Mikko Rantanen Is On The Heater Of All Heaters Right Now
Glenn James. Getty Images.We've known for years now that Mikko Rantanen is one sick puppy once the Stanley Cup Playoffs come around. There's only been one year in his career where he didn't have at least a point per game, and that was in his first trip to the playoffs with Colorado when they lost 6 games into the first round.
Once the playoffs roll around, the dawgs come out to play. And Mikko Rantanen might be the biggest dawg out there.
Obviously this season has been a rollercoaster for Rantanen. The man got traded twice over the span of 2 months. Western conference, Eastern conference, Western conference. Snip snap snip snap. The Avs had a chance to spare the rest of this league from this heater if they would have taken care of the Stars in the first round. Through those first 4 games, Rantanen only had 1 assist. But they didn't listen to Kadri's rule number one, and now here we are.
1 point in 4 games. Followed up by 17 points in his next 6 games. Mikko Rantanen has had more games of 3+ points in these playoffs so far than he has games without registering a single point. There was a time where it looked like the Stars weren't allowed to score a goal without having Rantanen out on the ice for it.
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One of the great things about hockey is that it's the ultimate team sport. It's not like basketball, where you can just build a superteam around a couple of individuals and have an automatic path to the Finals. But Mikko Rantanen might have everybody rethinking that strategy right now. Maybe it's actually possible for one guy to go out there and carry an entire team on his back. It's the biggest heater anybody has gone on in the playoffs in most of our lifetimes. We used to think playoff hockey was all about grit, intensity, winning the battles along the corners and getting pucks on net. Turns out all you need is a dude to get insanely hot at the right time, and go on a warpath which can barely be contained for anything more than just one game at a time. More teams should do that.