Fridays with Mac: "Sweet Hash"

Say hello to the 2022 Stanley Cup Champion, Colorado Avalanche. Job well done. While watching the final seconds tick away from Amalie Arena in Tampa, this ol’ washed up television sports reporter’s cranium rewound to 1996 and 2001, when the Avs won two other Stanley’s. I was blessed to have a front-row seat. Yay me.

However, this one was different. The franchises’s third title was born from one of life’s most crappy thoughts: Underachieving. “I’ve been here for nine years and haven’t done s$*t,” barked superstar forward Nathan McKinnon before the season began. The two prior playoff attempts saw a young, developing and extremely talented club lose in the second round. Emphasis on lost. Most agreed, Colorado didn’t get beat by a superior opponent. Nope. The Avs’ biggest enemy? Themselves. Underachieving. A lousy place to dwell.

Throughout this season, in watching interviews with players and coaches, there was a sense of purpose. Coach Jerad Bednar’s team knew it had the talent. However, once the 16-win playoff grind began, the Avs needed to show themselves, and hockey skeptics, they had the fortitude for success.

For whatever reason, its seems success tastes a bit sweeter when not arriving easily. Actor Mel Brooks, 96 and going strong, once joked, “Success is like sugar. It’s too wonderful and burns up quickly. Failure is like corned beef hash. It takes a while to digest, but it stays with you.” Amen. Colorado’s 2022 title is more corned beef hash. Damn tasty too.

This was the dialogue barfed at buddy Bill McCartney while strolling through his front door on a recent Friday. I shared what you’ve just read, if making it this far. Frequently, Coach Mac hears stories of yours truly covering those championship squads. Great teams those ’96 and ’01 champs. Quality guys too. Hockey players were always the best interviews. There’s nothing like post-game interviews while talking to a guy with a split lip, absent teeth, abrasions everywhere and a matter-of-fact attitude of, “Hey, it’s hockey.” Toughness is critical.

Joe Sakic is one of the best dudes I’ve ever run across. The Barnaby, British Columbia native was the Avs’ captain then and now the club’s general manager. The humble guy put together a championship team, on and off the ice. Awesome. I’ve written before about #19’s generosity toward me long ago when competing in the Vancouver marathon. To watch him hoist the Cup in Tampa brought tears to my eyes. “Captain” Joe Sakic is an incredible guy. Great wife, Debbie, too. Rock solid folks.

McCartney was leaning into this conversation while grinning ear to ear before turning a tad more reserved. “I want to talk about overcoming adversity, that lousy feeling of underachieving.” Okay coach. Ain’t that the truth? We all have been there, right?

Coach Mac and I started talking about the 1990 season. That club started the season 1-1-1 with Pigskin Classic - Mike Pritchard went crazy - tie against Tennessee, nail-biting home victory over Stanford and a disappointing road loss to quarterback Jeff George and the University of Illinois. I vividly remember working the Buffs locker room in the bowels of the Fighting Illini’s stadium in Champaign. Dejected doesn’t begin to describe the mood of an underachieving team with big expectations. 

After the prior year’s great run before losing a national title tussle to Notre Dame, many “experts” picked the Buffs to win the national title. Start 1-1-1? National title talk? Goodbye. Somehow CU did it. Five downs at Mizzou did not hurt. That team took disappointment, like the Avs, and turned it into destiny. McCartney was speechless. Billy Mac from Hackensack usually has a quick retort and eventually offered, “The Avs believed in themselves and persevered.”

Amen dude. Study a picture of the 2022 Stanley Cup champions and realize something. Whatever we’re trying to achieve? The journey rarely goes as planned. That’s okay. Believe in yourself, individually and collectively, and hang in there. 

Ya just never know, joy beyond description might be on the horizon. A rare moment where corned beef hash tastes sweeter than any favorite confection. Sweet hash. Unbeatable!