Colorado Avalanche Bury Lightning Dynasty, Win Stanley Cup

The Colorado Avalanche are once again Stanley Cup Champions!!

As Ric Flair said, “To Be the Man, You Have To Beat the Man!!” And that is exactly what the Colorado Avalanche did. The Avalanche defeated the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning by a final score of 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Prior to the series beginning, Nathan MacKinnon was glad he was playing Tampa Bay.

“They are best, MacKinnon said at Media Day prior to the Stanley Cup Final. “There’s no Cinderella story in this series… I’m glad we’re playing Tampa. Two of the best teams going out at it. The way it should be.”

Echoing those sentiments was Cale Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

“The Lightning were looking to have a dynasty. We were a team trying to start a legacy.”

And the Avalanche have done just that. In their third trip to the Stanley Cup, the Colorado Avalanche are a perfect 3-0. Their last championship came in 2001 on home ice in Game 7. Now 21 years later, the Avalanche are back on top of the hockey world.

The Lightning were looking to win their third straight Stanley Cup Championship. Something that had not been accomplished since the 1980s New York Islanders. Unfortunately, the Lightning fell short to a superior and hungrier Colorado Avalanche. However, it is still impressive that the Lightning made three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in a salary cap era.

Entering the series, Colorado was in a similar position to the Lightning when they won their first of two straight Stanley Cups. The Avalanche had gone through heartbreak in the second round and the process of losing. Entering this season, the Avalanche were motivated by defeat and past failures. From beginning to end the Avalanche were the best team in the NHL.

You do not finish second in the President’s Trophy race by accident. However, that was not the trophy they wanted. It was the Stanley Cup and Colorado has that. Their 16-2 record in the playoffs shows they were the best team. Along the way to the Stanley Cup, Colorado recorded two sweeps and the longest series went six games. Talking about being efficient.

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While the Colorado Avalanche made it look easy along the way if you ask the players it was not. One thing is for sure failure was not going to be an option for the Colorado Avalanche this season. They were motivated by their past playoff failures and not getting passed the second round. Specifically one Nathan MacKinnon.

MacKinnon was not happy with how his team lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He let the world know things were going to be different next time around.

“I’m going into my ninth year next year and I haven’t won shit. So, I’m just definitely motivated, and it just sucks losing four (games) in a row to a team,” MacKinnon said after the Avalanche Game 6 loss to the Golden Knights in Round 2. 

“It felt like last year was our first real chance to win, and this year, I thought we were the best team in the league. But for whatever reason, we just couldn’t get it together,” MacKinnon added. “I’m sure in training camp next year we’ll figure it out, dissect things, and come back better.”

And better MacKinnon was. He showed why in the past he should have won the Hart Trophy on multiple occasions. He put the Colorado Avalanche on his back. While he might have been pressing some in the Stanley Cup Final, MacKinnon carried his team to that point.

MacKinnon was in the middle of everything in Game 6 for the Colorado Avalanche. Through the first five games of the series, he was trying too hard at times. But he finally was relaxed in Game 6. It started late in the first period when MacKinnon had three shots and carried into the second period, where he tied the game at 1-1. From there MacKinnon led the rush leading to the Artturi Lehkonen goal that gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at the time.

Motivation can be a powerful weapon, especially the great players. Losing is never fun. But there are lessons in losing that teams learn. And Colorado learned those lessons and now are champions. As Colorado sits atop the hockey world, you see that an up-tempo offence can win a Stanley Cup. Because as the Avalanche have shown the best defence is a good offence. And they have both.

Instead of the torch being passed, Colorado ripped the torch away from the Lightning. The Colorado Avalanche is now in the position Tampa Bay was in and have a chance to win multiple Stanley Cup championships over the next several years.