The Colorado Avalanche are facing a must-win situation in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Having lost three of the first five games in the series to the Stars, one more loss would officially eliminate the Avs in their quest to win another Stanley Cup.
We’ve talked about Makar’s talents at length in the past across Mile High Sticking. He’s just the best all-around defenseman there is in the world. He’s drawn comparisons to the great Bobby Orr which is always a good thing. Some might even think that Makar could surpass that level of dominance some day. He’s surely already in the Greatest of All-Time discussions. It’s also not if he makes it to the Hall of Fame, but when.
We can look that far ahead while still admiring Makar’s super talents as he’s only 26 years old. We might have a good 10 more years of watching him and to me, it would be surprising if he ever fell off, as long as he remains healthy.
Cale Makar nominated for yet another Norris trophy
On Tuesday, Norris Trophy nominees were named, and included Avs defenseman Cale Makar, along with Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks.
Makar led all defensemen in goals and assists, putting him at 92 points on the season in 81 games. In comparison, Werenski played in 81 games, scoring 23 goals and 59 assists, while Hughes played in only 76 games, recording 16 goals and 60 assists. What sets these players apart from the rest is their offensive abilities.
With that last sentence in mind, it’s no wonder why Makar is the favourite to go home with the trophy for a second time in his career. His scoring abilities are out of this world. The combination of offensive ability and defensive ability is what makes up a Norris nominee and ultimately a winner. If you ask literally any hockey fan, they would all tell you that Makar is hands-down the greatest defenseman of this generation.
Makar is on the same level as Nathan MacKinnon in terms of offensive ability. The reason that Makar has 76 less shots than MacKinnon is because of the position he plays, as well as some of the unfortunate play of the team this season offensively.
Colorado Avalanche hope for Norris Trophy Cale Makar in next playoff game
The Avalanche are facing an elimination game against the Dallas Stars in Game 6. After putting the hammer down on the Stars in Game 1 with a score of 5-1, Colorado had seemed to be falling off even just by a slight margin in their following two games, both losses. In the two most recent games, Colorado won 4-0 and then lost 6-2 in a failed comeback attempt.
On Monday, Makar had four shots on goal, but failed to put the puck in the back of the net against Jake Oettinger. In fact, Makar doesn’t even have one single goal this postseason. That needs to change on Thursday. Once Makar gets going, I would anticipate the rest of the Colorado Avalanche team to feed off of that success and hopefully end with a win. In fact, if that happens, they need to carry that into Game 7.
Personally, I wasn’t crazy about some of Makar’s regular season games, but not all of that was on him, with some poor passes towards him, etc. Also, I’m not on the bench with head coach Jared Bednar, so I don’t know what Makar has been told to do with the puck when he gets it. However, watching from afar, it’s clear that one of the huge things the Avalanche have done all year was pass the puck instead of shooting it.
I don’t expect each player to have 10 shots a game. I expect the team to put the puck on the sticks of their best players so that we can move on from the “shoot the puck!” chants. Instead of trying to create the perfect opportunity while also effectively burning 30 seconds off of a power play each time, shooting the puck needs to be hammered into their brains, and one of those players needs to be Cale Makar.