Reigning, Defending, and Undisputed: Avalanche's Championship Defense Begins

As the late, great, iconic Jackie Gleason once said, "How sweet it is!"

The Colorado Avalanche entered the evening of April 4, 2023 with a lot of golden opportunities. Mikko Rantanen was one goal away from 50. Nathan MacKinnon was on the verge of reaching 100 points. But overall, the Avalanche had an opportunity to lock in a playoff spot, and they had three ways to do it. The first, of course, was win and in. Secondly, if the Calgary Flames lost, the Avs would only need one point to get in. A third option had the Avs getting in with a Nashville Predators lost coupled with a Flames regulation loss.

However, Scenario #3 was off the table when the Preds won in overtime, but early in the Avs' game against the lowly San Jose Sharks, the Flames lost, 4-3, to another lowly team: the Chicago Blackhawks. Even so, the Avs had built up a 3-1 lead, but San Jose managed to tie it up quick. Despite this, the Flames' loss meant the clock was on the Avalanche's side, as the team only needed one more point in the standings to clinch. Colorado got that point when the game went to overtime, and right after clinching the spot, MacKinnon skated away and won it in OT.

Well, fellow Avalanche fans, we did it. It was not easy, but nothing ever is in the NHL. The Avs had to deal with a lot this season. So many man games lost. MacKinnon's missed games. Makar's missed games. Valeri Nichushkin's missed games. Gabriel Landeskog hasn't played all season, though he is close to coming back. For a good bit of the season, Mikko Rantanen had to be the captain with both of his Top Line mates out. Artturi Lehkonen's currently out. We lost quite a few key players to free agency during the offseason. Yet despite all of this, we made it, and we are a huge threat this year.

About Nathan MacKinnon's overtime goal: it was not only a game winner that moved the Avs to first place in the Central Division, it was his 100th point of the season. MacKinnon, in his 10th season with the Avalanche, reached 100 points for the first time in his career, surpassing his previous season high of 99 from the 2018-19 season. Mind you, this is all despite missing eleven games this season! MacKinnon is still on a huge high. Last season ended with MacKinnon hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time. Now, he and the Avs have a good chance of hoisting it again.

All Hail Conn Smythe Cale! That's what I've been calling him all year: Conn Smythe Cale. Cale Makar captured the prestigious trophy as the MVP of last year's playoffs, racking up 29 points (8 G/21 A) in 20 games. He won that, the Norris Trophy, and of course, the Cup that year, and this year, Makar has continued to show that he is the league's best defenseman. His 66 points (17 G/49 A) are third on the team, but it's a distant third. Even so, Makar proves that he is one of the most vital players on the Avalanche, and again, the top blueliner in the entire National Hockey League.

Let's get one thing clear. Literally the only thing keeping Mikko Rantanen away from any Hart Trophy talk is some guy named Connor McDavid. Even then, I still say there should be some consideration. The youngest member of that Top Line. The most recent player drafted by the Avs--two years after MacKinnon. Yet he's slowly and quietly becoming a goal scoring dynamo. As an Avs fan, I've made comparisons to the vintage team from 20+ years ago; MacKinnion (of course) is Joe Sakic, Landeskog is Peter Forsberg, and Rantanen is Milan Hejduk. It's a fitting comparison. After all, Hejduk was the last Avs player to put up 50 in a season, and Rantanen should surpass that total before the season is out. I want to say that Rantanen will get the overall Nordiques/Avs franchise record of 57 (Michel Goulet in the 1982-83 season), but that's a bit ambitious.

So here's the story. Ten days remain on the regular season. The Central Division is cramped. The goal in the regular season is to finish atop that division, but overall, the Avalanche have one true goal, and it comes in one six-letter word: repeat. Regardless of how we finish the regular season, the fact remains: we are just 16 wins away from a second straight Stanley Cup! Let's go!

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