Knowing that “this is a very difficult team to win against,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar and the Avalanche are eager to match up with the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, beginning this week.
DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche have long aspired to become the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now, it’s the Lightning standing between the Avalanche and their first Stanley Cup win since 2001. The two-time defending champion Lightning topped the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday to reach their third consecutive Cup Final, which opens here on Wednesday. Tampa Bay’s excellence is what these Avalanche have been chasing. And now, it’s within reach — if only they can dethrone the NHL’s heavyweights.
“The way I look at it is, to be the best you’ve got to expect to be able to beat the best”, coach Jared Bednar said on Sunday. “That’s them. They’re the team that everyone’s trying to model after. They’re in the Final for the third year in a row. They’ve just won twice in a row. That’s what every team is trying to do, not just get there but stay there and be relevant every season in all the conversations with the best teams in league and go on to prove that they are one.”
Colorado has already put in the groundwork there. The Avalanche are 12-2 thus far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, sweeping through both their first-round series against Nashville and the Western Conference Final against Edmonton. Colorado has been idle since securing the Clarence Campbell Bowl on June 6, waiting to see which of the Lightning and Rangers would be their Final matchup.
