Talking about Colorado Avalanche hockey over the last 10 years has been an exercise in patience, frustration, and a whole lot of futility. The organization simply hasn’t given its fans many reasons to believe any given year was the signal of something bigger, something sustainable.

Instead, the only thing sustainable was missing the playoffs with the Avs bottoming out two years ago in the 48-point fiasco. We’re all familiar with it. We all remember it. Everyone around the organization, from players to front office personnel and fans alike are scarred by it. It remains the flashpoint of real, meaningful change.

Fast forward to today and the Avalanche have made the playoffs in consecutive years. They won a playoff round. They’re in Game 7 of their second-round series against the San Jose Sharks, a team they’ve struggled to beat at all during the last 10 years. This season is already a success when matched with preseason expectations. All of the fuzzy feelings about this year’s team and the bright future of the Avalanche are justified. This should be the beginning of something special.

But on the other side of this series is the team that exists to warn all up-and-coming teams: Take advantage of your opportunities when you can or else. In San Jose’s case, they’ve had seasons of at least 96 points in 12 of the 14 seasons since the 2004-05 lockout, making the postseason 13 times in that span (the lockout-shortened season they had 57 points, a 97-point pace). They’ve been to the Stanley Cup Finals just once. They’ve had Hall of Fame caliber players on their roster and this year’s group sports two different defensemen who have been nominated for the Norris Trophy. This is a group that has had all the talent imaginable and has seen and done everything…except winning the Stanley Cup.

For the young and impressionable Avalanche, we’ve talked about how many lessons they’ve learned along this unexpected playoff run. They’ve learned how to win late in the regular season to make the playoffs, how to win road games in the postseason, how to close out a series, how to handle a matchup nightmare problem like the one the Avs currently face with the Sharks, the works. They’ve learned all kinds of things. If they take one more lesson with them into Game 7 tomorrow night, it’s that they should cherish the moment and not let this opportunity slip by them.

There will be plenty of time for looking ahead to the future (though significantly less than we’re accustomed to…). Plenty of time for talking about how Colorado can use it’s ~$36 million in cap space this summer. Plenty of time to debate who Colorado should select 4th overall with Ottawa’s selection. We’ve talked about all of that and will get to it again when the time is right.

Tomorrow night is about the present, the here and now. This isn’t about learning or building for the future. It’s simply about winning. It’s simply about understanding the moment and seizing it (as Pig Pen would say, “seize the carp”), for you never know when it may come around again. They only have to look across the rink to see that you only get so many kicks at the can and no matter how talented you are, nothing in the NHL is guaranteed.

But for the next 24 hours, the time is right for the Avalanche to win Game 7. Everything else can wait. There’s work left to do.