"There are no friends": Colin Wilson opens up about facing his former team in the playoffs

When the Nashville Predators fell in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals last year to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colin Wilson knew there were changes coming. After eight years of helping the Predators go from mediocrity to near-immortality, the team and player decided it was time for a change.

Enter the Colorado Avalanche, who were coming off a 48-point season and looking to rebuild the majority of their forward group. Lacking power forwards, Colorado quickly moved to complete a deal with Nashville in exchange for a 2019 fourth-round selection.

Fresh off helping one team get through a rebuild stage, Wilson entered another one. Fast forward through an injury-plagued campaign for the 28-year-old and he kicked off the media frenzy in the Avalanche locker room by taking questions about playing against his former team in the opening round of this year’s playoffs.

“It’s exciting,” Wilson said with a big smile. “I’m really excited we get to play Nashville. I spent eight years of my life there. I know the whole team. It’s going to be exciting.”

Looking back to last year, it was noted the Predators were the eighth seed taking on the mighty Chicago Blackhawks. Today, the Avalanche are the upstart team taking on the winners of the President’s Trophy, given annually to team that finishes the regular season with the most points.

“Last year, we were the last wild card spot and made it to the finals,” Wilson reminisced. “We’re in the same situation. We were a young team last year and now we’re a young team this year on the Avs. I think a lot of guys are going to be using their speed and be amped up for the games.”

On a team with very little playoff experience as a whole, Wilson’s voice figures to be louder than it was in the regular season when he was just trying to find a consistent spot in the lineup.

“This is my seventh year of playoffs and each one is exciting,” Wilson proclaimed. “You learn from it each year. I’ll definitely be talking to the team about the highs and lows because there’s so much that can happen in a seven-game series. You just stay even keel and stay with the process.

I know what it takes to win in the playoffs. I think last year is so disappointing to go all that way and lose in game six but it just drives me and makes me more hungry.”

As the team began its preparation for the Predators today, three formers Nashville players (Wilson, Gabriel Bourque, and Sam Girard) each chimed in with something specific to say about their old club. Wilson, the most experienced of the group, acknowledged that familiarity is a two-way street.

“When we scout the other team, I obviously know everyone on there except for maybe one guy,” Wilson said. “I know their tendencies and they certainly know mine.”

Knowing tendencies is one of those things when you play in a place as long as Wilson did. Developing lasting relationships is another and is something Wilson made clear he’s already taken care of emotionally.

“I shut it off,” Wilson began. “It comes down to business now. We’re friends but when it comes to playoffs there are no friends. It’s going to be a challenging time but there’s no communication right now.”

The communication that is taking place is Wilson telling his teammates to relax and take the attitude they had in the team’s 5-2 destruction of the St. Louis Blues last weekend and carry it over to their series against Nashville. While an inexperienced group, Wilson sees the team’s youth as a positive.

“When you have a young team, there’s so much energy, so much excitement from guys in their first playoffs,” he explained. “I think you use that and it can be just as good as experience. I think everybody here has played at high levels, played in playoffs at high levels and be able to use the momentum and experience from that. With a young team, everyone is gunned up and ready to play. That’s what can win in playoff hockey.”

While he didn’t want to delve into too many specifics of what the Avalanche were preparing for Nashville, he was happy to provide a small snippet of a scouting report on his old pals.

“They’re a really talented team,” Wilson said leaning back on the safety of the cliche. “They won the President’s Trophy. It’s going to be a battle but that’s how it usually is no matter who you’re playing.”

Essentially playing with house money at this point, showing up to the battle and playing like they have nothing to lose (and they don’t) is exactly what Wilson did last year in Nashville. This time around, he’s hoping to show the team that was eager to move on from him that he and his new team have some tricks of their own up their sleeve.