Colorado Sports Excellence!
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With the Broncos bringing in Russell Wilson to complete their Super Bowl contending roster, the Nuggets getting healthy next season and fielding a legitimate NBA Championship caliber team, and the Colorado Avalanche actively participating in the western conference championship, is it safe to say this could be one of the golden eras of Colorado sports? The Nuggets have a back-to-back MVP. The Avalanche have one of the best teams in the league including two top 15 players in the world in Makar and MacKinnon. The Broncos have been “just a QB away” since 2015, and they finally pulled the trigger to bring in the guy expected to get the job done.
It’s more niche Colorado sports, but the Colorado Rapids were the top regular season team in the MLS and disappointingly lost in the quarterfinals. The Colorado Mammoth Lacrosse team just qualified for the Western Conference Finals in their NLL and could very well be another championship caliber team during this particularly impressive time!
Colorado Rockies
The only team in Colorado to not be expected to contend is the Colorado Rockies, and that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t surprise some people and make the playoffs this season. In a sad off-season where the Rockies were dealing with the fallout of shipping Nolan Arenado to St. Louis and the decision to not move or trade Trevor Story at the trade deadline, the Rockies managed to sign Kris Bryant whose claim to fame is that he has never been on a losing team. The Rockies started of blistering hot but have since cooled dramatically and have more-or-less fallen back to where many expected them to be, the basement of the NL West.
Colorado Avalanche
Enough about the Rockies… the Avalanche are about to play in one of the most hyped Western Conference Finals in recent memory that pits arguably the best and second-best players in the world against each other. Both former first overall draft picks, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid are about to square off in blockbuster series that, to me, is must-see TV. The Avs were the top team in the western conference this regular season, they avoided the Presidents Trophy curse letting the Florida Panthers fall prey to that, they got the monkey of their backs by defeating the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the playoffs, and they are poised to bring Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Colorado for the third time since 1997.
The Avalanche have one of the most talented young defensemen in the NHL in Cale Makar, and combined with his defensive partner Devon Toews, both were in the top five in +/- during the regular season. They have a goalie that seems to be able to keep them in games, and is capable of making big time saves when they are needed. They have one of, if not the, best top lines in the NHL with Landeskog, MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen.
General Manager Joe Sakic again went into the trade deadline and simply outperformed the rest of the NHL, which seems to be so consistent that it is suspect, the rest of the league needs to just ignore 720 area codes on trade deadline week. Sakic brought in Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen, Niko Sturm, Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano all who have had a monster impact on these playoffs with Helm and Manson both collecting big time game winners against the Blues in the second round. The Avalanche have an opportunity to set the tone for 2022-23 and get the Colorado sports excellence ball rolling.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are quite possibly playing with the best conditions this franchise has ever built for itself with three young, max-contract players, a two-time MVP in Nikola Jokic, a head coach with passion and the talent to guide this team to a championship, and a supporting cast that comes in at a reasonable price tag to help bring an NBA Championship home to Denver for the first time ever. Nikola Jokic is the first NBA MVP to earn that award as a member of the Denver Nuggets and he aims to be the reason their first championship banner is also hung in Denver. These past two years have been tragic with Jamal Murray getting injured two weeks before the playoffs two seasons ago. Then last year, both Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray were both recovering from major surgeries and could not suit up for a single game into the post season.
Denver’s legitimate NBA championship window starts in 2022, MPJ is recovered from back surgery, Jamal Murray gets four extra months to rehab his torn ACL, Nikola Jokic gets a long off-season to rest and recover from the load of back-to-back MVP caliber seasons without missing a single game (suspension excluded). Tragic that Tim Connelly and Stan Kronke couldn’t come to terms on a competitive offer to keep Connelly around for the excitement of seeing the fruits of his labor, but Calvin Booth will lead this team from a GM position and be rewarded mightily. Michael Malone is under contract through 2024 after signing a contract extension and I couldn’t be prouder of how this franchise is being run.
The Nuggets finally got a G-League team in the Grand Rapids Gold, who elevated something like 9 players to the NBA last season. They are paying the luxury tax to make sure they can surround their elite NBA talent with upper echelon role players. The drafting of guys like Zeke Nnaji and Bones Hyland, and elevating guys like Davon Reed from the Gold are all moves that show this team can continue to find and grow talent to drive continued success in Denver. I believe that the Nuggets are one of the least fan-followed teams in Denver, but long stretches of continued success and winning a championship will do wonders for the franchise and grow the market exponentially. Not to mention the global impact of international super stars like the Serbian Jokic, the Canadian Murray, and other guys like Campazzo from Argentina.
Denver Broncos
Finally, the Denver Broncos have had one of the best defenses in the NFL since 2015. They continued to ramp up and even though the big names from the Super Bowl squad are no longer here like Von Miller, Chris Harris Jr, Derek Wolfe, Demarcus Ware, Shaq Barrett and many other all-timers, the Broncos have managed to keep the defense elite. The problem has been that the offense hasn’t had a competent quarterback since then. Having started eight QBs since 2015 (Siemian, Osweiler, Lynch, Flacco, Keenum, Lock, Bridgewater, Rypien, and Driskel), the Broncos desperately needed Drew Lock to pan out, or to trade for a bona fide star. George Paton elected to go with the later, and the roster building that’s been in progress since their last Super Bowl seven years ago, is mature and ready to make a deep run.
Russell Wilson comes to Denver as a Super Bowl winning quarterback who has been to the big game 2x. He is supported by arguably the best skill players he has ever played with as far as depth and talent of the depth goes. His defense should be able to go out and play a different style of game than they have been forced to in the past. In the last handful of seasons, the Broncos had to play defense to win the game, expecting that the offense wouldn’t score more than 20 points a game. When the defense can play a brand of football that is more focused on turnovers and sacks instead of holding the opposition to zero points, the game gets way more exciting.
I expect this defense to rack up sacks with Chubb, Reed, Nik Bonito, and Randy Gregory all unleashed. The secondary is going to be a problem with All-Pro Justin Simmons and rising star Patrick Surtain II supported by skilled players all the way down the depth chart. The linebacker position seems like the verdict is still out after choosing to not bring back Alexander Johnson or Kenny Young, but Josey Jewell and Alex Singleton will be serviceable interior defenders.
Conclusion
There are experts out there that say the Broncos are still the worst team in their division, and to those experts I say, keep that energy up in January! Colorado is about to win a Stanley Cup, NBA Championship, and Super Bowl in 2022-23 and you heard it here first! The Mammoth are also about to contribute to 2022-23 being the year of Colorado sports domination too! Let’s get Colorado back on the map from a champion perspective and do it in style!
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