As Game 7 beckons, Avalanche’s respect for Mikko Rantanen has not wavered

Nicknames are a foundational aspect of hockey way of life and there weren t countless better than a mountain of a man named Moose roaming around the ice and scoring for a unit at the base of the Front Range But that wasn t who Mikko Rantanen was in the Colorado Avalanche locker room He was Mikko Not every hockey nickname sticks inside the dressing room Sure Erik Johnson is EJ Devon Toews is Tazer But Nathan MacKinnon is Nate not Nate Dogg or The Dogg Cale Makar is just Cale And Mikko Rantanen was Mikko That s a hard thing to shake Rantanen is skating with the enemy now He s going to play for arguably Colorado s biggest rival for eight years to come after this He nearly ripped the Avs hearts out Thursday night with a vintage Championship performance And yet when the Avs talk about members of the Stars it is Seguin Hintz Heiskanen Oettinger and Mikko There s a difference It s meaningful It comes from years together and the incredible success they shared So here we are the Avalanche and the Stars preparing for a Tournament that could bolster legacies on both sides at the end of an incredible seven-game war that more than lived up to the hype When does he stop being Mikko When does he become Rantanen or even in coach speak Every time the pads go on Avs coach Jared Bednar disclosed That s it Every other time he s going to be Mikko to me A portion of the Avalanche fan base has already made that transition Or at least they re voicing it at Ball Arena Mikko was cheered during and after an emotional tribute video his first time back Rantanen has been booed anytime he handles the puck for more than a split-second during Avs home games He received a hearty level of displeasure after scoring the go-ahead goal Thursday night late in the second period He might still be Mikko to those fans if he had signed with Carolina after the agreement or chose just about anywhere else but Dallas Players and coaches understand the business side of this sport though That bond was forged through nearly a decade of success and failure It was cemented for eternity in You re never going to hear me say a bad word about Mikko Rantanen Bednar continued You look at what he did for us the length of time I was here and he was part of the championship gang You re just never going to hear me say anything bad about him Look at the night he has Thursday night Biggest stage elimination event he comes out and gets four points in a period and almost puts us away We were able to bounce back but that s the way I view Mikko This is not the first time the title winners in the Avalanche dressing room have had to face someone from that group in the postseason Colorado played against Andre Burakovsky with Seattle in He was Burky in the Colorado locker room He was still Burky when he was down the hall with the Kraken Related Articles Avalanche vs Stars Meeting Four keys for Colorado to advance to second round Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog named finalist for Masterton Trophy Renck TV schedule is heck for Event heaven But let s savor Nuggets Avs moment Keeler Whiny Pete DeBoer s already working refs for Avalanche-Stars Match Cale Makar leads trio of breakout efforts to help Avalanche win wild Championship When the Avs play the Calgary Flames the guy who wears No is still Naz Before he returned to the Avs at the agreement deadline Erik Johnson was still EJ in Buffalo and Philadelphia On Saturday the Avalanche will need to find a way to get past Rantanen the same stone-cold playoff killer they ve inevitably known The guy who leads the Stars with eight points through the first six games You try to hold their best players in check They re the best players in the world for a reason Toews mentioned Mikko is up there with the best of them You expect them to break out and get their opportunities at times It s just on us to try to slow them down as a group of five on the ice Thursday night wasn t the best job we ve done against them They were able to get a sparse last night and our job is to shut them down for Contest Win or lose when the dust settles from this titanic series No in green will be Mikko again Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis