An Avalanche Of Wins

As the Colorado Avalanche emerged as the Western Conference's best team throughout the regular season, many wondered whether they had the necessary playoff experience needed to march to sixteen wins. Those doubts were laid to rest tonight after the Avalanche became the first team to hit the sixteen-win mark in downing the Tampa Lightning 2-1 in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final to claim the Stanley Cup as 2022 NHL champions.

Yes, this team is blessed with all sorts of goal-scoring talent, but let's not overlook the obvious in that they can play with grit, they can play physical, and they can play with speed. They showed resilience, a killer instinct, some dogged determination, and a do-anything-to-win attitude in these playoffs at times, and their reward was sport's ultimate trophy as they put together a 16-4 record in these playoffs.

It won't be hard to point at the likes of MacKinnon, Makar, Landeskog, Rantanen, Toews, and Kadri as the cogs that drove the offence this season, but one would be remiss in not mentioning players like Valeri Nichuskin, JT Compher, Andre Burakovsky, and Artturi Lehkonen who stepped up in big ways at times when the Avalanche needed a boost. It would also be a mistake to forget some of the veterans like Andrew Cogliano, Darren Helm, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, and Darcy Kuemper who all had impacts on this season's ending. And, without doubt, players like Sam Girard, Pavel Francouz, Bowen Byram, and Alex Newhook played important roles when given opportunities.

It's not hard to see that the youth movement in Colorado will likely spark a number of copycat GMs to start looking for younger, offensively-gifted defenders who can drive the play like the Avalanche had all season. Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, so we'll see teams look for the next Makar in this summer's draft.

Of course, there's no guarantee anyone will find the same magic, but it should be written in ink on every GM's whiteboard in their offices that young defenders should be encouraged to play to their strengths rather trying to wedge square pegs into round holes. If the puck's hardly ever in your end, you're likely not surrendering goals.

There were concerns about Darcy Kuemper's play this season after posting the third-highest GAA in his career. His save percentage, though, was the fourth-highest of his career, so the stats may not tell the whole truth. As I wrote on Twitter, he made the saves when called upon, and that's what mattered at the end of the day. By keeping the puck out of their own end, Kuemper's struggles weren't magnified by prolonged stretches where the opposition had him flailing.Kuemper benefitted by making a few keys saves behind a defence that moved the puck well.

It has to be stated that goaltending still does matter. Where it matters most, though, is how the goaltending fits in as part of the overall system the teams plays. The Avalanche didn't have to overspend on or trade assets away for a top-tier netminder because both Kuemper and Francouz played well enough within their system that goaltending didn't emerge as the team's Achilles' heel. It should be noted that other teams cannot do this, so this again speaks volumes to overall structure in the system employed by the Avalanche.

That structure was built by Jared Bednar, and he becomes the only coach in hockey history and just the second person in hockey history to have won a Kelly Cup, a Calder Cup, and a Stanley Cup. There's no denying that Bednar's system works - the results speak for themselves.

What should be isolated from that system, though, is that he assigns responsibility and demands accountability for each player to every other player, not to Bednar. You can see the flexibility that players had when guys like Makar, Toews, and Byram jump into the rush to create an odd-player situation while the trailing forward remains in position defensively. In short, his system works if everyone has bought into it, and the Avalanche showed all season long that they were a twenty-man unit.

We shouldn't forget the front office as well in that Joe Sakic orhestrated a number of key moves to bolster his team to get them to the promised land. The Devon Toews deal looks like pure larceny right now. Giving up Justin Barron for Artturi Lehkonen seemed like a lot, but Lehkonen rewarded his GM with a handful of big goals including the game-winner tonight. Bringing in Nazem Kadri for Alex Kerfoot and Tyson Barrie is another savvy move, and signing Valeri Nichuskin just as the big 6'4" winger was growing into his frame was an understated move at the time.

Beyond that, the contracts that looked to handcuff the Avalanche - Rantanen and Landeskog, most notably - worked out in Colorado's favour in that they have gone from wide-eyed NHL youngsters to reliable points producers over the last few seasons. While there's always going to be work to do for Joe Sakic when it comes to building a roster that will see nine players in unstrictred free agency and two players in restricted status, winning a Stanley Cup with his core intact for at least two more seasons may attract players to sign for less. Sakic could build another juggernaut next season if the cards land right.

Let's not discount the effort from the Tampa Bay Lightning, though. This modern-day dynasty has shown everyone that smart player management, a sound gameplan, some key contributors, and everyone pulling in the same direction can make magic happen. While they may have fallen short in adding a third-straight panel on the Stanley Cup, there's no doubt that counting out the Lightning is a fool's folly. They'll be back, and I suspect they'll be just as determined to correct the loss this season.

To the victors go the spoils, though, and Colorado earned this Stanley Cup with series wins over Nashville, St. Louis, Edmonton, and Tampa Bay. I suspect that the images and stories from this Avalanche's team's parties and celebrations will be fun and wild if they make the light of day as this group is young, cohesive, and prone to fits of incredible moments.

Tonight was the first incredible moment. Let's see how many more this Avalanche team can make. Congratulations to the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalache!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!