team on paper lost to the one missing two of its top five players – and with a power play that was so disappointing and ineffective the whole series, it was difficult to watch. There were also no excuses or distractions this time – Nichushkin played every game, Landeskog provided a tremendous boost both on and off the ice,… Read more »
I could see a scenario where McFarland replaces Bednar to bide himself some time. Even though his garbage roster decisions since the cup win are the bigger culprit for why things are where they’re currently at.
To your point though. I agree, don’t hire some coach from the re – tread scrap heap. Laviolette, Gallant or even Tocchett.
But knowing McFarland he’ll probably hire some obscure bozo from his stellar CBJ days lol. Since he loves to go to that well.
I would take Tocchet in an instant at this point.
There’s worse hires they could potentially make. Maybe in the short term a guy who doesn’t constantly give off surfer dude vibes like Bednar would be a nice change of pace.
I’d definitely agree with that, the whole captain zen with hairdo thing just doesn’t get it done in the playoffs for the most part.
Ding-ding-ding-ding! Tocchet would bring some needed structure and toughness to this team. Dude coached the Canucks to within one win of the conference finals two seasons ago, and he did it with a much less talented team than this one.
https://coloradohockeynow.com/2025/01/29/rantanen-trade-signals-change-why-macfarland-should-be-rewarded-with-trust-and-patience/
Do we have an update on this?
Lol
Yes, we have an update. MacFarland was too patient. Trading Rantanen in the middle of the season is one thing. But the problem was that this exchange was not one-for-one. This means that everyone knew that other important changes were coming. All the GMs in the NHL saw MacFarland coming long in advance. So much so that MacFarland had to pay the price for Nelson and Coyle. If Bednar had used Necas as a 2nd center as soon as the trade happened, it would have allowed MacFarland to hide his game more. But Bednar has always used Mackinnon and Necas… Read more »
MacFarland made all these changes during the season because he already smelled like hot soup. An Avalanche win over Dallas and MacFarland would have been voted GM of the year. But in the space of a few minutes in the 3rd period of game 7, MacFarland went from hero to zero. My prediction is that MacFarland and Bednar will jump ship in the next few weeks.
Jump ship to where? The unemployment line? In all seriousness though. Bednar would have his pick of jobs if he were let go.
As for CMac the bloom is off that rose. What has he done as GM that would lead other organizations to be lining up to hire him as their next GM. I’m not saying the guy is unhireable. But he’s not the hot commodity he was as AGM after they won in 22.
I don’t give a damn if Bednar and MacFarland will be rehired elsewhere or not. But I agree with you, the chances seem good that Bednar will find work and much less good for MacFarland if we forget his connections in Columbus.
Still need to seek help mate! 🤣
Bloke impostor at it again, seek help mate, you need it badly! 🤣
Well, the Gutless Wonders yet again found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. How many times have we seen this play out in the postseason during the Bednar era? Always lots & lots of hype about what a “heavyweight contender” the “high-flying” Avs are, only to see them predictably s**t the bed year-after-year-after-year (other than the Cup win in ’22), and look REAL bad doing it too. If the Avs aren’t the perfect definition of a paper tiger hockey team, I don’t know who else would be…other than maybe the Maple Loafs. Honestly, ownership may as… Read more »
The Nordiques didn’t make the playoffs most of the time. I would rename the team more like the Colorado Maple Leafs. However, it would be necessary to check with the NHL if two teams can have the same name.
The Nordiques did make the playoffs numerous times during the Stastny brothers era.
The Altitude Sports announcers were continually badmouthing the Dallas Stars. They joked and mused about Rantanen and Debore, and oh how they ate crow tonight. It was a classic to be remembered for a long, long, time.
Those guys are an absolute embarrassment to their profession. Moser, Rycroft, etc. I get that the team signs your checks.
But they take homerism to a whole other level. Same with some of the local people who cover the team. Eric Lacroix on DNVR looked as if he was going to cry post-game.
But still manages to simp for the Avs brass. He’s completely talentless as a podcaster. And has only hung around the game after his playing days, because of who his father was.
The Rantanen trade will go down in history as one of the dumbest midseason trades ever. This trade is just behind the Broncos signing of washed up Russel Wilson.
The other Kroenke team, the Nuggets, did something even dumber… with letting go of Michael Malone. They replaced the a great head coach, who won them a championship, with 3 games left in the season.
That bad decision will show soon when they get bounce by the OKC Thunder in 4 games.
Oh cool, now I can spend the entire offseason reading comments on the Rantanen trade…
Fuck hockey. I’m going fishing.
This is bad
Current Avs can’t get it done
Future:
top prospect gone
no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd rounder the next 2 years
Still…no 2nd line center
Uggh, my lengthy post didn’t post. Site was acting funny early this morning. went back and made myself rewatch Dallas’ goals. Watch Nuke’s decision to do a cute pass rather than keep the puck along the boards on first goal. Just a killer. Girard what were you doing on second goal?! All he had to do was attack the post to prevent the wrap around and instead he takes an awkward angle away from goal and fails completely to use his stick to block the puck. Literally just chose not to use his stick. coyle in no man’s land on… Read more »
I think considering the Avs cap situation with Landy back. They need to move out a significant piece from a salary perspective. And for me the two most obvious candidates are Necas & Nuke. Necas for obvious reasons. Gain nearly 7 million to once again go out & try & get a 2C. Unless they really want to invest in Nelson? Which I don’t know why they would. Trading Necas would also help them re – coup some assets. And they avoid having to give him an undeserved raise/extension when he has an 80 pt regular season mooching off of… Read more »
I’d say move on from Girard and his 5 million that could be used elsewhere, probably move on from Manson too, the argument there is always he’s the Avs biggest toughest D. However the team should be able to find other big in your face blue liners for better costs and healthier bodies.
That would be another way to go. But they definitely need to move money out.
I think we definitely need to move on from Girard (shocking I know). The Avs are the only top team that puts such an emphasis on smaller defensemen and it clearly is not working. Girard played great, I am not faulting him for how the series turned out in any way, but compare the size of our D with that of the Blues, Vegas, Dallas, and even Winnipeg and it is not even close. Every other GM believes opposite of the Avs for a reason. Manson is always a wild card, but he was our best defenseman last night with… Read more »
Malinski was good in those playoffs, but there was a big gap between what Girard and Malinski offered on the ice. Malinski is not very young (over 25 years old) and therefore he is probably not very far from the top of his progression curve. I would add that Girard very rarely makes mistakes defensively and that his play greatly favors the team’s puck possession. All the figures point in this direction.
I have never been a Girard hater. But always have felt as if his cap hit is way too high. 5 million for a defenseman that gets pushed around. And provides little to no offensive production.
Look at the cup run. He wasn’t missed at all. You already have plenty of puck movers with Cale, Toews, Malinski.
Girard is expendable. The only problem if they do it, is its about 4 years too late. They should’ve moved him after the cup win that summer to keep Kadri.
I liked Manson this series. Guys like Nuke don’t grow trees.
There’s a reason was quick to dump Necas. He never shows for the postseason.
Before his arrival with the Avalanche, Necas already had a production of more than a point per game. At this rate, he was over 80 points without any problem without Mackinnon. And you have the deal, trade Necas or Nichushkin to sign Nelson, a guy who didn’t live up to expectations. You probably don’t understand that in any exchange there is an element of risk and that the team could find itself losing. The safest thing we’ve seen during these series is that there’s a fit between Mackinnon and Necas. In the playoffs, Drouin didn’t have the ability to play… Read more »
Lol. Yup..clearly the results in REALITY where I live back up your conclusion. And not mine. I must’ve missed where Ole ice princess Marty had 11 pts in the last 3 games to propel the Avs to the 2nd rd.
Oh wait…..that didn’t happen. It was some other guy 🤔
“Girard what were you doing on second goal?! All he had to do was attack the post to prevent the wrap around and instead he takes an awkward angle away from goal and fails completely to use his stick to block the puck”. It’s the kind of comment from someone who has either never played hockey, or is trying to find a culprit absolutely for a very lucky goal of the opponent. Just to put you on a track my friend, it’s that Rantanen should never have been in the back of the net at that moment. Lindgren pivoted to… Read more »
Ok it’s the coaches fault that Girard simply didn’t use his stick to stop the puck?! Watch the replay. All he had to do was put his stick in the only logical place. A pee wee player could figure that out. Girard is the one playing not the coach. Did you blame the coach every-time you screwed up?! Pathetic reply dude. Always excuses just like the Avs.