Tag: Mikko Rantanen

The Colorado Avalanche dig themselves out of a huge hole in Vancouver, on the shoulders of the power play unit.

Realistically, if the NHL stays away, the USA should go all the way. Make Team USA all collegians. That's not a second-guess about what USA Hockey did this time. It's a reflection on what it should try next.

Alexander Kerfoot didn't have a point in the Avalanche's first five games minus Nathan MacKinnon, but now has a goal in each of the past two.

The longer Jonathan Bernier can hold down the Avalanche crease, on merit rather than injury-caused default, the better Colorado's chances of still being in the hunt for a Western Conference wild-card spot by the time it seems to be making more than occasional visits to the Pepsi Center.

The start of Nathan MacKinnon's two-to-four week absence from the lineup comes amid a testing stretch of the Colorado schedule so road-dominated, it should come with tour T-shirts listing the stops.

In order for the Colorado Avalanche to remain a contender, someone will have to step up to fill the void from MacKinnon injury.

As the Avalanche went into the All-Star break with a two-game losing streak that does nothing to diminish the magnitude of its recovery season (DON'T PANIC!), Nathan MacKinnon headed off to Tampa as Colorado's only representative on the Central Division roster at the All-Star Game. If it could only be one, that choice was obvious, wasn't it? It wasn't a year ago.

I told Nathan MacKinnon Friday he would hate the question, but I was going to ask it, anyway. Do you feel like you're becoming more...

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon is doing more than just putting together a stellar season. You can't take your eyes off the star of the Avs' resurgence.

Even the most optimistic of Avalanche fans knew MacKinnon could be really, really good -- but did anyone see this coming?