Tag: Nhl Playoffs
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Mark Kiszla: Avs would be crazy to run it back, because Father Time is undefeated
LAS VEGAS – In the dying final seconds of their championship dream, Father Time coldly broomed the Avs off the ice and out of the NHL playoffs. “We’ll be back,” Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog vowed Tuesday night, while standing accountable at his locker stall in the aftermath of a 2-1 loss to Vegas that eliminated the…
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Mark Kiszla: After another Avs playoff flop, coach Jared Bednar must get canned
LAS VEGAS — For an Avalanche dynasty that never was, there will be no more tomorrows. The championship-caliber team that Colorado hockey icon Joe Sakic built from scratch has a fatal flaw that can no longer be ignored. When roughed up in the dark corners of the rink, these Avs blink. They are front-runners who…
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Mark Kiszla: Why this Avalanche mess in NHL playoffs is of Joe Sakic’s making
LAS VEGAS – With the Avalanche having a complete meltdown on the ice, Joe Sakic stood in an arena suite and stared into space, with no answer to a hockey mess 10 years in the making. For a full decade, ever since Patrick Roy quit on him in a huff, Sakic has seemed hellbent on…
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Mark Kiszla: Epic playoff collapses now a Jared Bednar trademark
LAS VEGAS — Ding, dong. The Avs are dead. Don’t tell me about a championship window for a hockey team that keeps beating its head against the same wall and somehow expects a different result. This is insanity. And it’s got to stop. A disgusting 5-3 loss to Vegas screamed the problem with the Avalanche…
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Mark Kiszla: MacKinnon and Avs centers have vanished in Vegas’ diabolical black hole
Where the Avalanche’s championship mojo has gone is no mystery. It’s been swallowed by a $27 million black hole at the center of the ice. Colorado has 99 problems in the Western Conference final, and the injury to star defenseman Cale Makar is only one. But the No. 1 reason for the Avs’ 2-0 deficit…
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Kickin’ It with Kiz: Bednar is better BBQ buddy, but Payton more kick-butt coach
The Avalanche have too much talent to be down 2-0 to Vegas in this playoff series and have won only one Stanley Cup in this era. It seems like we are always a little behind in the effort and physicality, sloppy and unorganized on the power play and lazy too often when clearing the zone.…
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Mark Kiszla: Avs play like chokers instead of champs in brutal playoff loss to Vegas
The Avs saved their biggest choke of this NHL season for when it mattered most. Until this sad Friday night that seems doomed to live in infamy in franchise history, the Avalanche’s record this season when leading after two periods was 45-0-0. But all that perfection got tossed in the dumpster as a piece of…
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Cale Makar injury status remains unclear for Game 2 against Knights | Avalanche notebook
Cale Makar joined Avalanche teammates for optional practice after missing a Game 1 loss to the Golden Knights. Is the injured Colorado defenseman any closer to returning to the Western Conference finals? “No, I don’t have an update,” Bednar said on Thursday at Family Sports Center. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings.” The Avs trail Vegas…
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Mark Kiszla: Avs in big trouble if they need Jared Bednar to outcoach John Tortorella
For the first time in these NHL playoffs, the adversity facing the Avs looms as big as the “A” on their sweaters. Home was where the hurt was Wednesday, when Las Vegas pushed around Colorado in a 4-2 loss to open the Western Conference finals. For the first time in their pursuit of the Stanley…
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Paul Klee: After Golden Knights grab 1-0 series lead, Avalanche desperately need Cale Makar back
Get well, Cale. Or the Avalanche are in deep doo-doo against the Vegas Golden Knights. After the Golden Knights laid a 4-2 whupping on the Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference final Wednesday night, one question buzzed through my mind at Ball Arena: Does anyone have an upper body Cale Makar can borrow? …