Burning Down the Flames

And neither man nor beast had words. There was a thunderclap and lightning tore the peaks above as the gates swung open revealing the second round, as was spoken of by the elders. It was, the travelers whispered, “on”.

—->

Five Thoughts

1. Calgary was outrun, out gunned, and out in one when the lights went out at the Saddledome tonight. Having been no more threatening than a sack of bunnies Calgary has a lot of questions to answer. Namely, how were they the best team in the western conference this year? 

Who was this opponent? They didn’t play cohesively, were thin skinned, and went ice cold at the wrong times. Mike Smith played admirably but was overwhelmed and the Calgary top line was invisible for long stretches. The Gaudreau line may or may not have been at the games, I’m not sure. 

Kudos to the Avs for shutting down the best in the West, but also for being clearly the better team.  The only way this series could have been more fun was if Theo Fleury was shot out of a cannon.

2. For the longest time the philosophy in hockey was to spread the talent on a team among the top two lines. The thinking was that it would put more pressure on the opposing team’s depth. But what if the talent is so dominating that the best strategy is to go with a super line and let it roll?

MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Landeskog were a force of nature in this series. As the season flagged and the Avalanche floundered it made sense for Jared Bednar to drop Mikko Rantanen down a line, especially when Landeskog went off with an injury (Bednar dropped Rantanen down again at times this series as well- think two Colin Wilson goals). But early on, with the grinders clicking reuniting the best line in hockey turned out to be the choice of the series. It is difficult to imagine another defense stopping the Avalanche top line over seven games. 

3. MacK Smash!

Name me another superstar who can do what Nathan MacKinnon is doing right now. I’ll wait. Calgary targeted MacK in Game Five and he responded by beating them up, both on the scoreboard and about their collective heads and necks. His elbow to the throat of Garnet Hathaway towards the end of Game Five was sublime. 

4. The answer to my question is: Mikko Rantanen. 

When MacK and Landeskog weren’t brutalizing Calgary, Mikko proved to be the enormous, skillful engine that could. In showing absolutely zero remorse for sabotaging my fantasy season by missing the last eight games of the regular season, Rants looked like I imagine I do when I decide to step in and dominate my fifth grade class in four square.   

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1milns/bill_murray_spiking_a_little_kid_trying_to_play/

5. So...what next?

If the smoldering playoff bracket I’m looking at is correct the Avalanche can probably expect to meet Vegas in a matchup that will most certainly involve mob references by me, in writing, in a series of blogs that could lead to my untimely disappearance at the hands of, let’s say, Max Pacioretty’s bookie.  

It will also be a chance for Paul Stastny to pay back the team that drafted and molded him so long ago. You owe us, Paulie. 

As we bid adieu to Calgary let’s take a moment to appreciate all of the Alberta locals who say Cal-GARY. If there was a slower way to say that name I’m sure it would have been found by now.