You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin eyes

With the untimely death of Eagles founder Glenn Frey, I found myself listening my way through some of my favorite songs by the classic rock group when I stumbled across this particular verse. Given the return of Ryan O’Reilly to Denver for the first time since his trade to the Buffalo Sabres this past summer, it was with a particularly nasty sting the verse played through my headphones as I began confronting the two-faced nature of O’Reilly’s dramatic Avalanche tenure.

I haven’t thought much about O’Reilly since the deal, choosing instead to focus on Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko and how what Colorado received in the blockbuster draft-day trade was changing the franchise I cover. The O’Reilly saga was over and I was moving on. With his return to the Pepsi Center on Wednesday, I found it impossible to continue ignoring the cavalcade of unexpected emotions and I am lucky enough to have a platform to work out the emotions no doubt so many Avalanche fans are also experiencing.

The complicated truth to the Ryan O’Reilly Era is that it was unexpected, turbulent, and at times incredible. As a second round pick to make the opening night roster immediately, he joined Patrice Bergeron as one of the very few players to accomplish the feat and began winning over Avalanche observers with his work ethic, determined defensive efforts, and surprising maturity for a player who didn’t possess the immediate offensive gifts of his draft mate, Matt Duchene.

His early career is best remembered as the worst moment of Dan Boyle‘s career, in which he just barely tipped Boyle’s pass behind unsuspecting netminder Evgeni Nabokov for an overtime, game-winning goal in one of the more improbable playoff victories you will ever see.

Given the surprising success of the 2009-10 Avalanche, led in part by youngsters Duchene and O’Reilly, it felt like the page was turning from the aftermath of the Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy Holy Trinity to a new, exciting generation of Avs hockey. Colorado would return to earth shortly after, drafting in the top five a few more times and adding more talented players along the way. As they aged, the link between O’Reilly and Duchene would become a prime talking point when discussing the evolution of the franchise.

Upon completion of their respective entry-level contracts, the two players split paths in ways nobody saw coming. The high-scoring Duchene scored 150 points in his first 219 games despite a third season wrought with knee injuries and he signed a modest 2-year, $7 million contract, bringing his annual average value (AAV) to $3.5 million. O’Reilly, asked to be more of a defensive stopper his first two seasons, broke out in his third year with 55 points after matching 26 point seasons his first two years, bringing his three year totals to 107 points in 236 games.

O’Reilly was unable to come to agreement on an extension with the Avalanche and as the NHL lockout dragged on, things were delayed even further. Upon the lockout ending, O’Reilly, who had signed a two-year deal in the KHL, remained overseas as his contract talks had reached an impasse. O’Reilly would terminate his contract with his KHL team and return to North America citing an ankle injury. While rehabbing his injury, O’Reilly signed an offer sheet with the then-division rival Calgary Flames, a two-year, $10 million deal structured to increase O’Reilly’s salary in his second year to $6.5 million.

The Avalanche ultimately, and begrudgingly, matched the offer sheet and O’Reilly returned to the ice. With his return, the focus of everyone went back to his development as a player on the ice. He was well known for being a classic “rink rat”, a true hockey junkie who lived and breathed hockey. He spearheaded a number of innovative post-practice drills that I spent years watching him work on. He was fascinating to observe as a detail-oriented player who had an uncanny ability to translate his extremely high hockey IQ to in-game situations and his obsessive work on the finer details of the game began showing up regularly.

In short, O’Reilly blossomed into a legitimate two-way hockey player, as opposed to the defense-first center so many foresaw early in his career. His point totals continued to improve and the bitterness over his initial contract negotiations included as much anger towards the stingy Avalanche front office as O’Reilly. When his deal he signed with the Flames expired, the Avalanche moved quickly to go through arbitration, an ugly process not frequently seen in the NHL as teams notoriously went after players in the hearings in order to keep costs low. The Avs and O’Reilly agreed on a two-year, $12 million contract that would take O’Reilly right up to free agency and match the $6M AAV established by Duchene the previous summer with his five-year, $30 million extension.

Despite one more solid season in Colorado, O’Reilly was ultimately traded before getting a chance to play out the final season of his contract. The trade came as a relief for the entire fan base, who had spent seemingly half of O’Reilly’s career stressing out about the player’s contract situation and not always enjoying the wonderful player he turned out to be.

This is where the true conflict for Avs fans existed. The player we saw on the ice was capable of awe-inspiring things and nobody ever doubted how much he cared about the game. He was there, on display at practice, every single day throughout his time in an Avs sweater, working long after the coaches had exited the ice, honing his skills and working tirelessly to refine his game. He set a tone for the team and was joined by more and more players as the years passed. He was easy to love.

Yet, when I was faced with buying an O’Reilly jersey on discount once upon a time, my heart said yes and my head said no. I ultimately passed on a $50 jersey because I felt I couldn’t trust the player to commit to the Avalanche long-term and I didn’t want to be burned by another early departure so soon after my Mark Streit Islanders jersey became irrelevant.

I’ll repeat that so we can get into the ridiculous double-standard we as sports fans hold players to: “I felt I couldn’t trust the player to commit to the Avalanche”. Loyalty in sports is one of those things fans love to talk about and only exhibit up to a certain point. I was uncomfortable purchasing an O’Reilly jersey because I felt he’d leave the Avs soon after. Yet when it came time to trade him, I celebrated in glee as the whole saga had grown tiresome and I was weary of his exorbitant contract demands. That’s not really fair of me, is it? I ding a player because he won’t stick around, then celebrate his forced departure because I was “over” him.

Yet, I sit here today and don’t feel any anger or resentment towards O’Reilly at all. He simply wanted to get paid and maximize his earnings in the very limited window he has as a professional athlete. I’m not going to fault someone whose earning opportunity window is very small for trying to make the most of their privileged position. I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same were I in the same position. Sometimes as fans we forget that these guys have to earn a living and make the most of things. O’Reilly wasn’t just trying to earn money for today, he was earning money for the next 60 years of his life and his playing career likely only has 15 years, at most, left on it.

Fans felt betrayed every time they saw another rumored contract demand. “O’Reilly is asking for what??” Yet, so many of these same fans seem to have no issues advocating on a daily basis for the current team to scratch Alex Tanguay because the old fan favorite has clearly lost a step and is struggling mightily in what could be his final NHL season. There’s your loyalty for you. Tanguay has played his heart out for this franchise in the 582 times he has put on the Avalanche sweater but because he’s not as good as he was as recently as last year, so many fans are done with him. It’s simply the nature of sports business.

Fans love when players take less money to play for the team they root for as long as they produce at an acceptable level and help the team win. Sometimes, these things harmonize. The relationship between Duchene and Avalanche fans is as strong as it ever has been. Duchene loves Denver, the Avalanche, and is on a team-friendly contract that serves to pay him an awful lot of money through his 20’s and the fans love him back.

When I look at Ryan O’Reilly and the pure happiness Buffalo Sabres fans feel towards him, I can’t help but feel a little jealousy. They don’t ever have to sit through a painful contract process and only get to enjoy the greatness of the player on the ice. They get to see O’Reilly as a leader, not the player who allegedly pouted when the Avalanche named Gabriel Landeskog captain instead of him, and tour de force centerman as he is on pace for a career-high season in points.

When O’Reilly ultimately puts skates to Pepsi Center ice Wednesday night, I’ll undoubtedly enjoy watching him play the game I love so much. He, unlike several notable players to pass through Denver in recent seasons, never did wrong by the Avalanche logo when he wore it. He worked hard, cared about the game, and wasn’t a disgrace to the franchise off the ice. He simply wanted to get paid a number the Avalanche were uncomfortable paying him.

For better or worse, it simply is what it is but it’s a damn shame when you stop and think about what could have been. Either way, welcome back to Denver, Ryan. I, for one, won’t be booing you but I will, finally, be saying goodbye.