- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,210,251
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
May 26, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Colorado Avalanche goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (39) and defenseman Sam Malinski (70) defend against Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) during the third period in game four of the Western Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
It’s over. The dream season didn’t have a happy ending. It was anything but that.
After getting swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final, all the Colorado Avalanche could do is wonder what could have been.
What if Cale Makar didn’t get injured and have to miss the first two games?
What if the offense didn’t run completely dry?
What if Scott Wedgewood matched Carter Hart’s play, or at least was closer to being as good?
What if they held a lead in Game 2 or Game 3 and didn’t face a complete mental meltdown in four days as they stared elimination in the face on Tuesday night?
In the end, it all was, well, exactly what Logan O’Connor said it was.
“I think it just feels like a waste, to be honest,” he said. “Eighty-two games, you get tons of great pieces, feel as though you have a team that can do something special. And for us, the end of the day, we set it in training camp, it’s Cup or bust for us. Regardless of where you fall short, we fell super short of that goal.
Saying they fell super short might be underselling it. When you make it to the Western Conference Final and get swept, it means you were only halfway to your goal. The Avs only won eight playoff games, and four of them came against a team in Los Angeles that probably had no business being part of it.
The offseason ahead will be interesting to see unfold on many fronts.
10 Takeaways
1. Injuries aren’t an excuse, and O’Connor was the first to admit that.
“I feel like every team goes through their own sort of challenges, and every team’s playing through something, so I think that’s just an excuse that we can’t give ourselves,” he said. “I think it just wasn’t there for us.”
Still, you have to wonder about how challenging it was to see as many key guys go down as the Avalanche had.
Nathan MacKinnon and Makar were both playing hurt. They weren’t nearly as effective as they could’ve been for the two games in Vegas because of it. Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen both missed the last two games of the Minnesota series and they were both a shell of what they were pre injury when they returned for Game 1.
Then there’s Valeri Nichushkin, who didn’t even play in Game 4. And that doesn’t include Josh Manson, who likely has been going through it all postseason after sustaining an injury in the Los Angeles series. It was just too much.
A lot of what it takes to win the Stanley Cup is getting lucky with guys staying healthy. It just wasn’t the case for the Avs. But again, everyone goes through it, and they needed to find a way. They couldn’t.
2. This was a pretty telling quote from Gabe Landeskog: “Throughout the year, we’re finding different ways to win hockey games. In this series, it was the opposite.”
3. This is the first series of MacKinnon’s career in which he didn’t score at least one goal. That’s 19 series he’s been a part of, and he scored in each of the first 18.
4. MacKinnon wasn’t made available postgame because he was getting treatment. I don’t know exactly what he’s going through so I’m not going to sit here and say he should’ve came out and spoken to media to address everything that went down in this series.
But what I will say is, he hasn’t spoken since the postgame scrum after Game 1. That means no off day availabilities from the alternate captain, no morning availabilities, and no postgames in either Game 2 or Game 3. That’s just unacceptable for one of the leaders of the team.
5. Brock Nelson didn’t score either. Neither did Martin Necas, Devon Toews, Sam Malinski, Brett Kulak, Makar, or Lehkonen which means only two of Colorado’s top-six forwards and top two defense pairs found the back of the net. They didn’t get a single goal from the blueline in general.
6. It might be easier to just list the guys who did score, given that there were only five of them. Ross Colton, Valeri Nichushkin, Jack Drury, Nazem Kadri, and three goals from Gabe Landeskog. That’s it. That’s the entire list.
It comes just one series after the Avs broke a record by having 16 skaters score in a five-game series against the Minnesota Wild.
7. Not only is this the first series sweep loss against the Avalanche in 18 years, but it’s also their first time losing a series in less than six games in just as long. They hadn’t even lost a series in five games in the Bednar era, let alone getting shut down completely like this.
8. Mackenzie Blackwood wasn’t hiding his anger postgame. That’s a guy that, you can tell, was feeling the effects of the entire season the moment the buzzer sounded. He made it clear that he wanted to play and should’ve played. He also made it clear that he was more angry than anything else at how the season unraveled in six days.
“Obviously, freaking sucks no matter how you do it. I think losing like that stings a little more,” he said. “Yeah, that’s going to be pretty frustrating. We are going to have a tough pill to swallow.
“The first three games I watched I was kind of awe of what was happening. It didn’t feel real. Today just kind of piled on to that. Yeah, it sucks.”
On playing in Game 4, he said: “It’s freaking hard not to play for so long and come into a big game but you know I just said fudge it and go play the best I can and give them the best chance to win and just battle.”
9. Ross Colton played just 8:50 in Game 4, which was far and away the lowest among Avalanche skaters. This will likely be his last game with the team, assuming he gets traded before September. It’s a tough end to what could’ve been a promising stint with this group.
10. I would also be remiss not to mention Brent Burns. That’s the one guy you probably feel for the most. This was supposed to be his best opportunity — his year to finally win the Stanley Cup. We don’t know yet if he’s going to continue his career or retire, but I’m not entirely sure it’ll be with the Avs if he does.
Burns finished the night with nearly 19 minutes of ice time. It was third most among defensemen being the top pair.
The post 10 Takeaways: The Avalanche Wasted a Dream Season In Six Days appeared first on Colorado Hockey Now.
Continue reading...
