Avalanche win 2022 Stanley Cup

[Brewin Flames]

Colorado Avalanche win first Stanley Cup since 2001 with Game 6 comeback; Cale Makar awarded Conn Smythe Trophy

 

• 
  Kristen ShiltonESPN NHL reporter

TAMPA, Fla. -- The night before the Colorado Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup in over two decades by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 on Sunday, they called a players-only meeting.

Colorado could have clinched the Cup on home ice in Game 5. Instead, Tampa Bay extended the series with a 3-2 win. The Avalanche's leadership group had been through too much heartbreak before, making three consecutive second-round series exits prior to this season. No way would they let another opportunity slip.

 

"We knew the job that we had to do," said Cale Makar, who was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason's most valuable player. "But we needed to just talk about staying mentally locked in and not looking too far ahead. It was [Andrew Cogliano] and [Gabriel Landeskog] and [Nathan MacKinnon] speaking and basically just calming the guys down and making sure that regardless of the outcome, just put it all out there and see where the game lies, and that's kind of where our minds were at.'

 

"I felt like throughout this whole game, our mentality was just win that period and win the next one, get the next shift and so on, and we were never looking too far ahead to the to the outcome -- and we definitely feel like we earned that one."

 

Makar finished the postseason third overall in scoring with eight goals and 29 points in 20 games. The 23-year-old also won the Norris Trophy last week, making him the third defenseman to win both the Norris and Conn Smythe in the same season. Makar was the first unanimous Conn Smythe winner since the Professional Hockey Writers Association began tracking tabulations five years ago.

 

It wasn't the individual accomplishments Makar was most proud of, however. It was the whole team effort. He said before the Cup Final began that while the two-time Cup champion Lightning were trying to build a dynasty, Colorado was attempting to forge a legacy.

 

That journey began in earnest for the Avalanche with the franchise's first Cup victory since 2001. In what was a tightly contested Game 6 until the end, Makar worked not to let his emotions take over.

 

"I was trying not to look at the clock too much, was just trying to stay in the moment," Makar said. "When we had them at the line a couple times, I saw the puck go down and I was like, 'I don't want this thing to come out at the corner,' so I had to do everything I could to keep it there. Pure joy being able to throw the gloves off and being able to experience that again.

 

It's so amazing to be able to experience it with such a great group of guys, so it's awesome."

 

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had a gut instinct about Sunday's game. He was not part of the meeting that took place but "got the gist" of what was said. That the players took it upon themselves to gather after the Game 5 loss told Bednar everything he needed to know about where his team stood.

 

"I had a pretty good feeling about tonight because they called that meeting and those guys said what they said," Bednar said. "I was really impressed that our guys [did that] to try to get over [Game 5] mentally and discuss what was going on at home and turn the page and get ready. After that meeting, you could just kind of feel a sense of relief, some of the nervous tension that we had at home [was gone] and the focus was back."

 

Still, the Avalanche stumbled out of the gate in Game 6.

 

Steven Stamkos scored his 11th goal of the postseason to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. The Avalanche's pushback came in the second period. MacKinnon had been waiting for a breakout moment in this series and finally found it, tallying the equalizer with a one-timer from the left circle past Andrei Vasilevskiy.

 

Colorado wouldn't trail again. Artturi Lehkonen scored his game winner in the second period, and the Avalanche held on from there to deny Tampa Bay its three-peat chance.

Landeskog said he thought Colorado's third period was as good as it could have been, showcasing all the key points the team touched on in its meeting.

 

"We said, 'We've been quick learners all season, we've been quick learners in the playoffs,'" Landeskog recalled. "We kind of blew it, we didn't out have our best showing in Game 5, but come back here tonight, and we just wanted to be aggressive."

 

For MacKinnon, the road to becoming a Cup champion with Colorado was particularly painful. He is part of the core that endured a last-place finish in 2016-17, a brutal low point that he, Landeskog, Erik Johnson and Mikko Rantanen, specifically, didn't know if they'd overcome.

 

Now their names will be etched on hockey's holy grail forever.

 

"It's hard to describe, honestly," MacKinnon said. "We came from last place together, me, Landy, Mikko, EJ, so it's unbelievable. I'm forever grateful to go through it with these warriors. It was a perfect mix. And we needed a lot of character building over the years to get this done, so it feels great."

 

Landeskog agreed.

 

"That 2016-17 season was rock bottom from an NHL perspective," he said. "It just shows that management was patient with Jared, they were patient with us. They didn't blow things up after a second-round exit for the third year in a row. They believed in us. They added high-character pieces who wanted to do anything they could to get this win. It's special."

 

As captain, Landeskog was first to hoist the Cup after being presented it by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, who assumed that duty as well as the traditional end-of-season speech with commissioner Gary Bettman sidelined by the coronavirus. Landeskog passed the Cup directly to Johnson. Landeskog and Johnson are the Avalanche's longest-tenured players.

 

Just like then-captain (and current Avs general manager) Joe Sakic knew in 2001 he'd hand the Cup off to Ray Bourque, Landeskog had only one teammate in mind for that instance.

 

"Gabe was telling me the last couple years, 'When we win it, you're getting it first,'" Johnson said. "If that doesn't give you motivation to get it done, nothing else does. Just a super humbling, gratifying feeling, it's amazing. [It's] heavier than you think. It was like watching a video game or something like that. It was amazing."

 

Colorado's Cup win was the culmination of a dominant postseason run, during which the Avalanche went 16-4 overall and swept both their first-round series against Nashville and the Western Conference finals against Edmonton. It fit a theme for the Avalanche, as well, to win their Cup on the road.

 

Colorado was terrific on the road all playoffs, finishing with a 9-1 mark and completing all four of its series wins away from home.

 

The Avalanche also got the job done amid injuries to key players.

 

Andre Burakovsky had been playing through a broken foot suffered in the conference finals and was sidelined for most of the Cup Final after breaking his thumb in Game 2. Nazem Kadri played through a broken thumb. Cogliano had a broken hand. Valeri Nichushkin was battling a painful lower body injury from Game 5.

 

Resiliency is what carried Colorado to this point, going back to the 2016-17 campaign that became a foundation upon which the Avalanche could build their brighter future. Sakic was the architect of Colorado's success, but it was the players' refusal to give up on the eventual dream of being Cup champions that carried them through to the ultimate prize.

 

"I'm really happy for those guys [who stuck around]," Sakic said. "This group, it was a great group. They believed in each other all year and really stuck together and never let anything faze them, really. If they had a bad game, they got right up the next day ready to be better."

[Brewin Flames]

 

[Brewin Flames]

 

[Brewin Flames]

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

HOCKEY DAILY DOSE

COLORADO AVALANCHE WIN THE STANLEY CUP!

BY MICHAEL FINEWAX Twitter profile: @mfinewaxhockey

June 27, 2022, 12:00 am ET

 

The Tampa Bay Lightning headed into Game 6 with the knowledge that only seven teams have rebounded from a 3-1 series deficit in the Stanley Cup Final to even the series and only one team, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Stanley Cup (the Leafs were actually down 3-0 before winning four in a row).

 

Both teams had injuries to deal with heading into Game 6 with Colorado missing Andre Burakovsky for the match while Tampa Bay was without Brayden Point. The Lightning were 8-2 at home heading into their final home game of the season while Colorado was 8-1 on the road in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.

 

 

The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, ending the Lightning’s dream of winning three straight Stanley Cups.

 

Cale Makar was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, and deservedly so, as he ended the playoffs with 29 points, third-best in scoring and the top point-getter of all Stanley Cup Final participants. Makar was the unanimous winner, corralling all 18 votes.

 

The first period was without many whistles as the action was non-stop. The only goal of the opening frame came at the 3:48 mark of the period when the captain, Steven Stamkos took charge and beat Darcy Kuemper. Cale Makar’s attempted clearing pass from behind the net, hit the skate of Ondrej Palat and the puck went right to Stamkos who potted his 11^th of the post-season.

 

While no pucks entered the net the remainder of the period, both goalies played quite well with Andrei Vasilevskiy making a couple of outstanding saves while Kuemper was solid in the Colorado cage.

The shots on net after the first period were 10-8 in favor of Tampa Bay.

 

It was all Colorado in the second period, at least on the scoreboard as they scored a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead after two.

 

Nathan MacKinnon, who was held to just one goal in the first five games, took over as he scored his 13^th of the playoffs at the 1:54 mark. MacKinnon took a pass from Bowen Byram and his one-timer from the faceoff circle easily beat Vasilevskiy.

The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead on a controversial goal as Josh Manson seemed to hook Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the Colorado zone.

 

The Avs then broke out with MacKinnon losing the puck but have it going to Artturi Lehkonen in the face-off circle and his shot beat Vasilevskiy. There could have easily been a penalty called on the play but there was not and the goal was allowed to stand.

The Avalanche outshot Tampa Bay 13-9 in the second period for a 21-19 lead after two.

 

Surprisingly, the Avalanche carried the play in the third period, outshooting the Lightning 9-4 and did not allow a Tampa Bay shot for over 15 minutes from late in the second period into the third.

 

Kuemper quietened his detractors as he was solid in the Colorado net, stopping 22-of-23 shots for his 10^th win against four losses. He had a 2.57 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

 

Vasilevskiy ends the 2022 post-season with a 14-9 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .922 save percentage.

 

MacKinnon had seven shots on goal.

 

Bowen Byram had eight hits.

 

There were only two minor penalties called all game as the referees let them play.

 

The curse of Corey Perry prevailed over the winning ways of Pat Maroon as Perry has now gone to three straight Stanley Cup Finals without winning while for Maroon, it was his first Stanley Cup series loss after 15 straight wins as he won in St. Louis in 2019 and Tampa Bay the last two seasons before losing this year.

 

Congratulations once again to the 2022 Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche!

[OccamsRazor]

Oh dang NAK no you didn't just dent that prestigious trophy....

 

 

Yep you did. Watch the banana peel...

[OccamsRazor]

Congratulations Avs. Well deserved.

 

As I heard repeated last night 5 years ago they were one of the worst teams in the NHL.

 

 

Go enjoy it. But stay safe.

[NHL HHOF]

Are there any previous Stanley Cup winners on this year’s Colorado team?

[Math]

10 minutes ago, NHL HHOF said:

Are there any previous Stanley Cup winners on this year’s Colorado team?

 

Burakovsky and Helm. For Helm, it's been 14 years since his last one, maybe a record...

[OccamsRazor]

14 minutes ago, NHL HHOF said:

Are there any previous Stanley Cup winners on this year’s Colorado team?

 

Darren Helm won 2 Cups with Detroit.

 

Burakovsky won a Cup with the Caps.

 

That is all I'm aware of....

[Math]

In summary:

• The Avalanche won its third cup in history. I'd say its second-and-a-half cup since the 1996 Nordiques won it wearing Colorado jerseys.
• This is now true, Darcy F. Kuemper has a ring with a sv% below 0.910 and a GAA above 2.5. Ok.
• Corey Perry still has one year left in his contract with Tampa before joining the Avalanche for the 2023-2024 season
• Third loss in a row with three different teams, might be a record too for the ice hockey Poulidor.
• And finally, the most intriguing and shocking headline:

Quote

(...) the Leafs were actually down 3-0 before winning four in a row.

 

[mojo1917]

The best team won, no question.

Tampa was valiant in defeat, they definitely made Colorado take the championship from them.

The Avs did just that. 

If this is the model that other teams copy, I can abide, they play fast and heavy. @TropicalFruitGirl26 mentioned the hand-eye coordination of the Avs players being extraordinary as well, that was a keen observation. The Av's ability to make plays on the puck at the end of their reach kept Tampa from capitalizing on those few times
Tampa's skaters had a step on them.  That seemed to be demoralizing, Kucherov especially was unable to find enough space to make plays and when he did the gaps closed quickly.

Good series, the Avalanche are worthy cup champions.

[NHL HHOF]

Avalanche’s Andre Burakovsky played with broken ankle. He couldn’t get back from broken thumb

“It’s 10 times worse to sit and watch. I tried every morning to get out there to help the team but I just couldn’t do it with my injury. Doesn’t matter now. We still got the championship and that’s the most important thing,” Burakovsky said.

 

https://www.denverpost.com/2022/06/26/avalanche-andre-burakovsky-broken-ankle-broken-thumb/

[NHL HHOF]

Darren Helm

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Helm

 

André Burakovsky

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Burakovsky

[OccamsRazor]

The fun part...

 

 

[notfondajane]

On 6/27/2022 at 10:41 AM, Math said:

In summary:

• The Avalanche won its third cup in history. I'd say its second-and-a-half cup since the 1996 Nordiques won it wearing Colorado jerseys.
• This is now true, Darcy F. Kuemper has a ring with a sv% below 0.910 and a GAA above 2.5. Ok.
• Corey Perry still has one year left in his contract with Tampa before joining the Avalanche for the 2023-2024 season
• Third loss in a row with three different teams, might be a record too for the ice hockey Poulidor.
• And finally, the most intriguing and shocking headline:

 

Wasn't that done in 1942 against Detroit? 

[NHL HHOF]

Is Darren Helm returning next season? Does anyone know why he only played 11 games this season, and 1 in the playoffs?

Edited May 4, 2023 by NHL HHOF

[NHL HHOF]

Darren Helm Out Indefinitely

JANUARY 13, 2023 AT 7:53 PM CDT | BY BRIAN LA ROSE 1 COMMENT

It has been a tough season for Avalanche forward Darren Helm.  He missed the first 35 games of the season due to a hip injury but recently returned to the lineup.

 

https://www.nhl.com/player/darren-helm-8471794