Connor McDavid reached new heights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Posted yesterday at 4:29 p.m.
Ditto for Nathan MacKinnon.
While they may be relishing the closure of bitter disappointments and silencing their critics, the star players — who have won 11 total NHL career individual honors so far — are still far from satisfied.
McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers and MacKinnon’s Colorado Avalanche open the Western final series on Tuesday in Denver, having exorcised their spring demons.
The Oilers had reached the second round of the playoffs only once since McDavid’s arrival before this month, while MacKinnon and the Avalanche had failed to reach that stage of the playoffs in the past three campaigns.
The last few weeks have been beneficial for each of them.
The Oilers reached the third round for the first time since 2006, while the Avalanche’s last appearance in the semi-finals was in 2002.
“You have to savor the moment,” said MacKinnon, the first overall pick in the 2013 draft, after his team eliminated the St. Louis Blues in six games. The work is not finished, but it is a great achievement. We have been through very difficult times.
“It’s good to finally be able to turn the page,” he added.
Photo Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports
Nathan MacKinnon
The No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft made similar comments after his club shut out the Calgary Flames in five short games in the first “Battle of Alberta” in 31 years.
“We’re a good team,” McDavid said. We’re playing good hockey… but it’s going to get tough.
“We have believed in our potential for a long time. Even when we were going through very difficult times, we continued to believe in it,” he added.
The troubles of the Oilers, a franchise that dominated the NHL by winning the Stanley Cup five times between 1984 and 1990, are well known.
The Albertans have missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons after going down in seven games in the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
For its part, the Avalanche — which won the precious trophy in 1996 and 2001 — have enjoyed more regular season success in recent years. The Colorado squad, however, was ousted in the second round of the playoff portrait for three consecutive seasons, despite the presence of gifted players such as Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar.
MacKinnon and Landeskog have known the Avalanche’s years of misery as it languished at the back of the pack, its happy times and its heartbreaking ones.
“Our team has evolved quite a bit over the last few years…we’ve taken the reins of this team and are trying to leave our mark,” explained Landeskog, the captain. It’s nice to be able to turn the page, but at the same time, we only have one goal in mind.
“And I feel like the best is yet to come,” concluded the 29-year-old Swede.