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Posted

I was perusing the Denver Post in order to relish in the Avalanche misery and I came across this…

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1. Game 7 demons exorcised: The Avs entered Saturday night with ghosts aplenty. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Gabe Landeskog and head coach Jared Bednar had never won a winner-take-all Game 7. They’d never come back to win a series. And they’d also never dispatched a team coached by Peter DeBoer, losing three separate series with the veteran coach behind the bench with San Jose (2019), Vegas (2021) and Dallas (2024). And those demons remain — for another year at least. In perhaps the most painful way possible. Mikko Rantanen, himself winless in four Game 7s, stuck the dagger in with two straight third-period goals (a third came on an empty net). Then he twisted it on the power play, starting a tic-tac-toe that ended with Wyatt Johnston scoring the game-winner from an impossible angle.  This is the kind of loss that lingers for decades. The kind that leads to pink slips.

2. O'Connor strikes ... again: A four-minute power play came up empty in the first period, and the Avs had fewer than 10 shots on goal midway through the second period when Parker Kelly got sent to the penalty box. Naturally, that's also when Logan O'Connor did what he does best: Make something happen. And, of course, everyone's favorite greasy goal scorer did it on the penalty kill. The puck squirted loose along the boards in the neutral zone, and O'Connor went on the attack, securing the turnover and delivering a perfect centering feed to a rushing Josh Manson for a one-timer that Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger had no chance of stopping. It was O'Connor's fourth assist, and sixth point, of the series. And yet another reminder of how much his absence hurt the Avs' playoff run a year ago.

3. Going bust: Avs GM Chris MacFarland pushed all his chips into the center of the table for this one, executing eight in-season trades that completely reshaped the roster. Two remade their goaltending depth. Another seemingly solved the post-Nazem Kadri 2C problem. And the most explosive sent away a franchise icon in Rantanen ... who just so happened to be the one who killed their season on Saturday. Unlike their basketball counterparts playing a Game 7 of their own back in Denver, the Avs have never been afraid to take risks. But right now, after a second first-round exit in three seasons, the Avs have to be wondering if it was all worth it. All of their picks in the first three rounds of the 2025 and '26 NHL drafts are now gone. So, too, is top prospect Calum Ritchie. And that 2C solution? Brock Nelson will be a 33-year-old free agent this summer. A massive offseason awaits.

https://www.denverpost.com/2025/05/03/avalanche-stars-game-7-mikko-rantanen-slapshots/amp/

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Posted
15 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I've watched with envy in the past when superstars like Mac or Kucherov or McDavid absolutely put the team on their shoulders and win a huge game for them, basically by themselves. We've always been on the receiving end of that magic, and now we finally have a player capable of doing it. It's without hyperbole that I say Mikko Rantanen is the best player to ever put on a Stars jersey and he proved it last night. The Stars have been a conglomerate of good players with the teams getting the most out of every player to win. but now we're a band of excellent players with a superstar leading the way. Get miro and robo back and look the fuck out

To lay claim to that title, imo you have to accomplish greatness with the Stars, not just teams prior to the Stars. Who cares whether Emmitt Smith is the greatest RB in Arizona Cardinal history. He didn’t do anything for the Cardinals. 

So given that criteria, while last night was amazing, Rantanen has a long way to go to get that title for the Stars. 

But I understand what you’re saying. 

Posted (edited)

^ that really underscores the two approaches from two very different GM's. Nill's slow burn approach has us icing 11 players on the current roster who the Stars drafted: Benn, Bourque, Back, Hintz, Johnston, Robertson, Bichsel, Harley, Heiskanen, Lindell, Oettinger. The Avs have 3: MacKinnon, Makar, Landeskog - that's it. I think regardless of what happens this season, Nill has put us in a position where all he has to do is swap out a player or two and send everyone back out there. Colorado is going to have to revamp their lineup every season for the foreseeable future, so that author above is correct. Could take a decade to fix this mess. Probably not, but could.

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

To lay claim to that title, imo you have to accomplish greatness with the Stars, not just teams prior to the Stars. Who cares whether Emmitt Smith is the greatest RB in Arizona Cardinal history. He didn’t do anything for the Cardinals. 

So given that criteria, while last night was amazing, Rantanen has a long way to go to get that title for the Stars. 

But I understand what you’re saying. 

well, he has 8 years to prove me right. but you're conflating skill with accomplishments. superstar players have languished on bad teams and never won anything - that doesn't negate their individual greatness. Robo is already a statistically better player than Modano. That wasn't a particularly high bar when you look at what elite players are doing today. Even with the cup team, our superstars were rentals. And even they didn't have the kind of numbers Rantanen puts up. He is the best pure player to skate for the Stars - remains to be seen if he's revered at the same level as his skill

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
Posted (edited)

I'll say this, there were probably a shitload of semi-casual fans who were at the game last night who weren't sure about that pick up but are 100% sold on Rantanen now. 

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
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Posted
11 hours ago, C-Man said:

Who is everybody pulling for tomorrow?

The Jets have killed us but Hellebuyck is a mess. St Louis was red hot to just get in playoffs and Binnington has beaten us before. We’d have home ice vs St Louis. I don’t think there’s a wrong answer here.

you have to take home ice and the Jets are fucking good..  St Louis could easily go cold again. 

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Posted
I've watched with envy in the past when superstars like Mac or Kucherov or McDavid absolutely put the team on their shoulders and win a huge game for them, basically by themselves. We've always been on the receiving end of that magic, and now we finally have a player capable of doing it. It's without hyperbole that I say Mikko Rantanen is the best player to ever put on a Stars jersey and he proved it last night. The Stars have been a conglomerate of good players with the teams getting the most out of every player to win. but now we're a band of excellent players with a superstar leading the way. Get miro and robo back and look the fuck out

Maybe he’s the best when it’s all said and done but I’m not overlooking players like Modano because of a dominant 3-game run by Rantanen. Also, I don’t think he’s near the two-way player somebody like Mo was once Hitchcock unlocked that part of his game. Rantanen isn’t a total zero on defense but that’s never been his thing.

But, yes, I’m not sure we’ve ever had a player that could just put the rest of the team on his back like Mikko in the third last night and said, “let’s fucking go.” And then do it. Dutch said the following in Pierre LeBrun’s article in The Athletic: “He just said, `F–k this’ on that first goal. And after that, you could feel something was coming. You could just feel it. He stepped up last few games big time. It was great.’’

I’ll post the whole article from my computer when I get on in a bit. It’s a bit clumsy on the phone.
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Posted

big props to Deboer as well. Riding a 7 game losing streak into the playoffs, your best D man is known to be out, lose a top line forward and top 30 player in the league right before playoffs and you get a team with an AHL Dman, Ceci, and Lybushkin to hold it down against a dynamic offense and a team that was hot coming in. 

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Posted
45 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The way we ended the regular season, so you blame any of them?  After a game and a half I was resigned to being swept. 

Exactly. That and the fact that we’re without our 2 best players. The last 5 or 6 games of the season we looked slow and confused. 

Posted (edited)

I watched game 7 at a dude ranch outside of Denver with several die hard Avalanche fans. It was glorious. One kid had a Makar sweater on. He cried when the game was over. I let out the biggest yell on the empty netter. People were not happy with me. 

Edited by Jive Turkey
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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, C-Man said:


Maybe he’s the best when it’s all said and done but I’m not overlooking players like Modano because of a dominant 3-game run by Rantanen. Also, I don’t think he’s near the two-way player somebody like Mo was once Hitchcock unlocked that part of his game. Rantanen isn’t a total zero on defense but that’s never been his thing.

But, yes, I’m not sure we’ve ever had a player that could just put the rest of the team on his back like Mikko in the third last night and said, “let’s fucking go.” And then do it. Dutch said the following in Pierre LeBrun’s article in The Athletic: “He just said, `F–k this’ on that first goal. And after that, you could feel something was coming. You could just feel it. He stepped up last few games big time. It was great.’’

I’ll post the whole article from my computer when I get on in a bit. It’s a bit clumsy on the phone.

I'm talking from a strictly unfiltered stats perspective, of course. Obviously every player has a different skill set and they bring a different layer of complexity to the team dynamic. I have already been a seeing a lot of talk about his D-zone play, but I think people need to remember he's a winger. He's not expected to be a 2-way player the way a center might be. And while still a relatively small sample size in a Stars uniform, my observation is he is extremely strong in the offensive zone at retaining the puck and distributing to teammates - which is in and of itself a form of defense. maintaining puck possession and setting up teammates or scoring yourself are the primary responsibilities of a winger, and in my armchair observation of watching Stars games for 32 years, Rantanen is the best to do it in a Stars sweater. Small sample size be damned. We don't need an 82 game sample size - he did it for 10 years in COL with better linemates. What last night proved is he can do it without them too.

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
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Posted
I've watched with envy in the past when superstars like Mac or Kucherov or McDavid absolutely put the team on their shoulders and win a huge game for them, basically by themselves. We've always been on the receiving end of that magic, and now we finally have a player capable of doing it. It's without hyperbole that I say Mikko Rantanen is the best player to ever put on a Stars jersey and he proved it last night. The Stars have been a conglomerate of good players with the teams getting the most out of every player to win. but now we're a band of excellent players with a superstar leading the way. Get miro and robo back and look the fuck out

Are you still high/drunk?
Posted
3 minutes ago, Fudbelty said:


Are you still high/drunk?

are you not?

which part do you take exception with? Tell me which Stars player, past or present, is better than Rantanen. show your work. I'm not saying he's jesus, but he sure as shit won that series for us. we'll see if it was an aberration or the norm, but 1.5+ppg lifetime in the playoffs is no bullshit. the Stars have never had a player that averaged that much in the regular season, much less the playoffs. 

Posted

Man what a game they looked dead in the water then Mikko said we aren’t losing this and drug his nuts all over the Avs face . Love it

Posted
1 hour ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

well, he has 8 years to prove me right. but you're conflating skill with accomplishments. superstar players have languished on bad teams and never won anything - that doesn't negate their individual greatness. Robo is already a statistically better player than Modano. That wasn't a particularly high bar when you look at what elite players are doing today. Even with the cup team, our superstars were rentals. And even they didn't have the kind of numbers Rantanen puts up. He is the best pure player to skate for the Stars - remains to be seen if he's revered at the same level as his skill

No I'm not confusing skill with accomplishment. You are confusing past skill with current/future skill. He hasn’t proved anything yet at Dallas, other than a terrific two game stretch. I think a year from now, or two, maybe your proclamation is warranted, bit need to see it consistently on the ice first.   

 

 

Posted
I have a buddy that split with 15 minutes left. Oops. 

Hah , I took my 10 year old and he was asking to bail with 15 mins left but I said nope
Posted
3 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

I have a buddy that split with 15 minutes left. Oops. 

I honestly was about to look for an old Sci Fi movie on Tubi when Dallas scored their first goal.

Glad I stuck around.

That was a great game.

And the handshake line at the end of a playoff series is one of the greatest things in all of sports.

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Posted (edited)
13 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

No I'm not confusing skill with accomplishment. You are confusing past skill with current/future skill. He hasn’t proved anything yet at Dallas, other than a terrific two game stretch. I think a year from now, or two, maybe your proclamation is warranted, bit need to see it consistently on the ice first.   

 

 

I absolutely am not. The 20 or so games he played in the regular season are throw away games. if you use those for any other analysis than trying to find the right line combo for him on a new team, then you really don't follow the game closely. I will contend that what we saw last night and the latter half of the series will be what we expect, not what we hope for - which has been our mode in the past. 

and again, who is better? name someone? who are you comparing against? I'm using the entire pantheon of stars players past and present as a basis of comparison. who you got?

Edited by Longhorn_Fan68
Posted
1 minute ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I absolutely am not. The 20 or so games he played in the regular season are throw away games. if you use those for any other analysis than trying to find the right line combo for him on a new team, then you really don't follow the game closely. I will contend that what we saw last night and the latter half of the series will be what we expect, not what we hope for - which has been our mode in the past. 

Ha, by your logic a few games of good play is sufficient to name him the greatest Star of all time. Bold strategy Cotton. 

Posted
Just now, Dbeasy said:

Ha, by your logic a few games of good play is sufficient to name him the greatest Star of all time. Bold strategy Cotton. 

not what I am saying at all. but whatever.

Posted
2 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

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I wonder if these picks were made with the understanding the Miro and Jason would be out whole series. Because I somewhat understand that. Avs looked like the better team the majority of the series.  And I thought at some point the DeBoer/Bednar Game 7 streaks would come to a halt as would Stars/Avs. 

But I think the media sees MacKinnon and Makar and Val and forgets were grinders and we have DeBoer. Last night’s 3rd period was the most fun I’ve ever had watching hockey. That Mikko wrap-around was up there with Roope’s pass in Game 5. Duchene and Wyatt with the same exact goal from Game 5. Wow. I got hammered afterward. 

Posted
2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

The way we ended the regular season, so you blame any of them?  After a game and a half I was resigned to being swept. 

I blame you!

Et tu Pato!

Posted
On 5/2/2025 at 11:28 AM, Pato del Muerto said:

I guess that’s what Denver post readers want to read, but he’s a clown with these takes.  That’s fan blog writing. 

that is the most partisan blow hard fan blog writing.  It’s amazing this makes it into a major newspaper.

Posted
15 hours ago, dcar00 said:

yep.  I'm sure if McKinnon and Makar were out for Colorado we walk away with this in 6.

With Miro and Robo playing we win in 6. With those guys out for them we win in 5

Posted
15 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

I hope he keeps using non-sanctioned nicknames like a child, or an Aggie. 

Yes he sounds like a fucking dork yell leader. 

Posted
2 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

I'm talking from a strictly unfiltered stats perspective, of course. Obviously every player has a different skill set and they bring a different layer of complexity to the team dynamic. I have already been a seeing a lot of talk about his D-zone play, but I think people need to remember he's a winger. He's not expected to be a 2-way player the way a center might be. And while still a relatively small sample size in a Stars uniform, my observation is he is extremely strong in the offensive zone at retaining the puck and distributing to teammates - which is in and of itself a form of defense. maintaining puck possession and setting up teammates or scoring yourself are the primary responsibilities of a winger, and in my armchair observation of watching Stars games for 32 years, Rantanen is the best to do it in a Stars sweater. Small sample size be damned. We don't need an 82 game sample size - he did it for 10 years in COL with better linemates. What last night proved is he can do it without them too.

Speaking of these parameters, combined with the original comment about best to ever wear a Stars uni, you’re forgetting Hull. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Rex Kramer said:

these picks

I dunno if some of them would have changed even with Miro and Robo. The NHL talkers love them some Mac and Mak. Wysh is the really notable one in the dissenters for me.

The radio calls from the Avs crew reminded me how Homer Call of the week was born. 

Posted
Exactly. That and the fact that we’re without our 2 best players. The last 5 or 6 games of the season we looked slow and confused. 


Robertson isn’t one of the Stars’ two best players. Rantanen is better, so are Wyatt and Roope. Oettinger is and Harley might be as well. Miro is. But Robo is a really nice piece that you’d like to have in the lineup.

are you not?
which part do you take exception with? Tell me which Stars player, past or present, is better than Rantanen. show your work. I'm not saying he's jesus, but he sure as shit won that series for us. we'll see if it was an aberration or the norm, but 1.5+ppg lifetime in the playoffs is no bullshit. the Stars have never had a player that averaged that much in the regular season, much less the playoffs. 


I gave you one last night — Modano. Best player in franchise history. Remember he played a lot of his career in the neutral-zone trap years. Hull over his career certainly was at that level but he wasn’t the same caliber player when he got to Dallas but part of that could’ve been the lower scoring league then. If we bring goalies into the mix, Belfour is in the conversation. Newy was fantastic for the Stars. This franchise also had HOF’ers like Cicarrelli in the “older” days.
Posted

Let’s sign Ovechkin on the last day of his career so Longhorn_Fan68 can get excited about Dallas having the most skilled Star in history. 

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Posted
11 minutes ago, C-Man said:

 


Robertson isn’t one of the Stars’ two best players. Rantanen is better, so are Wyatt and Roope. Oettinger is and Harley might be as well. Miro is. But Robo is a really nice piece that you’d like to have in the lineup.



I gave you one last night — Modano. Best player in franchise history. Remember he played a lot of his career in the neutral-zone trap years. Hull over his career certainly was at that level but he wasn’t the same caliber player when he got to Dallas but part of that could’ve been the lower scoring league then. If we bring goalies into the mix, Belfour is in the conversation. Newy was fantastic for the Stars. This franchise also had HOF’ers like Cicarrelli in the “older” days.

 

Ok, ok. Leading goal scorer?

Posted (edited)

I dont know a ton about hockey but Modano is #1 for us until someone else wins a title. 

It's like Luka/Dirk for you gay Mavs fans. 

Or it was* like Luka/Dirk.

Edited by ztejas
Posted
46 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

Speaking of these parameters, combined with the original comment about best to ever wear a Stars uni, you’re forgetting Hull. 

no, I didn't. he was one of the rentals I talked about earlier. he only played three season with the Stars. most of his career was elsewhere.

17 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I gave you one last night — Modano. Best player in franchise history. Remember he played a lot of his career in the neutral-zone trap years. Hull over his career certainly was at that level but he wasn’t the same caliber player when he got to Dallas but part of that could’ve been the lower scoring league then. If we bring goalies into the mix, Belfour is in the conversation. Newy was fantastic for the Stars. This franchise also had HOF’ers like Cicarrelli in the “older” days.

 

Modano is and probably always will be our greatest player. this entire conversation has not been about greatness - I'm talking about pure skill. I am suggesting Rantanen is the most talented and most skilled player we have ever had. Of course his "greatness" with the Stars remains to be seen - he just fucking got here

7 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Let’s sign Ovechkin on the last day of his career so Longhorn_Fan68 can get excited about Dallas having the most skilled Star in history. 

🙄

Posted
1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

TNT is cable, they need to let biz do this at the desk. 

well, he did rant about his nutsack getting hit with a puck recently so I don't see how that could be worse

Posted
Let’s sign Ovechkin on the last day of his career so Longhorn_Fan68 can get excited about Dallas having the most skilled Star in history. 

Let it go.

Also:

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Posted

That has to be up there with best Stars game I've attended.  Certainly best 12 mins or so of hockey I've seen in that building.  When they scored to start the 3rd the air completely came out of the building and it felt like a funderal until Miko got us on the board. From there on out it was just sheer insanity.  Haven't ever felt that kind of momentum take over the arena.  It was epic.  I snapped a pic of my apple watch right before the face off for empty netter and my heart rate was at 118 LOL.    

Moving forward, neither Jets nor Blues will be an easy matchup by any stretch.  Jets completely shut us down and you never know if Helley can suddenly figure it out and dominate a series.  He's such a wildcard.   Blues on the other team have been on a heater for 2 months now.  Surely that has to taper off right?  Also I think rooting for Blues not only just for home ice but I might try to bounce up there for a game if it works out.  Have never been up there.  Regardless, here is to a 3OT thriller tonight.

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Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Blues on the other team have been on a heater for 2 months now.  Surely that has to taper off right? 

Sounds familiar. At least we’d have home ice this time. The 4 nations really got binnington right. 

Edited by Pato del Muerto
Posted

I was invited to game one regardless, but I ain’t going on Sunday if WPG wins, headed to temple this weekend to see the MIL on Mother’s Day. Having said that go blues so I can go Wednesday!

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Posted
20 minutes ago, markstanco said:

I was invited to game one regardless, but I ain’t going on Sunday if WPG wins, headed to temple this weekend to see the MIL on Mother’s Day. Having said that go blues so I can go Wednesday!

Shalom 

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Posted
4 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

no, I didn't. he was one of the rentals I talked about earlier. he only played three season with the Stars. most of his career was elsewhere.

And his statistics in a less goal-friendly era absolutely were better, in St. Louis, than Rantanen or Modano. That’s why your comment is dumb. 

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