“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Soft.

Overrated.

Built for the regular season.

No killer instinct.

Those were the words being spoken a little over eight years ago about a player who is now considered to be one of the greatest of all-time, a three time champion in his sport. But on a June night in 2012, the wolves were circling the legacy and reputation of the King, or LBJ, or ‘Bron, or even LeBron Raymone James to his mom. The talent who had entered the league as it’s next Heir/Air apparent had spent a lot of seasons not winning much of anything when the moment mattered most. The words above, and stuff a lot nastier was starting to float around LeBron’s reputation. In the moment it all came to a head, James and his Heat squad were playing their usual season-killers, the Boston Celtics. Boston had just delivered a crushing blow to James in Game Five of the series, taking a 3-2 series lead on LeBron’s home court. James had managed only two points in the last 8 minutes. The detractors were howling about the Paper King.

And then this face happened, and everything that went with it.

It’s not as if James has won every championship since – he’s won three with two franchises –  but that night, LeBron Raymone decided he was on a precipice. He saw that his legacy could be tarnished, his super-team experiment could be blown up, and he could be relegated to the dust-bin of almost-was players. He grabbed his potential, his courage, his fear, his frustration, and most of all his belief, and let it all out in a performance so focused and dominant that his team’s Game 7 win in the series and eventual Championship all looked to pivot back to the moment LBJ decided he really was his sport’s best player, and enough was enough.

Though it was a different sport, and an entire organization instead of a player, you could feel a similar pivot for your Colorado Avalanche after last Saturday’s loss to the Arizona Coyotes. In postgame comments following their Game 3 loss to a clearly less talented team, the Avs had the look of a club that had forgotten what had gotten them there. Their reputation as regular-season rockstars again felt in perilous danger of slipping away to a team that could knuckle down, body up, and play the gritty style of playoff hockey that has knocked the maturing Avs from the postseason their last few tries. Though it was only one loss, many of the players felt they’d also been fortunate to win Game 2. A reckoning was in order, as even that tiny slip saw a few whispers start to emerge about their ability to step up and perform when it really mattered.

When I went to check the score of Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Coyotes, I had to reboot my phone. Twice. And then a third time before it finally dawned on me that the 7-1 drubbing the Avs had given Arizona on Monday had been repeated exactly two days later. The focus, hustle, and sheer talent of the squad was finally on full display over those contests, with the only real  question at the end of each being how quickly the Coyotes could get dressed and go home. The same Avalanche personnel stepped out on the ice in Game 4, but it was surely a different team. The doubts, hiccups, and yips that seemed to show up occasionally through the first three games had melted away from a team that suddenly understood that not only were they the favorites and more talented squad, but that they were perilously close to finding themselves another almost-was footnote. Instead…

Have they won that Stanley Cup yet? Not even close, and the teams that stand between them and that success are deeper, more talented, and more disciplined than the one that Colorado faced in the first round. But if you look into the faces of the guys taking the ice for the Avs this last week, it’s easy to see. They no longer wonder if they belong. They no longer wonder if they have the right personnel or talent. This team knows it is as good or better than anyone else skating for the Cup, and that they have the gifts and timing to bring a third title home for your Colorado Avalanche. Win or lose, this team doesn’t doubt themselves for a moment any more. That surety is the last piece of the puzzle Colorado needed to win it all this season, and hopefully for many more to come. Finally, the Avalanche believe.