Palms sweat. Teeth grind. Stomachs churn.
Playoff hockey is a nervous breakdown camouflaged as an athletic contest. Every shot brings the possibility of deciding a game, if not a series.
Into this bubbling cauldron of emotion steps goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. He wears disheveled hair, a toothless smile and a slow heartbeat.
“I am not the kind of guy who needs to calm down. I have to pick it up,” Blackwood said after shedding his gear following a recent practice in preparation for a first-round matchup with the Dallas Stars. “There are ways you learn how to do it through the years. I don’t have a lot of trouble being relaxed.”
Good to know. But not sure that will slow the resting pulse of Avs’ fans. Goalies’ reputations are forged through the steel and nerve of the postseason. And Blackwood has exactly zero playoff starts.
Is he ready to meet the moment?
“I don’t have the answer to that question,” star Nathan MacKinnon admitted. “But most athletes get excited for opportunities like this. And he’s been so good for us since we traded for him.”
Blackwood ranks sixth in save percentage at .912. He boasts a 22-12-3 record with the Avs. Along with acquired backup Scott Wedgewood, Blackwood has replaced chaos with calm; his best ability is his reliability. You know what you are going to get, a foreign concept last postseason when Alexander Georgiev melted before our eyes.
Blackwood, 28, knows a donut hole exists in his resume. He also insists he is ready for the biggest challenge of his career.
“I mean, I have been part of the playoffs before, even though I didn’t play. I know what it is like. It definitely ramps up. It is a little bit hard. But it’s still the same game,” Blackwood said. “You have to trust yourself, trust your training, trust the process.”
Blackwood goes opposite Jake Oettinger. The Stars skid into the playoffs with an 0-5-2 record in their last seven games. But Oettinger owns 45 playoff starts and has proven he can steal a game if needed.
The belief in Blackwood is rooted in statistics and fit. His goals against average is 2.55. Dallas will quickly become the fading Stars if he holds them to a pair of scores per game.
And here’s the thing: Clutch is an adjective linked to the playoffs. But it is a bit of a misnomer. Clutch is not about playing better when it matters most, but about playing similar to the previous seven months.
“I just think you are what you repeatedly do. And he’s been really good for us. You watch him play. He’s a veteran guy with a lot of experience, even though he hasn’t been in the playoffs. I would expect that to continue to translate,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s been in some big games for us and been in all situations. We feel like if he continues to do what he does, he will be fine.”
Or as defenseman Cale Makar put it, “He has shown game in game out, that he can be really solid for us. He can be the backbone when we need him.”
It helps tremendously that Blackwood exudes no panic, a trait he shares with Wedgewood, a former teammate before both arrived in Colorado. It is not uncommon to walk into the locker room and hear those two talking and laughing. They give off a buddy cop vibe.
“I hate Wedgie,” Blackwood said with a smile. “No. He’s awesome. He’s a good friend.”
“Yeah, and (Blackwood) is super ridiculously, ridiculously good looking,” chimed in the backup from the neighboring locker.
What movie is that from, quizzed Wedgewood. “Zoolander,” quipped Blackwood.
When the fire alarms are blaring, these are the kinds of goalies you want in the net: Veterans capable of completing each other’s sentences and lowering the temperature in the room.
“(Blackwood) is just dialed in and loose. Those things tend to contradict each other, but he possesses them both. He can be focused and unfazed. And that’s what separates him in this league,” Avs veteran Logan O’Connor said. “It gives us confidence having them both. They have been the yin and yang and salt and pepper throughout the year. Anytime you have a healthy relationship like that with goalies, it only benefits the team.”
Blackwood fills space. He is 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. And behind his mask is a snarl, eyes darting, ever ready, on the lookout for his next big stop.
By all accounts, he is ready. And his teammates, perhaps more importantly, think he is ready. But no one knows for sure.
There is, of course, one way to satisfy the fans and answer the question: Do it in the playoffs.
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