The #1 Contenders

Well, Avs fans, we did it! Now we need to do something with it.

Thursday was the Colorado Avalanche's second chance to capture the Presidents' Trophy, and unlike four years ago when we were one of the last two teams in contention for that trophy, there's no way out this time. The Avs were ahead of the next team in line (the Carolina Hurricanes) by too much with little time left. So we were winning this thing. All we had to do was beat the Calgary Flames--the same Flames we horribly extinguished over a week prior.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Dustin Wolf, and while the Avs started out dominating in shots, nothing went in on either side. I knew we would not get a repeat of that slaughter, and the Flames did get some shots in. The first penalty was called with 1:23 left in the first; Flames hooking call gave us a power play. All it took was seven seconds. Martin Necas to Nathan MacKinnon to Gabriel Landeskog. Our Captain's 13th of the season made it 1-0, and that was the score after 20.

Second period was basically more of the same. Flames had a PP that was quickly kiboshed when Calgary committed a penalty of their own during our shorthanded chance. I thought it was enough to possibly warrant a shorthanded penalty shot, but it was a straightforward two minute penalty that turned CGY's PP into 1:46 of four-on-four. Avs had 14 seconds of PP time (enough for two goals) knocked off. Avs made it 2-0 late in the frame; Necas with his 38th goal of the season, with MacKinnon and Brent Burns assisting.

2-0 was the score in our favor after 40, and the third period saw both teams with a PP that was killed off. Here's where the hilarity comes in. So Calgary pulls Wolf for the extra attacker. Tyson Gross scores, putting the Flames on the board. That's his first career NHL goal; way to go, kid! Now it's a game. Down one, they pull Wolf again, looking to tie it. We see MacKinnon with a good chance at the empty net, but in true unselfish fashion, he passes it. Flames recover later on, and it's Gross again. Tie game. Even as an Avs fan, I thought to myself, "He has a chance to do the funniest thing." Gross could win it by completing his first career Hat Trick, which would definitely be a story to tell down the line.

But hold everything! Jared Bednar decided to challenge this for offsides, and I'm literally shaking my head at this. This is not the time for challenges, because here's the thing. If a team challenges an opposing goal for either offsides or goalie interference, and they're wrong, the goal counts and it's a penalty for Delay of Game. It was offsides, but refs will still take forever to look at it and they still could count it.

Instead, it took seconds. Offsides. No goal. Wow!

The hilarity continued after that. So we did get control of the puck, and we see Martin Necas with a prime shot at the net. Despite this, Necas holds it. Holds it! HOLDS IT! And then he gives a pseudo-shot/pseudo-pass to MacKinnon, who put it in. I knew exactly what this was. Marty was trying to get Mack a goal so he can pull farther ahead of that goal-scoring Wisconsin beast named Cole Caufield (who scored his 50th goal of the season earlier that day). Here's the thing, though. I don't think MacKinnon really focuses on individual trophies. He should have won the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) at least four times, but he's never complained about being overlooked. He bowed out of the Ross Trophy (points leader) race last year when he was tied for the lead late. And while Mack probably would be happy to get the Rocket Richard Trophy (goals leader) this year, he'd be happy for Caufield if he won it this year.

And I'll say this last little bit before I get back on the subject. This is what people don't get when they say, "Well, McDavid's better than MacKinnon because he's a multi-time MVP." And yeah, all of that's fine and dandy. McDavid's up 3-1 when it comes to the Hart Trophy, and he's won nearly every relevant trophy available to him, except for one: the trophy MacKinnon won in 2022. That's the one that matters.

The Colorado Avalanche won, 3-1, to capture the Presidents' Trophy for the fourth time in franchise history. The first time we won the Trophy was in the 1996-97 season (the year after our first Cup), and that was followed by Trophy wins in 2000-01 and the shortened 2020-21 season. I know the stories about the Trophy being cursed. I know. The number of winners who won the Cup and the number of winners who were first-round exits? One in the same. Out of the previous 39 times that the Trophy's been awarded, only 11 winners even reached the Cup Final, and no Cup winners since the Blackhawks in that shortened 2012-13 season. But let's look at the positive side here. The last time we won the Trophy in a full season? 2000-01. We know how that ended. And we're one of the few teams to have won both in the same year.

I truly think it's not if you win that matters, it's when. We just won that Trophy in our 78th game, leaving four meaningless games on the schedule for us. You do not want to win that Trophy too early. I think that's part of what plagued that 2018-19 Lightning team. If I recall, they won that Presidents' Trophy on March 18, 2019. That left two weeks of meaningless games for the Bolts. On the flipside, you don't want to be playing Game 81 or 82 still trying to win the Trophy. That can be daunting. Regarding the Avs, we did this with Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri both out at the moment, so the rest of the regular season will be spent with those two getting some extra time to fully recuperate and be ready for the playoffs.

Regarding our last four games of the regular season, the Avs will host the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday on ABC. After that, we'll head to Alberta for our last two road games of the regular season--in Edmonton on Monday and in Calgary on Tuesday. Finally, our regular season ends at home against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday on ESPN.

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