SAN JOSE, Calif. — From the hockey rink to the horse track, technology is killing the spirit of the thing, too often turning our sports into an endless, whiny argument. And on Wednesday night, geeky obsession with the slow-motion, re-examination of every detail on a disputed goal killed any chance the Avalanche had of advancing in the NHL playoffs.
The scoreboard showed San Jose defeated Colorado 3-2 in the decisive game of this best-of-seven series. But who really beat the Avalanche? Not Joonas Donskoi, credited with the game-winning score for San Jose on a beautiful wrap-around goal during the second period.
The most valuable player for the Sharks wasn’t on the ice at the arena. It was an instant-replay official who disallowed a Colorado goal by Colin Wilson in the same soulless manner a hall monitor refuses admission to the rest room to a third-grade kid.
This will be called sour grapes. Am I salty? You bet. But let’s call out this absurdity for the nonsense it is.
Instant replay hasn’t made sports better. It has turned us into a nation of whiners. We argue like children on the playground, with the three most overused words in sports: Upon further review.
Upon further review, the best horse didn’t win the Kentucky Derby, because it was determined Maximum Security was guilty of a foul after a 21-minute review. By the same token, Colorado didn’t lose to San Jose in Game 7, so much as Sharks coach Peter DeBoer cried foul to erase a critical goal that would’ve allowed the Avs to tie the score 2-2 in the second period.
On the disallowed goal, it was determined Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog was offside, although he was not part of the play, and standing at the doorstep to the Colorado bench.
It required the freeze-frame technology of instant replay to make the call that changed all momentum in Game 7. Was the decision ultimately accurate? I’m not so certain, and neither was anybody on the Avalanche’s side.
“It’s a tough call to make, so hopefully they got it right,” said Landeskog, an honorable man refusing to blame this defeat on the officials.
“Listen, there were 10 things I could’ve done differently on that play. Wish I got off the ice a lot quicker, and I should’ve jumped the boards. If I could’ve done it again …”
Landeskog paused, tortured by the coulda, shoulda and woulda buzzing through his brain.
“It’s an expensive lesson to learn in Game 7,” he said. “It’s frustrating.”
Wash away the bitter taste of the replay nitpick, and what lingers? Left for dead in the Shark Tank, the Avs thrashed and fought and spit bile until the bitter end.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Colorado during the opening 12 minutes of this win-or-go-home night. Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon crashed into the boards near center ice and was forced to seek medical attention back in the dressing room. Even worse, San Jose scored two quick goals, the first by captain Joe Pavelski, returning to the lineup for the first time since a bloody head injury in Round 1 against Las Vegas.
But quit? Not the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen gave Colorado life, scoring with only seven seconds remaining in the first period, cutting the visitors’ deficit to a manageable 2-1.
As the Avs walked off the ice at the first intermission, one loud voice that declared the battle rejoined as players turned for the room: “We’re baaack! We’re baaack!”
Those defiant words reminded me of an old movie. When surrendering would have been easy, the Avalanche instead took the hard way and decided to it would be more fun to be poltergeists at the Sharks’ victory party.
Just when San Jose had good reason to believe two goals early in the first period had buried the Western Conference’s gritty, little eighth seed? Not so fast.
They’re baaack. Colorado didn’t have quite enough to beat San Jose, but the Avs have forced themselves back in the Stanley Cup conversation.
This Colorado team is relentless by nature, a trait that will be essential to the Avs’ pursuit of a championship in the years ahead, every bit as critical as the development of young defenseman Cale Makar or the world-class skill of MacKinnon.
As Avs defenseman Ian Cole, a two-time champion with Pittsburgh, said on the morning of Game 7: “Our goal as a hockey team is to win the Stanley Cup. … Anything short of that, you’re shooting for failure.”
No more moral victories. Look out, NHL. The Avalanche has arrived.
“We’re not always going to say, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ We want to win now,” Landeskog insisted. “We are past the feel-good thing or whatever you want to call it. We want to win. And there’s only one way to do that. You have to get your name on the Cup.”
