“You are who you want to be most.”
– Brent Slade
You don’t need to go searching for Mr. Slade as a famous individual. He was simply an old friend of mine who was kind and patient enough to listen to me lamenting how much I wished a life situation had turned out differently. As I bemoaned all the circumstances that had kept me from my ultimate goal, my good friend kindly smiled.
And then called bullshit.
He led me through the decisions I’d made on the way to my current circumstance, showing how I’d chosen a million other little things over the “dream” I was theoretically so enamored of. By the end of his presented case, felt pretty hemmed in. He was right. Damnit, he was right. I could say I wanted that thing, but that wasn’t the story my choices had told.
When the Colorado Avalanche made the decision to pursue their wildly talented youth movement several years back, they knew they had the kind of talent around the club to push them into the postseason for years to come. But after winning it all in their first season, and collecting a second Stanley Cup five years later, the expectations are a little higher around Avalanche Country.
So when the youngsters made the playoffs four seasons ago, and bowed out in six in a hard-played series against the Nashville Predators, you only held out high hopes for their future. They looked like they simply needed to put it all together with a few more right pieces and some seasoning and maturity.
The next year, the Avs blew through the Flames in five games in the first round before trading games all series with the Sharks finally taking it in seven. Again, you could see talent, and the Avs were remarkably close to Conference Finals. Things weren’t quite there, but you could see it all coming together. Just a little closer.
Then another year, and another five game blowout, this time against the Coyotes. Coming out of that hot, the Avs then have another seven game bit of sadness, this time against the Dallas Stars after losing three of the first four games of the series. This one stung a little, as for the first time it felt as if the team had taken a bit of a step sideways, if not backwards. The Avalanche players seemed noticeably stung by the way their sterling season had gone so flat.
So when last season rolled around, you could see the fire in the Colorado players eyes throughout the year. They cut through the Blues in four games, and then ravaged their old nemesis, the Golden Knights, 7-1 in the first game. Though they seemed to stumble in Game 2 against Vegas, they still managed an overtime win. The Avs were 6-0 in the playoffs, and they were obviously on their way to a huge postseason.
They wouldn’t win another game.
So here we are. The fifth postseason with this amazing, uber-talented, and cohesive squad. Another four game sweep of a first round opponent (Predators), and another win to get us back up in the second round (Blues). But a lackluster first two periods and a mistake-filled third meant a knotted series on the way back to St. Louis. Hell, had they not had the good fortune of an overtime goal in Game 1, they may have been headed out down 0-2.
There have been moments in these meltdowns they’ve looked lost. Outcoached. Simply flummoxed. But every year, there’s the notion of coming back tougher. Wiser. More composed. The question simply becomes…
Was Thursday night the beginning of yet another fading away, or was that simply a bump in the road on the way to finally bigger things? This Avalanche team is more often than not the most talented team on the ice. But as is often the case when the talent differential starts to shrink, it’s the team with the better plan, execution, and effort that comes away with the win. So which team are you, Colorado Avalanche? The world beaters? Or the postseason punching bag?
Who do you want to be most?
