This sport. It wrenches hearts, stomps on them — stops them, even. This sport is cool and cruel, a thrill ride that everyone is "this tall to ride." This sport, which had me typing "burgundy and booooo" on my screen, then just minutes later had me typing Ctrl-A, Backspace, because sometimes in hockey, I'm sorry, but fluke is more important than fakes or forechecks. And here we are, simultaneously high and hung over, and it has nothing to do with anything except the exploits of Nathan MacKinnon, the face of Colorado's franchise who was born just before the franchise began play in Colorado.
The Avs, up three games to two, will win this series. Honestly — honestly — I thought the Avs could win this thing even if they had lost Game 5, which of course MacKinnon won against Minnesota 4-3 with an overtime game-winner that he'll be talking about when he's 36. (which is twice his current age — think about that for a second). I mean, what's more "Avs-y" than them winning this series? So often this season, the Avs have stunned us. Shoot, they surprised us just by not being terrible. They surprised us by besting the Blues and Blackhawks and, more specifically, by winning numerous spring games after trailing late. Like there's-no-way-they-can-win-this late. Some of the wins were simply inexplicable. Such as, you know, Saturday's win, which was Saturday's loss until late.
What happened? To paraphrase their chanting fans during the national anthem, the Avs' swag was still there.