'That starts with the leaders in the room': How Avalanche core group elevates team in Stanley Cup playoffs

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The Colorado Avalanche’s leadership is frequently mentioned when discussing the team’s success — and with good reason. The group, including Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, Devon Toews and Andrew Cogliano, drives the rest of the team to victory.

Ross Colton, who won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021, said this Avalanche team reminds him of the team with who he hoisted the NHL’s most prized trophy.

“Definitely feels similar, I think. I’ve talked about this before. I think it kind of has felt similar since day one of training camp. There’s kind of just that different energy, kind of different atmosphere in the room where there’s a lot of belief. And I think that starts with the leaders in the room like Nate (MacKinnon), Landy (Landeskog), Cale (Makar), Toewser (Toews), whoever it may be Mikko (Rantanen), holding guys to kind of a certain standard,” the 27-year-old middle-six forward said. “We expect things and you’re going to be held accountable if you’re not, you know, doing certain things. So, that’s always nice to see it. I kind of felt that from day one, and it’s kind of translated throughout the entire course of the year. We kind of saw that in the first round of the playoffs with us elevating our game to different levels. So it’s been fun.”

For the players on the team that haven’t experienced a Cup run, the leaders play a crucial part in guiding them through the journey.

“We try to talk about the game a lot and how to prepare for (the) series. I think our coaches do a good job to show how we want to play and what’s important in the playoffs. Us, as players, we got to lead by example, obviously. We can’t be doing stupid mistakes after shift after shift because then you know,” Rantanen said. “So if we play the right way, I feel like if me and Cale (Makar) and Toewser (Toews), Nate (MacKinnon), all the leaders, we play the right way, I feel like it shows the other guys too the way we want to play. I think we try to do that mostly and coaches obviously try to give us little tips and help the young guys.”

Makar reiterated Rantanen’s point of the group leading by example. The Avalanche focus on their work ethic and that’s been a huge part of their success.

“For us it’s just coming to the rink every day and working. There’s no light days here especially when we’re coming to the rink. We’re practicing, we want to make sure it’s hard, and make sure it’s game-like,” Makar said. “For us, we’re just trying to push the pace and make sure that we’re ready to get it rolling regardless of when we play and who we play.”

The Avalanche will play the Dallas Stars for the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the first two games at American Airlines Center. Game 1 is Tuesday night with a puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT.

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