Colorado Avalanche: Ryan O’Reilly Wins Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe

A former Colorado Avalanche player, Ryan O’Reilly, won both the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP.

Former Colorado Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly is now a Stanley Cup winner thanks to his latest team, the St. Louis Blues, beating the Boston Bruins in Game 7.

So, hockey is officially over for the 2018-19 season. We will have the NHL Draft, prospect development camp, and free agency. And then… silence for about six weeks. If we’re lucky we’ll see captain’s camp at the end of August/beginning of September.

But for now, we have the winner of the Stanley Cup Finals series between two teams that many of us pretty much hate both of. Personally, I was hoping they could both somehow lose. Instead, former Av ROR has come out on top.

Ryan O’Reilly’s Honors

So, Ryan O’Reilly is the first former Av of note to win the Stanley Cup in a while. He’s certainly the first of a core we thought would take Colorado back to glory in the Golden Why Not Us 2013-14 season.

Not only that, O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. He finished the entire playoffs with an impressive 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists). The Blues played 26 games.

Naturally, after the game, O’Reilly made the usual thanks, staying true to his humble roots:

"“There’s just so many people I want to thank, coaches and my whole area back home… So many people that don’t know how important they were for my career, and I hope they’re celebrating right now with me. I can’t wait to bring the Cup back there. ..”"

Not so naturally, he dropped an F-bomb on live TV and apologized profusely:

He also did something really sweet — he went to a music store in Boston to jam and ended up buying a young Bruins fan a guitar:

Yeah, that’s a little weird, but it was a nice gesture.

Salty Avs Fan

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So, watching Ryan O’Reilly win the Stanley Cup and earn all these accolades is a little like watching your ex get married while you’re still single. Actually, it’s a lot like that.

I want so much to be a big enough person to be happy for a former Colorado Avalanche player during his time of success. And I am, in a general way.

But you all know me by now — I’m a major homer when it comes to the Avs. Unless you’re a hockey god who brought the first-ever championship to Colorado (Patrick Roy), you don’t get to slight my team and still be in my good graces.

And O’Reilly, with his contractual demands, did slight my team. In retrospect, should we have paid him? Maybe. Who knows what parts of the journey outside of Colorado seasoned him into the Conn Smythe winner he is now.

Good for RyNo. With the performance he put up this season, especially in the playoffs, he deserves his current glory.

I hope the Avalanche players, especially the core guys who played with him, are feeling even more extreme versions of my ambivalence. I know all of them have been texting or calling their former teammate to congratulate him.

But I also hope it sticks in their craw just a little. I hope it gives them a little extra oomph to their offseason training. I hope there’s just that little extra fire in their belly during the season.

I hope my Colorado Avalanche use a former Avs’ success as inspiration to strive for their own success. In my eyes, they deserve it more.