The Colorado Avalanche’s first round matchup in the 2025-26 Stanley Cup playoffs is down to four options: The LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Utah Mammoth, and Edmonton Oilers.
Over the past little while, it has appeared the most likely matchup will end up being the Avs vs Kings. With that comes the possibility of sending Anze Kopitar into retirement earlier than he wanted. However, the most disappointing thing for the Avalanche is that they won’t get a chance at one of the teams that hate them the most (Their fans hate the Avs too, by the way).
That would be the Seattle Kraken. Founded in 2021 as an expansion team, the Kraken have missed out on the playoffs for the fourth time in its five-year history. In their lone playoff year, they faced the Avalanche and ultimately beat Colorado in the first round with a series record of 4-3.
Now, despite this being several years ago already, it’s still a disappointment for the Avalanche that they won’t get to face Seattle as a revenge series. Revenge is normally sweet, and this case is no different. This Avalanche team is stronger than the one that lost in the first round that year.
Getting back to the Kraken fans, why do they hate the Avalanche? Well, it’s because of an aggressive hit that star defenseman Cale Makar laid on Kraken forward Jared McCann, which injured him. The result of the hit ended up being a one-game suspension for Makar.
Kraken fans have not let it go. Several years removed from that game, fans are still booing Makar each and every time the Avalanche are in Seattle for that matchup. To me, that just feels completely unnecessary to hate on a player for this long, especially since the Kraken ended up winning the series.
Avalanche also won’t get revenge on former goalie
Maybe revenge is just a writer’s mentality when it comes to playing against former players. Maybe it’s not. Maybe it is actually a thing that players think about once in a while.
Philipp Grubauer left the Avalanche in free agency during 2021 after spending three years with the club. He signed a six-year deal with the Kraken.
This season, his numbers look okay: He has a record of 13-12-4, and while that is below .500, he has a goals-against average of 2.65, which is solid, as well as a save percentage of .909.
Maybe it will be a short time before these two clubs get to face each other in the postseason again. Or it could be several years. However long it might take, Makar and the Avalanche will be ready. I can’t say the same for Kraken fans.
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