The Avs and Nuggets are neighbors who live under the same arena roof, but their definitions of success seem to have been discovered on different planets.<\/p>\n
For the hockey team, winning is all that matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like Cup or bust, Cup or bust. Well, we\u2019ve got one Cup. It\u2019s hard to win, OK? But I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. And I don\u2019t think our players would want it any other way. I don\u2019t think the players who joined our team at the (trade) deadline or the guys who have been here for years would want it any other way,\u201d coach Jared Bednar said after the Avalanche eliminated Minnesota and reached the halfway mark of the 16 playoff victories required to win the NHL championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019re leaving yourself open to a lot of criticism, because it\u2019s always Cup or bust. And every time you lose in the first round, the second round or whenever it is, people are going to get on you, because you didn\u2019t win the Cup.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The basketball team across the hall of Ball Arena gets way too caught up in its feelings.<\/p>\n
After finishing as the third seed in the Western Conference and getting bounced from the playoffs by a shorthanded Timberwolves team that refused to use significant injuries as an excuse, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke wanted everyone to know this was \u201ca season that never was,\u201d begging for sympathy for how center Nikola Jokic was never quite his MVP self after hyperextending his knee in late December.<\/p>\n
In the Executive of the Year voting by his peers, Kroenke was named on two ballots for wasting another season of Jokic\u2019s prime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know who voted for me \u2026 and it was a joke, an inside joke,\u201d Kroenke said. \u201cI rolled my eyes and said: \u2018You\u2019re going to create hell for me.\u2019 But he felt it was really funny.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the Avs spared no effort in reshaping their roster to reinvent themselves as a physically tougher team with defensive chops to match its offensive magic, NBA friends punked Kroenke for his influence on the Nuggets.<\/p>\n
When I asked Kroenke if he now serves as the de facto general manager of the team, he insisted: \u201cI\u2019ve been in the same role since 2010.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for more than 15 years, if there\u2019s a flaw to Kroenke\u2019s approach with the Nuggets, it\u2019s that a former college player loves hoops too much. He treats players like beloved members of a family, and often refers to his general manager as a basketball brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether that was Masai Ujiri, whether that was Tim Connelly, whether that was Calvin Booth, whether that\u2019s these guys (Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace), I\u2019m always going to be there, around, listening and trying to help shape the direction of the franchise,\u201d Kroenke said.<\/p>\n
With the Avalanche, big hockey decisions are left to trusted hockey executives Joe Sakic and Chris MacFarland.<\/p>\n
Listen to Kroenke speak, and the idea of trading Aaron Gordon is as painful as breaking up with a bestie, as was the case when the Nuggets parted ways with Michael Porter Jr. two years ago.<\/p>\n
When the Avs dared to deal star forward Mikko Rantanen last season, the move was as bold as it was painful. But it was a business decision based on sound hockey principles, acknowledging the team\u2019s need to evolve in a major way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost without fail, when the Nuggets faltered in the playoffs, coach David Adelman\u2019s instinct was to gripe about the negative narrative being foisted on highly paid professionals by anyone who dared question the grit or resolve of a team that ultimately used the midseason injury to Jokic as an excuse for defeat rather than a way to evolve.<\/p>\n
Championship DNA is neither a given nor forever. Team culture can\u2019t be worn like a medal; it\u2019s a living, breathing thing that must be nurtured daily.<\/p>\n
The complacency Kroenke cited as creeping into the Nuggets culture resulted from the false belief that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Victor Wembanyama gave a flying flip that Denver won the first championship in franchise history three years ago.<\/p>\n
One big reason why Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon should be the runaway winner of the Hart Trophy extends beyond his 127 points in the regular season and unsurpassed domination at 5-on-5 hockey.<\/p>\n
At age 30, MacKinnon has finally learned to harness the passion that burned so intensely that it could go up in flames of frustration when adversity struck the Avs on the ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou talk about my leadership,\u201d captain Gabe Landeskog said. \u201cBut I think Nate\u2019s leadership is something that goes under the radar.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nuggets\u2019 core of Jokic, Gordon, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun got a ring, got paid and expected everybody else in the league would bow and curtsy in their presence instead of trying to kick their arses.<\/p>\n
The Avs are headed toward another championship because they not only embraced change, but realized running it back is an invitation to running in place while everyone else blows by you in the race to the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Nuggets waste too much time telling everyone how great they were.<\/p>\n
The Avalanche are too busy winning playoff games to get lost in nostalgia.<\/p>\n
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