Cale Makar owns the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the way Laurence Olivier owned the stage. He owns it the way Hank Williams owned the Grand Ole Opry, the way Flamma owned the Colosseum in Rome.
King Cale’s appeared in 16 opening-round games since 2019. He’s won 15 of them. He’s put up 21 points in those games, or 1.31 per tilt. He’s got a plus/minus rating of plus-12.
Whether it’s a pass that defies logic or a screamer of a goal that ends a game in overtime, this round is his canvas, his dais. His moment.
“I’d say I’m as close (to 100%) as I can be right now,” Makar, Colorado’s all-world defender, told the media scrum Monday at Ball Arena, on the eve of Colorado-Kraken Game 1. “So I’m feeling good. I feel good (Monday). It’s just going to be getting back into the physicality aspect and making sure I’m ready at puck drop.”
Looking for a first-round upset, you bloodthirsty NHL rubber-neckers? Best look elsewhere.
Oh, sure, the expansion Kraken are all kinds of plucky. They’ve got depth, mojo and the kind of muck-it-up mentality that plays in the spring.
But here’s the juice: If Makar, who sat out most of April with a lower-body injury after weeks of navigating the NHL’s concussion protocol, looks close to 80% of typical, first-round Cale, Seattle is straight calamari.
“You know, if Cale Makar could come back and be Cale Makar, I think he’s the ‘X’ factor. He might be the guy that could push (Colorado) over the top,” Turner Sports analyst Anson Carter said of the Avs’ Norris Trophy candidate earlier this month.
“(Captain Gabe Landeskog) is obviously a close second (for impact). But there isn’t anyone like Cale Makar in the back end of the National Hockey League. (San Jose’s) Erik Karlsson, he’s as dynamic offensively, I don’t think he defends as well as Cale Makar does. So he’s the guy I think that, ‘This could be a difference-maker for them.’”
Over to you, Jared Bednar.
“Well, I can (tell you Makar’s status), but I’m not going to,” the Cup-winning coach said Monday in his trademark, Saskatchewan deadpan. “I’m not going to give you any information on our lineup, who’s healthy, not healthy, injuries. None of it.”
So, basically, he’s playing.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s tough,” Makar said of spending the last fortnight or so on the (top) shelf. “I love watching hockey, but it just kills me when I have to watch our games.
“So I think guys have done a good job at stepping up and stuff. And it’s unfortunate, obviously. It’s what happens, I guess, the year after you have a long (postseason) run.
“And for me, obviously, November and December, playing 30 minutes every other night wasn’t ideal. I knew it was going to catch up at some point. And (it) kind of just did. So like I said, (now) I know. And you learn from that. And hopefully, that doesn’t happen again.”
Hopefully. If last season was a study in dominance — Makar last June took home a Stanley Cup, a Conn Smythe Trophy and a Norris Trophy in a delirious span of about a week — then this one proved to be a joint lesson in perseverance and patience.
Accent on the former.
“Sometimes you can’t catch a break,” noted King Cale, who slogged through 60 games during the regular season and averaged more than a point per tilt (1.1) despite being knocked around like a pinata. “This year was one of those years.”
And this month, historically, is one of those months. Makar skated Monday afternoon at Ball Arena without a red non-contact sweater. So did Josh Manson and Darren Helm, two more Stanley Cup heroes. The sleeping giant is getting his legs back.
“I think this team does a good job of helping everybody come back on the lineup,” Makar said. “So it’s going to be completely different, obviously, coming in the playoffs. It might take a period or two, but I’m going to try my best to make sure that at least I’m making an impact at some point.”
It’s his scene. His show. But if you want to wager against Makar in this round, at this time of the year, it’s your money. And your funeral.
