It was the best after the season for a long time, full of fun games, unforgettable series, plays with top roles, superstar performances, breakout players and exciting stories. In many cases, we have witnessed history in progress. The 2022 playoffs had it all, a postseason I will remember for one long year. The 2022 playoffs were so great for so many reasons. Now that he has been crowned champion, it’s the right time to look back at what made this year’s postseason so special.
Fantastic final
The campaign and excitement for the Colorado final against Tampa Bay began two years ago – two of the league’s most exciting teams look like the team that will win their conference. The Lightning kept their promise, but Avalanche lost a spasm in Round 2. It seemed like a missed opportunity to see two of the best teams meet, but a year later they were both, again, at the top of the league. When Colorado went 2-0 up against Vegas in the second round, it started to look like a real possibility, but four games later came the disappointment. This is the way he goes in hockey sometimes, as the best teams do not always make the distance. Both teams entered the season as co-favorites to win the Cup, but once again only one team could live up to their promise, and that was Tampa Bay. Flash forward for another year and we finally got what we wanted: an epic showdown between two of the league’s most exciting teams. In one corner stood undoubtedly the most talented skater team and in the other, the two-time defenders of the Cup. A clash of titans indeed. Before the series even started, Cale Makar said it all: “It’s a team that wants to have a dynasty. “We are a team trying to start a legacy.” Cale Makar. (Geoff Burke / USA Today) The pre-series advertising campaign was huge, but somehow these two met what was the best Stanley Cup final in a long time. These were two teams at the peak of their power trade, which led to four instant classic games with one goal and two explosions where the absolute savagery of each team was felt. I still can not believe that Colorado beat Tampa Bay 7-0, and the Lightning responded with 6-2 of their own was legendary. The intensity of each game was felt through the screen and I can only imagine how I felt witnessing with flesh and blood. In a sport where running in the final can often be caused by luck, it was a pleasure to see these two giants face to face.
Colorado Crown
Only one team could win it all and in the end, the beginning of a legacy meant the end of a dynasty. For any team that stood in their way, Avalanche was just too much. They passed the first round with ease and faced some adversity in the second, but as soon as Colorado overcame its hump, it felt that the Stanley Cup celebration was almost inevitable. Avalanche beat the Oilers and although Tampa Bay managed to push the series into six games, it was Colorado that was firmly in control during the final. After three laps, Tampa Bay once again seemed unstoppable, but that was only until Lightning met Avalanche. Colorado dominated this series and left no doubt as to which was the best team in the league. In a five-on-five, Avalanche won 60 percent of the expected goals against Lightning, a stunning figure against an elite team. This victory seemed like a fate, a victory that started last year when Colorado entered the season as the favorite of the Stanley Cup. At the time of the playoffs, the chances of the team to win them all were overwhelming compared to the stadium. This led to the necessary disappointment, which made this year’s victory even sweeter. They came back harder, better, faster, stronger – looking like a force to be reckoned with for years to come. This has been their year and it is always nice to see a team respond to this destiny. The Avalanche have been the Stanley Cup favorites since Day 1 and have never lost hold of it all season, until the end with a title. They deserved this victory.
Redemptive return
“And for all those who thought I was an obligation in the playoffs, you can kiss my ass.” Microphone drop. The curtains are closed. Roll credits. A perfect dismissal from Nazem Kadri, Stanley Cup champion. For me, there was no better story in these playoffs – and indeed, this season – than Country. At 31 he finally had his great upsurge, playing at the high level of talent he always had. Before this season, Kadri was a second-line career center who showed more – and scoring 87 points in 71 games was more than that. But he had even more to prove where it mattered: in the postseason, mainly, to stay in them. It was the exclusion of four games of Country in the playoffs of 2019 that marked the end of his time in Toronto. Two years later came a player eight who was probably the beginning of the end of Colorado playoff hopes that season. It was not enough for Kadri to be good, he had to stay on the right side of the line to help Colorado win. And he did, playing an incredibly inspiring hockey game. Country scored 15 points in 16 games, proving that the regular season was no accident, and added an exceptionally expected goal percentage of 66% to become one of Colorado’s most impressive players. Everything looked great until Country broke his thumb in the 3rd round – an injury that was sure to take him away from another playoff series, though this time for reasons beyond his control. Kadri lost just four games, returning heroically to the team for a crucial 4 game in the Stanley Cup final. There was only one way to end that game, and it was Kadri’s stick for extra time winner to give Colorado a suffocating 3-1 in a row. The 2022 season was Naz year and that goal was the cherry on top. Acquisition. What a moment. What a victory! 🤩 @ 43_Kadri | @ Avalanche | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/MWIpM8SjYY – Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 23, 2022
The discovery of Byram
For every Cup winner, there are always some guys who tremble in life and hold the moment, breaking out in unexpected ways before the playoffs begin. Colorado had a few such characters – with Valeri Nichushkin appearing particularly big in the final – but the biggest story on this front had to be Bowen Byram. The fourth pick from the 2019 draft has always had a chance at greatness, given his genealogy, and these playoffs have seen him reach the biggest stage of the game. While all eyes were on Makar, it was Byram’s game that made the difference beyond the top pair. The absence of Samuel Girard seemed great, but Byram took care not to feel the loss. He gave nine assists, but it was his intelligence and ability to move well, as he scored an astonishing expected goal percentage of 65%. This led all the Avalanche defenders and was second only to Kadri in the team. In 2019, it was in the playoffs that we discovered the impact that Makar would have on Avalanche. Three years later, Byram introduced a taste of his future star on the same stage.
Defeated dynasty
As much as the NHL loves to defend the league’s parity, it is the greatness that fans are often most attracted to. Winning a league is special, but building an undefeated dynasty is even bigger – this is what makes teams so memorable. Tampa Bay is already there with the consecutive championships and the course of the team in the final places of the conferences in the last eight seasons really shows its dominance in the season. But the opportunity in a triptych? The first in three decades? It would be unbelievable to see it. There were doubts about the start of the playoffs with Lightning being an underdog in both of their first two series. The lesson: Never doubt the heart of a champion, as the winning team of the team prevailed on the way to another final place in the conference. A smaller team may have lost 2-0 in the third round, but not Tampa Bay, which roared to win four straight streak, advancing to the third consecutive Stanley Cup final. The trail there was fascinating. it felt like a story in the works. I felt special to see a team look completely undefeated, no matter how down and out it seemed. Durable, like no other team I have ever seen. But sometimes, even better than seeing a winning team write history with championship after championship, is to see it fall. There was no better start to Colorado’s future than a victory over the undisputed best team of the past. a crown delivered to his immediate successor. Perfectly won victory.
Cooling and clutch
At the center of each Lightning course was Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes, an impenetrable fortress that made the victory seem futile. In 2020, he saved 14 goals more than expected with a percentage of 0.927 rebounds. In 2021 he was even better, saving 18 goals from 0.937 saves. This year he brought the heat again, saving nine goals more than expected with 0.922 rebounds. The latest numbers may not seem so impressive, but since the competition included three of the best attacking teams in the league, it is very good to maintain such a high level of excellence. More special than the raw numbers was the synchronization of Vasilevsky’s greatness. After a defeat, faced with exclusion and the opportunity to close a series, were the highest leverage points of each series where Vasilevskiy really shone. It is what separated him from the other elite elites and made him such a gift. We have seen this game for three consecutive playoffs and in the meantime only four other goalkeepers have saved 10 goals more than expected, just two over 15 and just over 20. Vasilevski is 41. Another amazing playoff match had many wondering where Vasilevski is …
