An NHL roster consists of 23 players, dressing 20 per game; the Avalanche dressed 43 different players this year. They had 15 players (at least) miss games due to injury, accounting for over 450 man-games lost. Yet, the Avalanche clinched the Central Division with 109 points for the 12th time since coming to Denver and guaranteed home ice through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
It came down to the 82nd game of the season, in the final minutes, for the Avs to seal the deal, and it was none other than Nathan MacKinnon. Scoring his first hat trick of the year for his 41st goal and career-high 111 points. With the victory, Georgiev got his 40th win of the year, tied for most goaltender wins in the league with Boston Bruin’s Ullmark. On Thursday night, Mikko scored his 55th goal of the year, surpassing Joe Sakic for most goals in an Avalanche uniform.
For a team that was out of the playoffs in January, the Avs have a lot to be proud of. They have clawed back to the top and will face the Seattle Kraken in the First Round of the Stanly Cup Playoffs. As MacKinnon said, and I couldn’t agree more, I’m “Glad the regular season is over, to be honest.”
Unfortunately, the Avalanche will have to defend their title without their captain. On Thursday, Gabriel Landeskog announced that he would not be returning for the playoffs. For the first time, he addressed the media regarding his injury, informing us that his knee injury resulted from the freak accident in the 2020 playoff bubble, where Cale Makar fell and sliced the captain’s knee in Game 6 vs. the Dallas Stars. Landeskog missed Game 7 and returned for the 2020-2021 shortened season. In the spring of 2022, he underwent knee surgery and made it back for the post-season, scoring 11 goals and 11 assists. He has not skated in a game since the celebratory night of June 26, 2022. “I didn’t realize the complexity of the injury,” Landeskog said during his press conference. He started skating with the team a couple of weeks ago, and it became clear to him that he wasn’t progressing and, in fact, had plateaued.
“That’s why I wanted to do this for my teammates’ sake and for them not to have to answer questions and speculate.” For Gabe, the team, and the fans, we have closure. The captain is done for the year. As for next year, we will have to wait and see. “We are exploring options and seeking the best possible expertise. I’m confident we’ll come out on the other side of this,” the 30-year-old captain said.
While the news is not unsurprising, that doesn’t mean that it hurts any less. It’s like watching Titanic; you know what happens, but that doesn’t stop you from crying. That’s not to say that the Avs’ chances for a repeat are over. Far from it. They just finished an impressive end-of-the-season push and proved they are still of championship caliber. They can win without #92, but it won’t be easy. The playoffs are long and grueling, and Landy's physicality and charisma will be sorely missed. I can’t help but feel like we are going to the party of the year without our best friend. It will still be fun, but we will always be thinking about how much better it could be.
But like Celine Dion assures us, “Our heart will go on,” as will the Avs. The Avalanche have the advantage of knowing precisely what it takes to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup, but it will look different than the 2022 run. It will be stressful, nauseating, painstaking, and even harder than last year. And I can’t wait.
Let’s Go, Avs!