Strike One: The series is even after four games, but it isn’t. The Colorado Avalanche appear to be on the ropes after losing two games in decisive fashion in Las Vegas…and momentum aint wearing burgundy and blue.
After taking the first two games, the Avs looked like an easy bet to advance in the NHL play-offs. But after routing the Golden Knights in game one and leaning on their goaltender to bail them out in game two, you could feel Uncle Moe slipping away a bit, even before the airplane left the runway for Sin City. Now, it’s anybody’s series and if things continue as they have been for the past seven periods of hockey, what looked like a Cup winning season for the President’s Trophy winners will end in bitter disappointment.
This is where superstars step up. This is where MVPs are made.
The term itself, Most Valuable Player dictates that a team’s best, most important player take the lead and rally the troops. In this case, that means it’s time for Nathan McKinnon to establish himself and one of, if not the best player in the NHL.
This is not strictly about statistics. Stats are how most observers evaluate, and how most post-season awards get determined. Guy leads the league in scoring and a whole lot of folks will automatically label him an MVP. But there’s so much more to being the most valuable member of a team. There are so many things that don’t land on a stat sheet. Now is the time for McKinnon to do those things – the way guys like Ray Bourque did for Avs Cup winning teams two decades ago.
McKinnon was sensational in the first six games of the post season. But Vegas has shut down the Avs top line the past two plus games, and without that production, Colorado’s chances are about as good as a guy throwing coins in a slot machine. While the overall statistics look great, the truth is that the McKinnon-Rantanen-Landeskog line has been less and less impactful as the series as gone on.
So it’s time for McKinnon to exert his considerable influence inside the locker room to insure that not only his play, but the play of his teammates, gets elevated again. Coaches can do just so much. Close observers say that Avs coach Jared Bednar was pretty vocal in his criticism of his team’s lackluster play after game three. That didn’t seem to make much of a difference in the way Colorado played in game four. Now is the time for McKinnon – who isn’t the official team captain but is the team’s best player – to step up. The old saying is that on good teams, coaches hold players accountable. On great teams, players hold each other accountable. So who’s going to be accountable after this series is over?
Strike Two: On the flip side of that coin is the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic, who should win his first MVP trophy when this season is over. The Joker has done an amazing job of elevating his play – and the play of his teammates – the past two and half months with star guard Jamal Murray on the shelf. Yes, Jokic’s stats, especially his scoring, has improved, but it’s the other things he’s done that make him an MVP.
Consider this: After the first period of what would become a series clinching win over Portland, Joker had not attempted a single shot. The Nuggets trailed by four points and Jokic was in mild foul trouble. Not to worry. He poured in 36 points in the final three quarters. For the series, Jokic upped his season scoring average by almost seven points per game.
More important than the stat sheet is the fact that Jokic led the league in minutes played this season. Following the shortest off season in NBA history, guys like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, Joel Embid and several other prominent NBA stars – MVP candidates – couldn’t answer the bell for a considerable number of games during this compacted season. The toll that playing all those games in the “bubble” last summer and fall, followed by an off season that was basically cut in half, was too much even for an iron man like James.
Joker was the exception. He was there, leading the Nuggets during times when they were also depleted by injury, to a top three finish in the Western Conference and to a first round play off series win they easily could have – and most certainly would have – without him.
How can a player be more “valuable” than that?
Now in the post season, we are seeing the emergence of players like Michael Porter Jr and Monte Morris. Their improvement is critical to Denver’s chance of advancement in the post season, and it would not be possible if they didn’t have an MVP for the entire team – heck, the entire organization – to lean on. Jokic’s considerable passing and play-making skills get a lot of attention, and for good reason. But the fact that he could elevate the play of a guy like Morris, who has been terrific in place of Murry and had 22 points in the series clincher against Portland, is what makes him so special.
Joker’s ability to lift up his team even when he’s the focus of the other team’s defense gives the Nuggets a chance in every series they are going to play, with or without Murry.
That’s an MVP.
Strike Three: Die hard Colorado Rockies fans will note that the guys in purple pinstripes had a miserable 2004 season (68-94) and were in the World Series just three short seasons later. So there’s hope, they say.
And baseball being what it is, that’s certainly true. Things looked bleak even in the long term for the 2004 Rockies. But they had one thing going for them. They had a potential MVP/Hall of Famer in Todd Helton.
Those lean years during the first decade of the new millennium were dubbed “Todd and the Toddlers” by some, who were promoting the young players on the Colorado roster while making the case for a brighter future. They turned out to be correct. Not only did Helton help lead the team to its first ever World Series berth, but they were right back in the post season two years later with a lot of the same cast of characters.
Helton was the constant.
Which is what makes the current situation with the local nine so perplexing. There is no Helton-esque player on this roster, and it doesn’t appear that one will be arriving any time soon.
Wait, some will yell. What about Trevor Story?
Assuming he’s still wearing purple in August (which is unlikely given the teams financial straits) and he’s here for the long run (very unlikely) is Story a potential MVP?
Anything is possible and certainly Story’s talent is on par with the very best shortstops in the game today. When he’s healthy, he can put up great numbers. But it’s yet to be proven that Story can be the guy. He has been tremendous when paired with Nolan Arenado, but without his left side sidekick this season, he’s hitting just .255 with five homers and is currently on the injured list.
As far as the younger players on the current Rockies roster, there are exactly none that wear the label of “future superstar.” And you pretty much have to be a superstar to be an MVP. Ever.
There’s always the possibility of acquiring a future MVP candidate in a trade. When Matt Holiday was on his way out of Colorado as a potential free agent – the same way Story is right now – Colorado pulled off a great trade, getting a young Carlos Gonzalez in return for Holiday. If General Manager Bill Schmidt can work that kind of magic, maybe they can find someone to be that badly needed anchor piece to build around for the future.
Probably not wise to bet on that happening. Not under the current circumstances. This is a Rockies team still reeling for the financial impact of the pandemic wrecked season in 2020. They figure to be in cost-cutting mode for the foreseeable future. Any trade that goes down will likely bring some young unproven prospects in return. The type of low-cost guys you rebuild with over a lengthy period of time.
Sigh.