There's Nothing More Poetic Than Mikko Rantanen Having The Most Legendary 3rd Period Performance In Game 7 To End Colorado's Season
Richard Rodriguez. Getty Images."Talk about your all-time backfires" - Happy Gilmore.
The Colorado Avalanche had a choice to make back in January. Either they'd roll the dice with Mikko Rantanen and try to win another Cup before he'd become a free agent in July, or they trade away a key piece of their core for assets that won't make them a better team now but maybe in the future. Is it worth giving up a chance to win a Cup right now to make sure you don't lose a great player for free in the future? The Colorado Avalanche sure thought so when they traded Rantanen to Carolina.
Now in Colorado's defense, they made sure to trade him out of the Western Conference. This was never supposed to be the situation they found themselves in. They made sure to trade him out East to make sure they didn't have to face him in the playoffs. But to be fair, they traded him with a lot more time remaining in the season before the trade deadline. So once they traded him to Carolina, the control was out of their hands. And when shit didn't work out in Carolina, it was right back to the West he went with a trade to the Dallas Stars.
First round. Game 7. Colorado vs Dallas. The Avalanche were just 19 minutes away from advancing after taking a 2-0 lead in the 3rd period. And that's when the biggest mistake the Colorado Avalanche ever made came back to bite them directly in the dick.
3 goals and 4 points in the final 12 minutes of the game to put the Dallas Stars on his back, and deliver a dagger straight to Colorado's. Dude plopped his nuts on the ice and dragged them all across Chris MacFarland's face.
Every single year, a new season begins and 32 teams in the NHL all have the same goal to win a Stanley Cup. It is so ruthlessly hard to accomplish that goal. Connor McDavid has been the best hockey player on the planet for at least the last 7 years, and he hasn't been able to win a Cup yet. Alexander Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL, and he's only been able to win it once. You get the occasional teams who can go on runs like the Blackhawks and Penguins, but most teams are lucky if they get one or two real legitimate chances at winning a Stanley Cup over the course of 10-15 years. Which is why it's never made sense to me when GM's prioritize the future of the franchise over trying to win a Stanley Cup right now.
Now if the Hockey Gods want to really show us what they're made of, we'll get a Dallas vs Carolina matchup in the Stanley Cup Final. Give Rantanen a chance to be the first player to ever eliminate two teams he previously played for in the same season. The Revenge Tour of all Revenge Tours (even though there's no real revenge to be had with Carolina since he told them he didn't want to sign there).