Perfect 10

I've been a Colorado Avalanche fans since the team's final three years in Quebec as the Nordiques. The Avs made the move in 1995, won right off the bat, and added a second Cup five years later. Right now, the Avs are coming off winning Cup #3, a beautiful dream season that, IMO, actually topped "Mission 16W" 21 years prior. I still remember so many things about that year so fondly: sweeping the Preds, Kadri's Hat Trick in Game Four against the Blues, Helm's goal in the final seconds, the insane West Final against Edmonton that was capped off by Lehkonen's OT clincher, the wild Final against TB, and especially counting down those final seconds.

The 2021-22 season was so magical for the Avs, and for myself and other Avs fans. Yet it seems like somehow, this season is even more magical. As an Avalanche fan who watched the move, shed happy tears in the 2nd period of Game Seven in 2001, cheered loudly when our current playoff streak started inexplicably in 2018, vented over our 2021 defeat, was emotional over 2022, and cried more happy tears when Nathan MacKinnon finally got his long overdue flowers in 2024, I am absolutely thankful for so much during this season. And we are at Thanksgiving weekend, it is that time, and it's the perfect time for me to give my thanks.

So what do I have to be thankful for so far during young season?

The Dynamic Duo

I am immensely thankful for the two-headed monster known as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. That's easy, though, I'm thankful for them every day. I heard good things about Mack even before we drafted him in 2013. I heard he was good. They were sugarcoating it. I knew he'd be good, but I never thought I'd see a legend in the making. After Ross Colton made it 1-0 early in this game against the San Jose Sharks, Nathan MacKinnon made it 2-0 on the power play. That goal was his 18th of the season, which leads the league. It's a tight goals race, but MacKinnon winning the Richard Trophy does look like it could be a reality.

Makar had one of the helpers, and he's up to 30 points already. When he debuted during the 2019 playoffs, I had no bloody clue who the kid was. All of a sudden, he becomes someone who is drawing comparisons to Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey. Let me repeat that: Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey! As I said, I never get accused of being biased when I say that Cale Makar is the best defenseman in the league, and comparisons like that being made by various other talking heads is why.

The High-Powered Offense

It was 2-0 after 20, and in the 2nd period... oh man! At 3:44, Sam Malinski made it 3-0, and at 4:51, Josh Manson made it 4-0! That was it for Yaroslav Askarov; he was out, and in came Alex Nedeljkovic, who I've seen as a Wing and Penguin. Yet just like that, it was 5-0. Nine seconds... nine seconds after Manson's goal, Joel Kiviranta put it in. Three goals in 76 seconds. WOW! 5-0 was the score after 40 minutes, and the only thing left to wonder was, "Would we get another shutout?" I wasn't looking for it. We had this game won anyway. I didn't think there was a chance in hell of us getting another shutout, especially since the Sharks--especially Macklin Celebrini--were pressing. We got a goal in the 3rd period, and it was Artturi Lehkonen who made it 6-0. And when those final minutes ticked away, that brought me to another thing I'm thankful for:

The Black and Wedge Show

There's another dynamic duo emerging from this team, and they're in net. The Avalanche did it again, folks. Another shutout win. Three straight overall, the second straight from Mackenzie Blackwood, which sandwich Scott Wedgewood's shutout win in Chicago. Overall, the Avalanche have a shutout streak of 189:42, nearly nine and a half periods! Wedge's GAA is barely over two, and Blackwood's form has been pretty much letter perfect this season!

The Avalanche have won ten straight games! We have still lost only once in regulation, and that was over a month ago! Three straight shutout wins, ten straight wins overall, and a stretch of 12-0-2 in our last 14 games! MacKinnon, Makar, and Martin Necas have been exploding, each player has (at least) 30 points at this point!

But even with that, there's still one more thing I'm very thankful for as an Avs fan:

O Captain, Our Captain

As an Avalanche fan, the thing I am obviously the most thankful for: Our Captain's back. I know I sound like broken record when it comes to Gabriel Landeskog, but it has been three years. Three full regular seasons without Our Captain. He returned in last year's playoffs, and put one in during Game Four, a very emotional moment for us fans. This year, he only has eight points, with two of them going in the net. Even so, I honestly think that Landeskog's presence and his leadership have been the very thing that caused our monstrous and strong start this season.

Next up, the Avs will be in Minnesota facing the rival Wild on Black Friday, and after that, we'll be back at home on Saturday against the Montréal Canadiens, and that will be the day where we bring out the Quebec Nordiques jerseys.

With that, I say, Happy Thanksgiving to any and all of my fellow puckheads!